For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 12, 2001

Remarks by the President at Youth Activities Center
Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida

12:16 P.M. CST

Q Thank you for coming, sir. We're really looking forward to this.

THE PRESIDENT: I'm looking forward to hearing from them. But one of the things I -- my job as the Commander-in-Chief is to boost morale in the military. In order to keep the peace, the military must be strong and morale has got to be high. And I've come to talk about base housing. We want to make sure people are well housed in the military. And there's some money in my budget to do that.

(Baby crying.)

THE PRESIDENT: Don't worry about it. Base housing's on the way. (Laughter.)

I got to see new housing and I got to see not-so-new-housing. And it was important to do so, and I appreciate the General giving me a tour. Anyway, thanks for letting me come by. And by the way, I'm proud to be traveling with my brother, Jeb. If you've got any problems, write him -- (laughter) -- and the two congressmen from this area, Congressman Boyd and Congressman Scarborough are with us. And of course, General Mike Ryan, who is from the Joint Chiefs. I appreciate you being here, General, as well.

But thank you all very much for giving me a chance to come. I look forward to hearing what you have to say, and it's your chance to give the Commander-in-Chief a few suggestions. And I'm interested.

I do want to say that I know a lot of families are worried about all the deployments that take place. And we'll honor our commitments. But the mission of this military is going to be to be ready to fight and win war, and therefore stop war from happening in the first place.

And I think that's important for all of the folks who wear the uniform and their spouses to hear. The mission will be well-focused, and that's what we'll be focusing our resources and attention on. I take it very seriously, because -- and I believe strongly that we're going to be able to keep the peace. It's a noble mission for all of us involved with the military.

Thank you.

END 12:19 P.