White House Gaggle

By Claire Buchan
THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
(Fort Carson, Colorado)
______________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release November 24, 2003

PRESS GAGGLE
BY
CLAIRE BUCHAN

Aboard Air Force One
En route Fort Carson, Colorado

12:05 P.M. EST

MS. BUCHAN: Let me start with the President’s day. The President had his
usual briefings this morning, then he pardoned the National Thanksgiving turkey,
Stars and Stripes, the winners of the on-line contest. He then went to the
Pentagon, where he signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which will
ensure that our government meets its obligation to support our men and women in
uniform, who are the defenders of — who are defending America and fighting the
war on terrorism.

He is en route to Colorado Springs, where he will be met by Freedom Corps
volunteer Diane Campbell, who has been an active volunteer in the Fort Carson
community. She volunteers as an instructor with the Army Family Team Building
program, which helps military spouses and their families adjust to the culture,
customs and life in the army. She’s also a volunteer at her church, and she has
served as a Family Readiness Group volunteer, which provides information and
moral support for military families year round, but especially in times of
deployment.

The President will then have lunch with soldiers. He’ll then make remarks
to soldiers and their families. In those remarks, the President will thank the
soldiers and their families for their courage and their service at this crucial
time for our nation. The President will discuss what’s at stake for America,
and he’ll pay tribute to the hardship and the sacrifices that the troops and
their families have faced.

The men and women of Fort Carson are heavily involved in the ongoing
operations in Iraq. They’re fighting to secure the freedom of the Iraqi people,
to help the Iraqi people build a free and democratic future for themselves. And
they’re also taking the fight to the terrorists so that we’re more secure at
home. And the President will express the thanks of our nation to those men and
women and their families, and what each of them is doing to defend and protect
America. He will then meet with families of fallen soldiers privately