thank you for coming. David Dreier, chairman of the Rules Committee-David, thank you for being here.

David and I worked closely together to get a trade bill out of the House of Representatives. He knows what I know, that trade is good for creating jobs in the State of California. Fearful people, people who don't trust the ability of our entrepreneurs, build walls around America. Confident people tear them down, and I'm confident in the American spirit. I'm confident that the entrepreneurs of our country-Hispanic, Anglo, African American-compete with anybody, anyplace, anytime, and let's trade freely.

Congressman Calvert, Congressman Issa are with us as well. Thank you two for coming. And finally, Congressman Jerry Lewis is with us today.

I notice the people in the uniforms here applauding a little louder. They understand that Congressman Lewis plays an incredibly important role when it comes to appropriating monies for the United States military. There is no-he's been strong on the defense of America. I look forward to working with Jerry Lewis in the next budget cycle to make sure that the defense of this Nation is the number one priority of the budget of the United States.

I want to thank Rosario Marin, the Treasurer of the United States, for being here. It's nice to be back in your neighborhood, Rosario. I want to thank Hector Barreto, the Administrator of the SBA; Ruben Barrales, who works for me in the White House. Thank you for coming, Ruben.

I want to thank our host organizations, the Latin Business Association, the Ontario Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Orange County, and the Latino Coalition, for your sponsorship. One of the things that I am most proud of, of our Nation, is the number of Latinos who own their own business, the number of Latinos who really work hard to access the American Dream.

The growth of Latino-owned small businesses in California is astounding. It is amazing how many people now can say, "I am a proud business owner." To me, that is what America is all about, somebody who has a dream, somebody who works hard and can say to themselves and their community, "This is my business. This is something I own, and nobody can take it away from me.”

And the job of Government is always to remember the importance of the small business and the entrepreneurial dream. The job of Government is not to try to create wealth. The job of Government is to create an environment in which people are willing to take risks to realize their dream. It's to educate people. It's to provide opportunity and then make the playing field as level as it is and see who can succeed or not in the great country called America.

This has been an amazing year for Laura and me. Some things occurred that we expected. Some things happened that we didn't expect. I'm going to talk about one thing we were able to anticipate and one

we weren't.

First, I will tell you that nearly a year ago I hosted a group of business leaders to Austin, Texas, before I had become sworn in as the President. And leaders all around the country came and made it very clear that our economy was pretty darn slow, and I knew we needed to do something about it, and I'm going to talk about that in a second. So it was expected that there would be unemployment on the rise, expected that after a period of great prosperity, the economy would slow down. And we took some action that I'll describe here in a second.

Obviously, what was not expected was what took place on September the 11th, and we're doing something about that, as well. This great land of ours made a clear statement that we will not let terror stand, that those who inflicted damage on America would pay a severe price.

We learned some interesting lessons, that we're now vulnerable at home. I remember giving a speech to a group of high school seniors right after September the 11th, and it dawned on me in the middle of this talk that this is the first high school class that-in a long time, that is graduating in a time when somebody is attacking America.

These evil ones still want to hit us. But after September the 11th, America is now ready. We're after them. Any hint of somebody wanting to harm our country, we're acting. We've got thousands of FBI agents chasing down every single lead. We respect people's constitutional rights, and we will continue to do so. But if we think somebody is fixing to hurt the American people, we will move in this country. We're now on an alert because of September the 11th. And I want to thank the police officers who are here. And I want to thank whoever-if any FBI agents are here, and all law enforcement officials in the State of California and all across our country who are working endless hours to make sure with gather any information possible to protect the American people.

My most important job is the security and safety of the American people. Every morning I wake up, and when I wake up, I go to the Oval Office. I'm kind of an early morning guy, by the way. I take Barney and Spot out. [Laughter] They take a good look at the Rose Garden-[laughter-up close and personal. [Laughter]

And then I head into the Oval Office, and I read about the potential threats to America. And one of my first meetings is to visit with the head of the FBI, and my question every morning is, "Mr. Director, what are you doing about this threat? What's happening with this lead? Are you taking care of this piece of business?"

The culture of our law enforcement has changed to the point where they now know what I know, that we've got to do everything in our power to protect the American people. But the best way to secure the

homeland of America is to find the evil ones wherever they try to hide and bring them to justice. And that's exactly what the United States military-[applause].

I am very proud of the U.S. military. They've done exactly what we've asked them to do. For those of you who wear the uniform, thank you. For those of you who have got loved ones who wear the uniform, thank you as well. We're making steady progress in Afghanistan. The evil ones awakened a mighty giant. You know, we're a compassionate people, and we're a decent people, but if you come after us, you will learn that you have made a big mistake.

It seems like the more TV channels there are, the more anxious people become on TV. But I want to remind my fellow citizens, we've only been at war for 90 days. That's not a very long period of time. But in 90 days, we've made incredible progress. The Al Qaida, the Usama bin Laden group, can't claim Afghanistan as a haven anymore.

You know, they were like parasites. I know we've got some ranchers and farmers here; you understand what a parasite is. Parasites try to take over the host, and if there's enough parasites and if they've been there long enough, the host itself becomes ill. The host no longer is in a position of power in Afghanistan; the Taliban has been routed. But know what my most meanyou

ingful memory has been recently? And that has been the joy on the face of women and young girls in Afghanistan as they have been liberated from one of the most brutal regimes.

We're taking action. We're taking action against evil people, because this great Nation of many religions understands, our war is not against Islam or against faith practiced by the Muslim people; our war is a war against evil. This is clearly a case of good versus evil, and make no mistake about it, good will prevail.

thank you for coming. David Dreier, chairman of the Rules Committee-David, thank you for being here.

David and I worked closely together to get a trade bill out of the House of Representatives. He knows what I know, that trade is good for creating jobs in the State of California. Fearful people, people who don't trust the ability of our entrepreneurs, build walls around America. Confident people tear them down, and I'm confident in the American spirit. I'm confident that the entrepreneurs of our country-Hispanic, Anglo, African American-compete with anybody, anyplace, anytime, and let's trade freely.

Congressman Calvert, Congressman Issa are with us as well. Thank you two for coming. And finally, Congressman Jerry Lewis is with us today.

I notice the people in the uniforms here applauding a little louder. They understand that Congressman Lewis plays an incredibly important role when it comes to appropriating monies for the United States military. There is no-he's been strong on the defense of America. I look forward to working with Jerry Lewis in the next budget cycle to make sure that the defense of this Nation is the number one priority of the budget of the United States.

I want to thank Rosario Marin, the Treasurer of the United States, for being here. It's nice to be back in your neighborhood, Rosario. I want to thank Hector Barreto, the Administrator of the SBA; Ruben Barrales, who works for me in the White House. Thank you for coming, Ruben.

I want to thank our host organizations, the Latin Business Association, the Ontario Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Orange County, and the Latino Coalition, for your sponsorship. One of the things that I am most proud of, of our Nation, is the number of Latinos who own their own business, the number of Latinos who really work hard to access the American Dream.

The growth of Latino-owned small businesses in California is astounding. It is amazing how many people now can say, "I am a proud business owner.” To me, that is what America is all about, somebody who has a dream, somebody who works hard and can say to themselves and their community, "This is my business. This is something I own, and nobody can take it away from me.”

And the job of Government is always to remember the importance of the small business and the entrepreneurial dream. The job of Government is not to try to create wealth. The job of Government is to create an environment in which people are willing to take risks to realize their dream. It's to educate people. It's to provide opportunity and then make the playing field as level as it is and see who can succeed or not in the great country called America.

This has been an amazing year for Laura and me. Some things occurred that we expected. Some things happened that we didn't expect. I'm going to talk about one thing we were able to anticipate and one

we weren't.

First, I will tell you that nearly a year ago I hosted a group of business leaders to Austin, Texas, before I had become sworn in as the President. And leaders all around the country came and made it very clear that our economy was pretty darn slow, and I knew we needed to do something about it, and I'm going to talk about that in a second. So it was expected that there would be unemployment on the rise, expected that after a period of great prosperity, the economy would slow down. And we took some action that I'll describe here in a second.

Obviously, what was not expected was what took place on September the 11th, and we're doing something about that, as well. This great land of ours made a clear statement that we will not let terror stand, that those who inflicted damage on America would pay a severe price.

We learned some interesting lessons, that we're now vulnerable at home. I remember giving a speech to a group of high school seniors right after September the 11th, and it dawned on me in the middle of this talk that this is the first high school class that-in a long time, that is graduating in a time when somebody is attacking Amer

ica.

These evil ones still want to hit us. But after September the 11th, America is now ready. We're after them. Any hint of somebody wanting to harm our country, we're acting. We've got thousands of FBI agents chasing down every single lead. We respect people's constitutional rights, and we will continue to do so. But if we think somebody is fixing to hurt the American people, we will move in this country. We're now on an alert because of September the 11th. And I want to thank the police officers who are here. And I want to thank whoever-if any FBI agents are here, and all law enforcement officials in the State of California and all across our country who are working endless hours to make sure with gather any information possible to protect the American people.

My most important job is the security and safety of the American people. Every morning I wake up, and when I wake up, I go to the Oval Office. I'm kind of an early morning guy, by the way. I take Barney and Spot out. [Laughter] They take a good look at the Rose Garden-[laughter-up close and personal. [Laughter]

And then I head into the Oval Office, and I read about the potential threats to America. And one of my first meetings is to visit with the head of the FBI, and my question every morning is, "Mr. Director, what are you doing about this threat? What's happening with this lead? Are you taking care of this piece of business?”

The culture of our law enforcement has changed to the point where they now know what I know, that we've got to do everything in our power to protect the American people. But the best way to secure the

homeland of America is to find the evil ones wherever they try to hide and bring them to justice. And that's exactly what the United States military-[applause].

I am very proud of the U.S. military. They've done exactly what we've asked them to do. For those of you who wear the uniform, thank you. For those of you who have got loved ones who wear the uniform, thank you as well. We're making steady progress in Afghanistan. The evil ones awakened a mighty giant. You know, we're a compassionate people, and we're a decent people, but if you come after us, you will learn that you have made a big mistake.

It seems like the more TV channels there are, the more anxious people become on TV. But I want to remind my fellow citizens, we've only been at war for 90 days. That's not a very long period of time. But in 90 days, we've made incredible progress. The Al Qaida, the Usama bin Laden group, can't claim Afghanistan as a haven anymore.

You know, they were like parasites. I know we've got some ranchers and farmers here; you understand what a parasite is. Parasites try to take over the host, and if there's enough parasites and if they've been there long enough, the host itself becomes ill. The host no longer is in a position of power in Afghanistan; the Taliban has been routed. But you know what my most meaningful memory has been recently? And that has been the joy on the face of women and young girls in Afghanistan as they have been liberated from one of the most brutal regimes.

We're taking action. We're taking action against evil people, because this great Nation of many religions understands, our war is not against Islam or against faith practiced by the Muslim people; our war is a war against evil. This is clearly a case of good versus evil, and make no mistake about it, good will prevail.

The American people are patient, very patient, and for that, I'm grateful. I appreciate so very much the fact that the Americans from all walks of life have stepped back and have figured out that this is going to require a lot of effort and energy to succeed in our war against terror. And I want to thank you for your patience. We're now in a dangerous phase of the first front in the war against terror. Because of the terrain in Afghanistan and because there's still hostile elements, we're pursuing our objective cave by cave. You see, the people that tend to send young, innocent boys to their death in the name of Allah want to save their own skins by hiding in caves. And I've told the world, just like I've told our military, we will do whatever it takes to bring them to justice. They think they can run, and they think they can hide, because they think this country is soft and impatient. But they are going to continue to learn the terrible lesson that says, don't mess with America.

This conflict will have its casualties as we pursue our objective. And we mourn for Sergeant Nathan Chapman, and we pray with his family for God's blessings on them. Nathan lost his life yesterday, but I can assure the parents and loved ones of Nathan Chapman that he lost his life for a cause that is just and important. And that cause is the security of the American people, and that cause is the cause of freedom and a civilized world.

a

Our hunt for any terrorist activity is not just confined to Afghanistan. I truly believe this is a defining moment in history, and this country must lead. We must seize the moment. We must make our country and other countries that embrace freedom place where children can grow up in peace and be able to realize their dreams. And therefore, we must find terror where it exists and pull it out by the roots and bring it to justice. Terror is evil, and wherever evil exists, the free nations of the world must come together in a massive coalition that says, terror will not stand. And the

United States is ready to lead that coalition, not only in Afghanistan but wherever we find terror.

And we're making good progress. We're cutting off their money. There's going to be all kinds of fronts in this war on terror, and one of them is the financial front. They like to move money around, and obviously, in order to fight a war against the United States or any of our allies or anybody who embraces freedom, you've got to have money. And so they set up front groups, groups that sound good, the such-and-such foundation for making sure people have got a good life. And yet what ends up happening is, a chunk of that money ends up in the pockets of evil people who don't respect civilization, who don't like freedom, who resent the fact that men and women should be free. And so, we're working with our allies in our coalition to cut off their money. And we're beginning to have an effect. We're beginning to have good progress about finding who is funding them, and we're chasing the money all the way to the source. And when we find somebody in some country who is writing checks on behalf of groups of people that would hurt us, we're asking that country to hold them accountable.

You see, there's no shades of gray in this war against terror. Either you're with the United States, or you're not with the United States. And because this Nation has shown such strong resolve and unity, because we're patient, and because we're going to be successful in the first theater, a lot of the fence-sitters or those who would like to be on the fence are beginning to realize it's in their best interests to be with us.

The Nation is united, and there is a resolve and a spirit that is just so fantastic to feel. And I am obviously grateful to be the President of such a strong and vibrant land.

We have responded to the issues abroad with unanimity and clarity of purpose and