I'm very fond of this part of the country. It's not that far away from my home state. And so, appreciate your time. Appreciate the good folks in this part of the world. I do want to thank all those who have said prayers for me and Laura during our presidency.

And finally, the people in Louisiana must know that all across our country there's a lot of prayer — prayer for those whose lives have been turned upside down. And I'm one of them.

An agreement with Colombia would level the playing field. And a failure to pass an agreement would send a terrible signal to our neighborhood. The Speaker of the United States Congress has killed this bill unless she gives us a date certain for a vote. It's a bad decision on her part.

I'm a strong proponent of the restoration of the wetlands, for a lot of reasons. There's a practical reason, though, when it comes to hurricanes. The stronger the wetlands, the more likely the damage of the hurricane.

In return for federal money, we expect local districts and states to measure, to have tests. The principal, the good Doc asked me to go into the 4th grade class and say to the kids, good luck on the test tomorrow. That was music to my ears, because you don't know whether or not a child is reading unless you test.

WILLIAMS: Do you have any moments of doubt that we fought the wrong war, that there's something wrong with the perception of America overseas?
DUBYA: Well, those are two different questions. Did we fight the wrong war, and the absorally — I have no doubt. The war came to our shores, remember that. We were — we, we had a foreign policy that basically said let's hope calm works. And we were attacked.
WILLIAMS: But those weren't Iraqis.
DUBYA: No, no — they weren't — they, they weren't, uhh — no, I agree they weren't Iraqis, nor did I ever say that Iraq ordered that attack, but they're a part of, Iraq is part of the struggle against the terrorists.

WILLIAMS: The folks who say you should've asked for some sort of sacrifice from all of us after 9/11, do they have a case looking back on it?
DUBYA: Americans are sacrificing. I mean, we're, we're — you know, we pay a lot of taxes. Uhh, the, uhh — Americans sacrificed when they — umm, you know, when they economy went in the tank. Americans sacrificed, when — you know air travel was disrupted. American pax, taxpayers have paid a lot to help this nation recover. Umm, I think Americans have sacrificed.

WILLIAMS: We always talk about what you're reading. As you know, there was a report that you have just read the works of a French philosopher.
DUBYA: Heh, heh, heh
WILLIAMS: Can you tell us —
DUBYA: The stranger —
WILLIAMS: Tell us the back story of Camus.
DUBYA: The back story of the — of the book?
WILLIAMS: Well, what, what led you —
DUBYA: What caused me?
WILLIAMS: What led you to this?
DUBYA: I was in Crawford, and uhh — I said, I was looking for a book to read and Laura said you oughtta try Camus, I also read three Shakespeares.

I've, I've got a eckullectic reading list.

Were you the only black man in Salt Lake City?

REPORTER: Did they misinform you when you said that no one anticipated the breach of the levees?
DUBYA: No, what I was referring to is this. When that storm came by, a lot of people said we dodged a bullet. When that storm came through at first, people said, whew. There was a sense of relaxation, and that's what I was referring to. And I, myself, thought we had dodged a bullet. You know why? Because I was listening to people, probably over the airways, say, the bullet has been dodged. And that was what I was referring to. Of course, there were plans in case the levee had been breached. There was a sense of relaxation in the moment, a critical moment. And thank you for giving me a chance to clarify that.

Here's what I believe. I believe that the great city of New Orleans will rise again and be a greater city of New Orleans. I believe the town where I used to come — from Houston, Texas, to enjoy myself, occasionally too much — will be that very same town, that it will be a better place to come to.

It's not a dictatorship in Washington, but I tried to make it one in that instance.

We're making progress on this war against terror. Sometimes, you'll see the progress and sometimes you won't. It's a different kind of war. The other day, we hauled a guy in named al Nashiri. That's not a household name here in America [audience laughs]. I can understand why some go blank when they hear his name.

It's a different kind of war because we're fighting people who are — they send youngsters to their suicidal deaths and they try to find a dark cave. They're kind of lurching around in the dark corners of some cities around the world. They're in over 60 countries. And slowly but surely, we're dismantling the terrorist network, which hates us because of what we love. See, they hate the fact that we love freedom. They can't stand the fact that in this country people can worship the almighty God any way he or she sees fit.

Sometimes, Washington is one of these towns where the person — people who think they've got the sharp elbow is the most effective person.

Let me just put it to you this way. He no longer has the capacity to do what he did in the past, which was to mastermind the U.S.S. Cole — the plot on the Cole that killed American soldiers.

And we've got more work to do there. And we'll stay there until we rout them out. See, they think they can kind of hide in the countryside there in Afghanistan, and they may be able to hide for a day or two. They may be able to hide for a year. But it doesn't matter how long. See, that's what you just have to know.

I regret that the first team of our family isn't here today. She's helping decorate the White House.

That spirit of America is so strong and so alive, it allows me to boldly predict that, out of the evil done to this country, is going to come incredible good, not only a peaceful world, but a more compassionate and hopeful and decent America for every citizen who's lucky enough to live in this country.

And I also recognize the limitations of government. Government can hand out money and, frankly, we do a pretty good job of it sometimes.

I'm here to remind you all that — I want to thank you for what you have done and what you are going to do over the next couple of days, and that is to gather up your buddies and get them to vote, is to man the phones and put up the signs and grab people by the wrists and say, you owe it to Louisiana to vote for Suzie Terrell for the United States Senate.

And good public policy asks the questions: "How do we make sure that what affects one affects the other in a positive way? How do we make sure people can find jobs as we head into the year 2000?"

CONNIE CHUNG [NBC]: Just a moment ago Tom Brokaw, in an interview with Dan Quayle — uhh, Dan Quayle revealed that he may have made a few phone calls that would help him get into the National Guard instead of serving in Vietnam —
DUBYA: Yeah.
CHUNG: Are you aware of this, and do you think —
DUBYA: No.
CHUNG: — that could be a problem?
DUBYA: I am not, no, and I also think service in the National Guard is a good thing to do. I mean, he could — I, I'm from that era, as you know. As a matter of fact, he happens to be one year younger than I am. He couldda gone to Canada. He decided to serve. I think Dan Quayle oughtta be proud of his National Guard experience, like thousands of others around the country are —
CHUNG: And —
DUBYA: I was in the National Guard.
CHUNG: You were in the —
DUBYA: I flew —
CHUNG: — National Guard?
DUBYA: I flew fighters in the Texas Air National Guard, of which I am very proud.
CHUNG: Now, the problem, though, would be is if indeed he made several phone calls, or some people made phone calls on his behalf to get him into the National Guard. Did that ever, I mean, did that happen to you? Were you —
DUBYA: No, I don't think so. But, uhh, in those days, people were goin' into the service, all different branches, and people — if you wanted to go into the National Guard, I guess sometimes people made calls. I don't see anything wrong with the kind — matter of fact, I'm glad he served this country. And serving in the National Guard is serving in the mili — they probably shouldda called up the National Guard up in those days. Maybe we'd have done better in Vietnam.

FINK: When you're talking about politics, what do you and [your father] talk about?
DUBYA: Pussy.