President Meets with Republican Senate Conference

United States Capitol

THE PRESIDENT: I just had a really constructive and
interesting session with Republican members of the
United States Senate. I'm impressed by the leadership
here in the Senate, I'm impressed by the caliber of
people that serve our country.

I want to congratulate the House for passing a very
vital piece of legislation that will give us the tools
necessary to protect the American people, and that's
the Hamdan legislation. That's the legislation that
will give us the capacity to be able to interrogate
high-valued detainees, and at the same time, give us
the capacity to try people who -- in our military
tribunals.

In speaking to the Senate, I urged them to get this
legislation to my desk as soon as possible. Senator
Frist and Senator McConnell committed to that end. The
American people need to know we're working together to
win this war on terror. Our most important
responsibility is to protect the American people from
further attack. And we cannot be able to tell the
American people we're doing our full job unless we
have the tools necessary to do so. And this
legislation passed in the House yesterday is a part of
making sure that we do have the capacity to protect
you.

Our most solemn job is the security of this country.
People shouldn't forget there's still an enemy out
there that wants to do harm to the United States. And
therefore a lot of my discussion with the members of
the Senate was to remind them of this solemn
responsibility. And so I look forward to you passing
good legislation, Senators. Thank you for having me.
Appreciate your time.