President Bush says the hunger for liberty that inspired America's founding fathers continues to guide the United States in promoting freedom worldwide. Mr. Bush marked America's Independence Day, Monday, with a speech in Morgantown, West Virginia.
President Bush told flag-waving Independence Day revelers that, from the very beginning of America's Revolutionary War, the quest for liberty has always required stamina and sacrifice.
"We remember the band of patriots who risked their lives to bring freedom to a new continent," he said. "Our forefathers faced terrible losses and hardships. Yet they kept their resolve. They kept their faith in a future of liberty. And with their hard-won victory, we guaranteed a home for the declaration's [of independence] proposition that all are created equal."
Mr. Bush said similar resolve will be required to win the war on terrorism, and that to do so the United States must expand freedom in Iraq and beyond without, as he put it, losing heart or nerve.
"By advancing the cause of liberty in a troubled part of the world, we will remove a source of instability and violence," added Mr. Bush. "And we will lay the foundation of peace for our children and our grandchildren."
As he has done in the past, the president dubbed the 21st century "liberty's century."
"I know that by carrying the spirit of 1776 into this new age, we will leave a stronger and better country for all who call this great land home," he said.
Later this week, President Bush travels to Scotland for the G8 summit. Speaking with reporters at the White House, Mr. Bush said climate change will be high on the list of topics discussed by the world's leading industrial nations and Russia.
The president has been criticized by some European officials for rejecting measures to cut emissions of so-called "greenhouse gases" contained in the Kyoto Protocol, which went into effect earlier this year. But Mr. Bush said it is time to, as he put it, "move the debate beyond Kyoto and talk about what we can do together to improve the environment."