Transcript: Bush Speaks About War on Terror

President Bush spoke today at Oak Ridge National Labratory in Tennessee. Here is a transcript of his remarks on the war on terrorism.

BUSH: Thank you for the warm welcome. I realize the Y-12 National Security Complex doesn’t get a lot of visitors.

(LAUGHTER)

Thanks for the special arrangements.

I’m also glad to have the opportunity to thank each one of you for the vital work you do here. And please pass the word to your fellow employees, many of whom were waving, I want you to know, as we drove in, for which I am thankful.

The nation counts on your great expertise and your professionalism in producing, protecting and maintaining material that is critical to our security. America’s safer because of your service at Oak Ridge. You need to know our nation is grateful for that service.

(APPLAUSE)

I appreciate our secretary of energy, Spence Abraham. He traveled with me today.

Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for your service.

I want to thank Jeffrey Wadsworth, who’s the director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It’s the first time I have met Jeffrey.

I appreciate John Krakes (ph). I want to thank all the people who helped make this visit a successful visit.

BUSH: I want to thank Senator Lamar Alexander and the other members of the United States Congress who are traveling with us today -- strong supporters, by the way, of Oak Ridge.

I appreciate the mayor being here, David Bradshaw.

Mr. Mayor, I appreciate you taking time to come.

I’ll thank my fellow citizens for giving me a chance to come and visit.

I’ve just had a close look at some of the dangerous equipment secured in this place. Eight months ago, the centrifuge parts and processing equipment for uranium were 5,000 miles away in the nation of Libya. They were part of a secret nuclear weapons program. Today, Libya, America and the world are better off because these components are safely in your care.

These materials are the sobering evidence of a great danger. Certain regimes, often with ties to terrorist groups, seek the ultimate weapons as a short cut to influence. These materials, voluntarily turned over by the Libyan government, are also encouraging evidence that nations can abandon these ambitions and choose a better way.

Libya is dismantling its weapons of mass destruction and long- range missile programs. This progress came about through quiet diplomacy between America, Britain and the Libyan government. This progress was set in motion, however, by policies declared in public to all the world.

The United States, Great Britain and many other nations are determined to expose the threats of terrorism and proliferation and to oppose those threats with all our power.

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: We have sent this message in the strongest diplomatic terms and we have acted where action was required.

Every potential adversary now knows that terrorism and proliferation carry serious consequences and that the wise course is to abandon those pursuits. By choosing that course, the Libyan government is serving the interests of its own people and adding to the security of all nations.

America’s determination to actively oppose the threats of our time was formed and fixed on September the 11th, 2001. On that day, we saw the cruelty of the terrorists and we glimpsed the future they intend for us.

They intend to strike the United States to the limits of their power. They seek weapons of mass destruction to kill Americans on an even greater scale. And this danger is increased when outlaw regimes build or acquire weapons of mass destruction and maintain ties to terrorist groups.