EDITORS’ NOTE: Following is a transcript of remarks by President George W. Bush Sunday, Sept. 16, on the south lawn of the White House.
WASHINGTON (BP)–Today, millions of Americans mourned and prayed, and tomorrow we go back to work. Today, people from all walks of life gave thanks for the heroes; they mourn the dead; they ask for God’s good graces on the families who mourn; and tomorrow the good people of America go back to their shops, their fields, American factories, and go back to work.
Our nation was horrified, but it’s not going to be terrorized. We’re a great nation. We’re a nation of resolve. We’re a nation that can’t be cowed by evildoers. I’ve got great faith in the American people. If the American people had seen what I had seen in New York City, you’d have great faith, too. You’d have faith in the hard work of the rescuers; you’d have great faith because of the desire for people to do what’s right for America; you’d have great faith because of the compassion and love that our fellow Americans are showing each other in times of need.
I also have faith in our military. And we have got a job to do — just like the farmers and ranchers and business owners and factory workers have a job to do. My administration has a job to do, and we’re going to do it. We will rid the world of the evildoers. We will call together freedom-loving people to fight terrorism.
And on this day of — on the Lord’s Day — I say to my fellow Americans, thank you for your prayers, thank you for your compassion, thank you for your love for one another. And tomorrow when you get back to work, work hard like you always have. But we’ve been warned. We’ve been warned there are evil people in this world. We’ve been warned so vividly — and we’ll be alert. Your government is alert. The governors and mayors are alert that evil folks still lurk out there.
As I said yesterday, people have declared war on America, and they have made a terrible mistake, because this is a fabulous country. Our economy will come back. We’ll still be the best farmers and ranchers in the world. We’re still the most innovative entrepreneurs in the world. On this day of faith, I’ve never had more faith in America than I have right now.
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