Washington ? The Kansas missionary who survived 377 days of captivity in the Philippines jungle called the indictments of her kidnappers “a positive first step” toward justice.

Gracia Burnham met Wednesday afternoon with President Bush in the Oval Office after spending the morning with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. She said the president was battling her captors and other terrorists to make the world safer for her children.

“He just told us that they were going to continue this fight,” Burnham said. “I agree wholeheartedly with everything that he said.”

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Bush wanted to offer comfort, condolences and thanks to the Burnham family.

“She has been a marvelously strong and optimistic woman with a wonderful, upbeat outlook,” Fleischer said. “I think the president’s going to enjoy just putting his arm around her, spending some time with her.”

She and her husband, Martin, and a Filipino nurse were the last hostages held by the Muslim separatist group Abu Sayyaf, whose leaders were indicted Tuesday.

“The men who abducted us and held us, who murdered some and mistreated others, who kept us running and starving in the jungle, are criminals and deserve to be punished,” Burnham said after meeting Bush.

She made the same statement earlier at a Capitol Hill news conference, where she was flanked by Rep. Todd Tiahrt and Sen. Sam Brownback, two Kansas Republicans, and Rep. Mary Bono, R-Calif.

Burnham was shot in the thigh in the military rescue operation last month that killed her husband and nurse Ediborah Yap. Considered a top target in the United States’ war against terrorism, Abu Sayyaf is said to have ties to Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network.

Also among the more than 100 hostages was a third American, Guillermo Sobero of Corona, Calif. Sobero was beheaded by his kidnappers.

Five alleged leaders of Abu Sayyaf are under U.S. indictment, although none is in custody.