Thank you all very much. Please be seated, unless, of course, you don't have a chair.

This bill sets enforcement benchmarks that have got to be met before other aspects of the comprehensive bill are triggered. In other words, there has to be certain accomplishments in place before other aspects of the bill come into being. And here are some of those — markers. Increasing the number of Border Patrol agents. In other words, we said we're going to double them. They've got to get doubled, until other aspects of the bill come into being.

I would like to see Habitat For Humanity come down here.

I appreciate the Mayor of Columbus, Georgia, Mayor Wetherington. Mr. Mayor, thank you for being here. Thanks for coming. Mayor Hardin, of Phenix City, Alabama has joined us. Mr. Mayor, appreciate you coming. I know you didn't ask, neither of the Mayors asked, but sometimes I like to remind them, just go ahead and fill the potholes. I'm not suggesting there are any, it's just my advice.

Last night I also talked about Anbar Province. It's important for the American people to understand al Qaeda still is in Iraq. As a matter of fact, they made it clear their ambitions in Iraq. These are the same folks that came and killed about 3,000 of our citizens. Their goal in Iraq is to topple the government, topple democracy.

We've got a lot of really fine troops fighting al Qaeda and we're making progress. There's a lot of pressure on them in Anbar. Interestingly enough, a lot of sheikhs have decided to join in the fight against al Qaeda. They're tired of foreigners and killers in their midst. That's what the commanders have told me. And they believe we have a good opportunity to really crush this group of folks.

I made a statement last night that I had ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region. I also talked about Patriot missile systems in the region, to help others deal with the external threats. We will use our full diplomatic resources throughout the Middle East.

The best way to defeat the totalitarian of hate is with an ideology of hope — an ideology of hate — excuse me — with an ideology of hope.

First thing that Medicare has done is it says that if you're — when you join Medicare, you get preventative screenings. Put in Texas terms, in order to solve something, you got to diagnose it.

You realize that if you're a two-working family — spouses, both spouses work in the family, and one dies early, that eventually the sole surviving spouse can choose the benefits from his plan or her plan, which is ever higher, but not both.

Georgia's leaders know that the peaceful resolution of conflict is essential to your integration into the transatlantic community. At the same time, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia must be respected — the territorial and sovereignty of Georgia must be respected by all nations.

I want to thank the people of Georgia for contributing troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. You've got a fine group of people that are helping serve the cause of freedom. We discussed the way forward in Iraq, discussed the importance of a democracy in the greater Middle East in order to leave behind a peaceful tomorrow.

REPORTER: So when you say that you want the U.S. to adhere to international and U.S. laws, that's not very comforting. This is a moral question. Is terr — torture ever justified?
DUBYA: Look, I'm gonna say it one more time. I can — if I can — maybe — maybe I can be more clear. The instructions went out to our people to adhere to law. That oughtta comfort you. We — we're a nation of law. We adhere to laws. We have laws on the books. You might look at those laws. And that might provide comfort for you. And those were the instructions out of — from me to the government.

REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President. You do have now the personal gun of Saddam Hussein. Are you willing to give it to President al-Yawar as a symbolic gift, or are you keeping it?
DUBYA: What she's referring to is a — members of a Delta team came to see me in the Oval Office and brought with me — these were the people that found Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq, hiding in a hole. And, by the way, let me remind everybody about Saddam Hussein, just in case we all forget. There were mass graves under his leadership. There were torture chambers. Saddam Hussein — if you — we had seven people come to my office. Perhaps the foreign press didn't see this story. Seven people came to my — they had their hands cut off because the Iraqi currency had devalued. And Saddam Hussein needed somebody to blame, so he blamed small merchants. And their hands were chopped off, their right hand.

Two-and-a-half years ago — or two years ago, this nation came under enemy attack.

America and our allies are called once again to defend the peace against an aggressive tyrant, and we accept this responsibility.

Well, I agree with [Senator] Zell [Miller], with this economic theory — that when a person has more money in their pocket, they're likely to demand somebody to produce them a good or a service. In other words, you get money in your pocket — you say, well, I think I'd like this product, or I'd like this service. [Five minutes pass...] You'll hear in a minute what people do with extra money in their pockets. You know what they do? They invest, or they hire.

I know there's some concern about overstating of numbers, you know, invest in my company because the sky's the limit. We may not be cash flowing much, but the sky's the limit. Well, when you pay dividends, that sky's the limit business doesn't hunt. What only matters is whether or not they can distribute that cash they say they're going to distribute. It leads to conservative business practices. It leads to being people — more businesses being responsible with your money.

It used to be in our history that only a few would own stocks. I bet there's a lot of people in Georgia in the old days would look up at Wall Street and say, you know, they own stocks, what is that all about?

But it used to be that oceans — we thought oceans could protect us, that we were guarded by the oceans. And that if there was a threat overseas, as a result of the protection from the oceans, we could decide whether to be involved or not. It might affect us overseas, but it couldn't affect us at home. And therefore, we have the luxury of kind of picking and choosing gathering threats.

But as we insist that Congress be wise with your money, we're going to make sure we spend enough to win this war. And by spending enough to win a war, we may not have a war at all.

Here's the page of the textbook we read from — the economics textbook, that is. We strongly believe that if you let a person keep more of their own money, they're likely to demand a good or a service. And when they demand a good or a service, somebody is likely to produce the good or a service. And when somebody produces that good or a service, somebody in Georgia and around America is more likely to find work.

It means that we unleash the faith-based programs to help change people's hearts, which will help change their lives.

A country which has been under attack can respond by loving your neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself.

We'd better make sure, for the good of the country, that the [American] Dream is vibrant and alive. It starts with having great education systems for every single child. ...It means we use the mighty muscle of the federal government in combination with state and local governments to encourage owning your own home. That's what that means. And it means — it means that each of us, each of us, have a responsibility in the great country to put something greater than ourselves — to promote something greater than ourselves. And to me, that something greater than yourself is to love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself.

Part of being a secure America is to encourage homeownership. So somebody can say, this is my home, welcome to my home.

But Mel's mother and daddy — Mel's mother and dad put him on an airplane to come to America when he was a young boy, because they didn't want his son growing up in a country that wasn't free.

While we have held the doctrine in Afghanistan — the doctrine of thou shall not harbor a terrorist — there still are killers running loose. There just are.

It is awfully hard to realize there can be peace in a place like the Middle East.

I've got a pretty good handle on what happens in rural Georgia. I cut my teeth on rural Georgia in 1968 and '69 as a pilot trainee in Valdosta, Georgia, home of the mighty Bulldogs, I think they're called.

We're a country based on fabulous values.

No question in my mind these are tough times for America. But there's no question in my mind we'll prevail. Right is on our side. And we'll prevail, because we're a fabulous nation, and we're a fabulous nation because we're a nation full of fabulous people.

We value life. The terrorists ruthlessly destroy it. We value education. The terrorists do not believe women should be educated, or should have health care, or should leave their homes. We value the right to speak our minds. For the terrorists, free expression can be grounds for execution.

No group or nation should mistake Americans' intentions. Where terrorist groups exist of global reach, the United States and our friends and allies will seek it out, and we will destroy it.

When we get the facts, we'll share it with the American people.

I recently spoke to high school students in Maryland and realized that for the first time ever these seniors will graduate in the midst of a war in our own country.

America needs a military where our breast and brightest are proud to serve, and proud to stay.