Well, thank you all very much. And thank you for your service to this great land of ours. Laura and I are thrilled to be here. I'm traveling today with members of my Cabinet: the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and Alma—she is the true general in that family—[laughter]—the Secretary of Defense, Secretary Rumsfeld, and his bride; the Secretary of Energy, Secretary Abraham, and his bride.
We've assembled the finest national security team of any administration. We understand our job is to keep the peace. But we also understand in order to do so, our military must be well prepared, well trained, well housed, and well paid.
One of the first policy speeches I gave was to send the message, loud and clear, to the U.S. Congress that we expect there to be a pay raise for those who wear the uniform. But what you can expect from us is a clear mission, a clear, focused mission that says our military will be trained and ready to fight and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening in the first place.
We're honored to be here. Thank you for your service to America. Our country and the world is better off for it.
God bless.
NOTE: The President spoke at approximately 1 p.m. at Langley Air Force Base. In his remarks, he referred to Secretary Powell's wife, Alma; Secretary Rumsfeld's wife, Joyce; and Secretary Abraham's wife, Jane. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.
George W. Bush, Remarks on Arrival in Hampton, Virginia Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/213949
