For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 9, 2001
President Signs Guard and Reserve Proclamation
Remarks by the President In Proclamation Signing Ceremony for National Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Week
The East Room
THE PRESIDENT: Welcome to the White
House. Thank you all for coming.
I am pleased to be here today to salute the National Guardsmen and
Reservists, and their employers, for serving their country, and to
announce some important new measures to make air travel more secure
over the holidays.
America is engaged in a long and difficult struggle. At
a key moment in our history, an important moment in the history of
freedom, members of the National Guard and Reserve are answering their
country's call. They are performing their duty with skill
and with courage. And by supporting their mobilization, many
employers are demonstrating their own patriotism.
In a moment, I will sign a proclamation naming next week National
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Week. It is a way
to express our appreciation to these employers, and to thank them for
their selfless devotion to our great country.
I want to thank the Secretary of Transportation who is here, Norm
Mineta. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, for your hard
work. I appreciate Deputy Secretary of Defense, Paul
Wolfowitz, for being here as well; thank you, Paul. And of
course, I want to thank John McHugh, Representative from New
York. Thank you for coming, John.
America faces an evil and a determined enemy. They
committed mass murder against innocent citizens. And they
have brought misery and terror to the people of
Afghanistan. They persecute women. They destroy
great monuments of human culture and religious faith. They
execute people who convert to other religions. They steal
food that we send to help starving people.
They hope to spread their terror around the world, but we're not
going to let them. The al Qaeda terrorist network, and every
nation that supports it, are enemies of liberty and human
dignity. We will oppose them. We will find
them. And we will defeat them. (Applause.)
The American people have responded magnificently to this
challenge. The terrorists thought they could break the spirit of this
country. They really didn't understand
America. Their attacks have had the opposite effect, for we
are strong. We're united. We are
patient. We're determined. And all of us are
ready to serve the great cause of freedom.
The National Guard and Reserve are examples of this
service. Since September the 11th, we have called to active
duty nearly 53,000 Guard and Reserve personnel. They are
guarding energy plants. They are meeting the military's
intelligence, medical, and supply needs with specialized
training. And they are securing our airports.
In order to increase security of airline travelers during the
holiday season, we will increase by 25 percent the number of National
Guard personnel who protect our airports, and airlines, and American
travelers. We are calling up these Guardsmen and women
immediately. This increase in security will last through the
busy holiday period, and it is in addition to more than 6,000 members
of the Guard already mobilized at airports since September the
11th. These are temporary measures, and we believe they will
help a lot. And we are making fundamental changes to airport
security as well.
The federal government must take, and I believe will take, control
of aviation security. I am pleased that both houses of
Congress have passed bills that do just that. And I urge
Congress to work hard to resolve the differences between the two bills
-- they're not that far apart -- and to get to my desk as quickly as
possible a bill that will make air travel much safer for the American
people.
While Congress finishes its business, I have instructed our good
secretary, Secretary of Transportation Mineta, to begin a series of
high-level transition planning sessions with airport operators,
security device manufacturers, airline CEOs, and other parties that
will play a direct role in the transition to the new airport security
system.
There are additional steps we are taking to increase the public's
safety and its confidence in air travel. The FAA is
deploying a core team of security professionals to improve oversight of
screening and other security functions at our airports. I am
instructing the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation
to conduct undercover audits of security performance at airports
nationwide, to ensure the strict compliance of FAA security
standards. And in September, I announced a $300 million
grant program to secure airport -- secure cockpit doors on
airplanes. And I commend the airlines for acting
quickly. Major airlines have now fortified cockpit doors on
100 percent of their airplanes.
We're fighting a war on many fronts. It's a diplomatic
war, it's a financial war. The military is performing
brilliantly in Afghanistan. And we could not win the war
without the help of the Guard and the Reservists. And they, in turn,
could not do their vital work without the support of their
employers. Many employers are putting the national interests
above their own self interest, including the five recipients of the
Secretary of Defense Employers Support Freedom Award. They
have representatives with us today: Southwest Airlines,
Boeing, EDS Electronic Data Systems, BAE Systems, and the City of
Bedford, Virginia.
These employers are supporting the National Guard and Reserve in
practical and important ways, including providing full pay and
benefits, and job security to employees who are called to active
service. Employers do these things because they recognize
that their workers are fighting to keep America free. They
recognize that we have such huge stakes. They also know that
America's military forces are the best trained in the world. And when
you hire a member of the Guard or Reserve, you bring that training to
your workplace. Since September the 11th, more than 1,000
state and local Chambers of Commerce have signed statements of support
for employees who serve in the Guard and Reserve.
Well, the federal government, it turns out, is the largest employer
of Guard and Reserve personnel in America. And I am proud to
sign a statement of support on behalf of our federal government.
I am also pleased to sign the proclamation naming next week
National Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Week. I
would like to welcome up to the stage for the signing Paul Wolfowitz,
who represents the Defense Department, and the five winners of the
Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.
I want to thank you all for your service to
America. Thank you for coming to the White
House. And may God Bless America. (Applause.)