THE PRESIDENT

Remarks by the President with House and Senate Leadership

THE PRESIDENT: I want to welcome the members of the leadership of the Congress here, and I want the nation to know how proud I am of how they have helped unite our country. Senator Daschle and the Speaker and Senator Lott and Representative Gephardt have really showed that in times of emergency and crisis, that our government can function in a way that is just exemplary. And I want to thank them for coming down.
I'm also so pleased to accept the invitation of the Speaker and the leaders to come and address the Congress tomorrow night. I look forward to the opportunity to explain to the American people who it is and who would do this to our great country, and why—why would people choose America?
A lot of our citizens have got a lot of questions about what has taken place on September the 11th and subsequent to that. And I owe it to the country to give an explanation. And I want to thank the Congress for giving me a chance. I can’t think of a better place than to talk about freedom and the battle to maintain freedom in one of the greatest halls of freedom. And that is in the United States Congress.
So, thank you for the invitation. I accept wholeheartedly, and I will see you all tomorrow night.

Members of Congress applaud President Bush September 20 as he addresses a joint session of the Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Bush called the joint session to explain his position on the U.S. reaction to the September 11 terrorist strikes.

Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People, United States Capitol, Washington, D.C.

THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Speaker, Mr. President Pro Tempore, members of Congress, and fellow Americans:
In the normal course of events, Presidents come to this chamber to report on the state of the Union. Tonight, no such report is needed. It has already been delivered by the American people.
We have seen it in the courage of passengers, who rushed terrorists to save others on the ground—passengers like an exceptional man named Todd Beamer. And would you please help me to welcome his wife, Lisa Beamer, here tonight.
We have seen the state of our Union in the endurance of rescuers, working past exhaustion. We have seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers—in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. We have seen the decency of a loving and giving people who have made the grief of strangers their own.
My fellow citizens, for the last nine days, the entire world has seen for itself the state of our Union—and it is strong.
Tonight we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice,

or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done. I thank the Congress for its leadership at such an important time. All of America was touched on the evening of the tragedy to see Republicans and Democrats joined together on the steps of this Capitol, singing “God Bless America.” And you did more than sing; you acted, by delivering $40 billion to rebuild our communities and meet the needs of our military.
Speaker Hastert, Minority Leader Gephardt, Majority Leader Daschle and Senator Lott, I thank you for your friendship, for your leadership, and for your service to our country.
And on behalf of the American people, I thank the world for its outpouring of support. America will never forget the sounds of our National Anthem playing at Buckingham Palace, on the streets of Paris, and at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.
We will not forget South Korean children gathering to pray outside our embassy in Seoul, or the prayers of sympathy offered at a mosque in Cairo. We will not forget moments of silence and days of mourning in Australia and Africa and Latin America.
Nor will we forget the citizens of 80 other nations who died with our own: dozens of Pakistanis; more than 130 Israelis; more than 250 citizens of India; men and women from El Salvador, Iran, Mexico