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If whatever we do changes one person's opinion, gets one person's readiness better than it was before, or at the end of the day entertains people, than we've done our job.

We must be prepared to face our responsibilities and be willing to use force if necessary.

Our patience will achieve more than our force.

Today nearly every combat brigade located within the United States would report that they are not ready for duty. They are at the lowest levels of readiness.

That is not to say that we can relax our readiness to defend ourselves. Our armament must be adequate to the needs, but our faith is not primarily in these machines of defense but in ourselves.

I'm relieved that the state of the Marines' readiness will remain high.

In these troubled, uncertain times, we don't need more command and control; we need better means to engage everyone's intelligence in solving challenges and crises as they arise.

We must maintain strong defenses, military and spiritual.

We continue to be vigilant.

We have to make sure that we are a force for peace and stability in the world, and that we're prepared to defend freedom and the security of the American people.