[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 28 (Friday, February 14, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2516-S2519]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      A TRYING TIME FOR OUR NATION

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in a few minutes I will be closing the 
Senate for our recess break, but I wanted to take this opportunity to 
speak a few moments on an issue that is on my mind and on the mind of 
my wife and family, and it is on the minds of most every American today 
in what I would consider very trying times, from an intellectual 
standpoint, from an emotional standpoint, a spiritual standpoint. And 
indeed, this week has been a very trying week for the Nation.
  There is much alarm about the increased threat of terrorism. We know 
we are at a time that is closely approaching the possible use of force 
to ensure that Saddam Hussein is disarmed of weapons of mass 
destruction, such as chemical agents and biological agents; and we all 
feel the stress all across America--not just in this body in 
Washington, DC, and in New York, where the stress level is high because 
of the symbolic value of being a potential site for attack. We are 
concerned for families, we are concerned for friends, we are concerned 
for neighbors all over America, and we are concerned for the service 
men and women overseas.
  As elected officials in this body, we have taken the opportunity over 
the last 3 or 4 days, coinciding with the increased alert, to talk 
about the nature of our duties and responsibilities both to our 
constituents, as well as to our families as we serve in this body. We, 
in the Senate, have a great honor to serve in this beautiful Chamber, 
in this beautiful Capitol Building, and it is indeed the symbol of our 
Nation's strength and our Nation's purpose. Throughout this week, while 
fully aware that our enemies, as I speak now and as so many have 
debated so many issues over the course of the week, are plotting their 
evil designs. We know that. Yet we continue to carry out our duties as 
Senators and as citizens. It is truly remarkable.
  I could not be prouder of the many fine women and men who make up 
this institution. Yes, I have mentioned the Senators, but I also 
include the thousands of individuals who come to this building and 
surrounding buildings on Capitol Hill to support the activities of what 
goes on in this body and in this room as we debate and amend and pass 
legislation. Through very difficult, long, and hard hours so many have 
demonstrated to this fine city and to the Nation that life must go on 
in times of threat and increased alert.
  Terrorists will have won when they can so intimidate us that we stop 
performing our most basic duties and responsibilities. Clearly, they 
have not, nor will they.
  Last week Secretary Tom Ridge of the Department of Homeland Security 
announced the President had determined that the Nation should be moved 
to that next higher level of alert, a heightened threat level. Attorney 
General John Ashcroft explained this was done in response to recent 
reporting that indicates an increased likelihood that al-Qaida may 
attempt to attack Americans in the United States and/or abroad around 
the end of the Haj, the Muslim religious period ending mid-February, 
2003.
  What does this mean? It is confusing to the American people. It is 
confusing based on what one reads and sees on

[[Page S2517]]

television. People see the imagery. It looks like a thermometer going 
to that orange level, with that orange beginning to pulse. It is 
confusing to people as to what it means: What does it mean to my spouse 
and to my children? What does it mean when I drive to work and drive 
home? What does it mean to my constituents back in Tennessee or the 
Presiding Officer's constituents in Utah? What does it mean? What 
should our response be?
  As was explained to us, I think very well, from a Government 
standpoint, an increased threat level captures a response where all 
Federal agencies focus and work together to reduce the vulnerabilities 
and increase security, and this, in itself, serves as a deterrent to 
the terrorist whose goal is to personally terrorize and strike fear. 
The terrorist wants to kill, but the terrorist really wants to strike 
fear, to paralyze, and to bring pain and paralysis to America. We see a 
reduction in vulnerabilities and increased security in this deterrence.
  Also, as was explained well, this heightened alert--that is, Federal 
agencies working together, but at the same time literally tens of 
thousands of intelligence agencies, public health agencies, hospitals, 
law enforcement at the State level, at the county level, at the city 
level, at the community level and, indeed, at the neighborhood level 
are all activated and begin communicating and coordinating--acts as a 
deterrent to that would-be terrorist who all of a sudden says: My 
action--whatever it is--has less chance of being successful.
  I wish to also mention the responsibility we have as citizens. I just 
spoke about government. That is law enforcement and public health. But 
we also, as individuals, have responsibilities. That is what I think 
has become confusing to American parents and families. What do we do? 
How do we respond? What should our efforts be?
  Indeed, Secretary Ridge, at the same time we have this activation 
from above coming down, integrated I think very well today--and that is 
why I am comfortable with where we are today. We can always do better, 
we can always be better prepared, but I am very comfortable with where 
we are today.
  Secretary Ridge asked that individual Americans remain alert. We use 
the words ``remain vigilant.'' All of a sudden, instead of having 
government working, we have 250 million people out there being the eyes 
and ears of law enforcement, and that is where the real power is in 
terms of stopping a potential act of terrorism.
  The recommendations that have come out over the last week were picked 
up and put on television such that, at the end of the week, we were 
just saying: Duct tape on doors and plastic sheets. All of what I just 
said, in terms of this huge coordination and communication network of 
deterrence above and the power of 250 million people being vigilant and 
picking up on anybody whose behavior might be a little bit different in 
one's neighborhood, all of a sudden gets symbolized by a piece of duct 
tape. That is where it gets confusing and vague. The reason I have come 
to the floor is to try to put that in some perspective.
  From the information standpoint, we in Congress are aware of that 
confusion and that confusing message. People want to go out and say the 
messenger is not doing a good job. We are all in this together. It is 
important for us in Congress to make sure we have the very best 
intelligence coming in to make sure when we go to a threat level, it is 
made on the best information, and that is the precision of information. 
But we also have an obligation to help not just to educate but to share 
the information we have with what individuals can do and families can 
do, make it understandable and not as confusing or vague as it was 
after anthrax hit, as it was after September 11, and even over the 
course of this week: What do we do as individuals?

  It is important at this time of heightened awareness and vigilance 
that we also maintain the right perspective. As I have talked to people 
throughout Tennessee and family members who are not here in Washington, 
they have watched on television gas masks being put on, duct tape being 
put up; they see artillery with the Capitol in the background. I am 
speaking mainly to families at this standpoint. We have to be very 
careful because with 24-hour news cycles 7 days a week, every 30 
minutes the news cycle being repeated, with the potential use of germs, 
microbes, bacteria, chemical agents, all of which are new in this 
arsenal of terrorism--new in terms of the weapons of mass destruction 
we traditionally think about being nuclear 50, 40 years ago, now we are 
thinking about little viruses and bacteria--it is easy to overstate, 
and all of a sudden the pain and paralysis you begin to feel inside, if 
you are mesmerized by that television set, seeing these images come 
again and again, we have to be careful. We all know these visual images 
are put on television to capture your attention. We know this captures 
our emotion and attention because we have that inner fear that we do 
not want that little virus to hit us.
  Again, we have to be careful as we look at television, as we look at 
media today, not to let it feed our paralysis and fear. I am a parent. 
I have two high school boys; they are still children. I do not want 
them sitting there every day watching what is, yes, real, but in terms 
of perception, if you just watch television, you say: This risk is 
huge; that virus or bacteria is going to hit tomorrow; and there is 
nothing I can do about it. I am helpless, and things are out of 
control, and I don't know what is going to happen to my parents or 
kids.
  I do think the vigilance is important as we go forth because, as I 
said just a few minutes ago, there are no better eyes than those of 250 
million people who, in driving to work every day, notice something just 
not quite right, or in your everyday surroundings, there might be 
somebody just hanging around for the last 3 or 4 days who did not used 
to be hanging around. That is the sort of vigilance and alertness that 
becomes a deterrent and also, of course, important information if there 
is potential terrorist activity.
  My perspective for a lot of this has been as a surgeon and a doctor--
I have been very involved in viruses, chemical agents, and microbes--
and as a Senator because of my participation in a lot of hearings on 
bioterrorism, the risk of bioterrorism, but also my experience as a 
husband and a parent who sees the impact this can, indeed, have on 
families in a very direct way.
  Past generations have been affected in many ways, as well, by the 
threat of nuclear war. When I was very young and the generation before 
me lived with this accommodation of the image of a nuclear explosion 
and immediately in schools having exercises of hiding under a desk or 
seeking cover under a desk, of bomb shelters being built in 
communities, the same discussion going on in terms of having a supply 
of water and food for 3 days or 5 days, people converting their 
basements to bomb shelters--in the same way that situation took a lot 
of accommodation, learning, and new ways of thinking, indeed, we are 
having to do that today, 40 years later. We are doing it with the 
viruses and bacteria and chemical agents. The same way we got through 
without a major catastrophe in the last 50 years, we need to get 
through this with an understanding and an increased knowledge that we 
need to share about chemical agents and microbes. It is a new 
vocabulary. There is a lot to learn, and that can be overwhelming.

  If one is watching this on TV, they know there is a real risk--a tiny 
risk but a risk--that there is a body of information that we need to 
get accustomed to understanding, just as we did with nuclear weapons 40 
and 50 years ago. The reason I encourage people, no matter who they 
are, to learn a little bit about the microbes and chemical agents and 
what one would do if something happened in their neighborhood, is 
because it is real. The terrorist activity we are talking about is 
weapons of mass destruction.
  We know people such as Saddam Hussein have those weapons of mass 
destruction, these viruses and bacteria. When we see these linkages to 
al-Qaida and to terrorist activity, it is incumbent upon us, as 
Americans, to learn more about these biological agents.
  The good news is the Government has responded aggressively in a lot 
of ways in terms of funding, in terms of organization, in terms of 
coordination. My message is that families need to respond, too, not 
with pain and paralysis and increased stress but by taking the

[[Page S2518]]

opportunity to learn, to share information, to talk about it over the 
dinner table and to ask questions.
  If someone asks a question of somebody and they do not know, ask it 
of somebody else. That sharing of information brings down the stress, 
brings down the potential for pain and paralysis. With that, we will 
get through this. We will get through it in a comfortable way and 
everything will be OK.
  Our officials at all levels of Government are taking the appropriate 
steps. I say that as a Government official. I think it is important for 
Americans to recognize that this body, the House, and the President of 
the United States has responded to make sure in terms of prevention, in 
terms of protection, and in terms of response that we have acted and 
will continue to act.
  I will run through several questions that I get all the time. How big 
is the risk? The risk of biological weapons or chemical weapons, 
although I think it is higher than nuclear weapons being used in our 
homeland, is still small. It is tiny. It is real. It is bigger than it 
was 2 years ago. It is bigger than it was 5 years ago. It is bigger 
than 10 years ago, but the overall risk of biological and chemical 
agents being used successfully as agents of mass destruction in this 
country is small. The threat is real and our response needs to be 
proportionate to that overall small risk.
  There are things that families need to know and be prepared to do. A 
couple of questions that I get are: What does high alert mean? The 
alerts, as I said, are the way that the Federal Government responds to 
increased threats. Typically, these threats are nonspecific. They do 
not say an attack is going to happen in this city or in this location 
at a certain time. The intelligence is gathered through a myriad of 
sources from all over the world, and when they reach a certain 
threshold where it is clear there is something potentially going on the 
threat level is raised. Government responds and we, as individuals, 
need to respond.
  I do not think everybody needs a disaster supply kit. It may be that 
if one lives near a highly visible potential target that they would be 
more likely to develop that disaster supply kit, and I leave that to 
individuals to discuss with their family.

  What should our response be? Communities need to respond by 
increasing their vigilance because that increase in vigilance does 
empower us as part of this war that I would say is an extension of what 
may well go on in Iraq--it is part of our patriotic responsibilities of 
being a citizen in America to discuss and learn something about what 
the biological agents might be, and to remain vigilant.
  People ask me all the time while I am in the public, what should I 
look for? We do not know where terrorists are.
  Terrorists are everywhere. The anthrax letters a year ago were first 
in Florida, not in Washington, DC. It was in New Jersey and, yes, New 
York and Washington, DC. True, terrorism can be anywhere, although 
terrorist activity traditionally goes to highly symbolic areas and 
sites.
  It was 10 years ago, by the way, that we had the first big terrorist 
activity in the United States. We know what happened during that second 
attack on the World Trade Center. We have seen biological weapons used 
for the first time in Washington, DC, and in Florida in October, just a 
month after September 11.
  The question of what do I do if I find myself in the middle of an 
attack, it depends on whether one is inside or outside, and that is the 
sort of information that can be exchanged with local law enforcement, 
and public health and emergency responders. If people will go to the 
Web sites of the Department of Homeland Security, they can see what 
those responses would be.
  I think it is important, as a family, that people talk about 
communication, what happens if something occurs right now, what 
telephone number do the children have. I would say to have a number 
both in State, in the neighborhood, an extra number to call inside, but 
also out of State. A decision needs to be made where to go. I encourage 
people, if there were a biological attack or some sort of chemical 
attack, to have everybody in their family know where would you go.
  Let me comment on one last thing and then I will close. This is a 
time of stress. In talking to my colleagues and their families, I sense 
that when we go to this high alert--and as a physician I know this--
there is a sense of stress that may or may not be talked about or 
noticed. I have to put my physician hat on for one second, because it 
can be reflected both physically and emotionally. I think it is 
important at least to be aware of it.
  People do not sleep as well. Some people eat more; some people eat 
less. Some people develop tummy aches or belly aches. Some people 
develop back pain. That is sort of the physical and emotional 
manifestations: irritability, detachment, periods of depression, 
feeling blue, being on edge, waking up in the middle of the night.
  That is normal. The body is remarkable. We are truly remarkable. The 
fact that we have this response, it is physiologic but it has an 
emotional component; it has a mental component and a physical 
component. The important issue is how one deals with it. When we go to 
these elevated stress levels or heightened threat levels, which 
correlate with stress levels, it is important to realize that everybody 
feels it to a certain extent. It is not just you. You are not alone.

  There are a lot of things you can do. First and foremost, 
communicate. Talk to other people. Talk about it over the dinner table. 
Share. You have to be careful a little bit because if you are anxious 
and you feel the stress and you want to talk to your children, you 
might wait and talk an hour later when you have settled down a little 
bit. The big thing is to talk. Listen, talk, share your concerns.
  Two, keep the faith. Some people rely more on drawing strength from 
traditions, from their synagogue, or their mosque, or their church.
  Third, embrace daily routines. Do not stop doing the things that you 
do every day. Go ahead and continue to do them. In fact, focus on doing 
them better than you did in the past because you want to feel as if you 
have more control over your life. If you work hard to do something 
well, like bake a cake, make sure it is a good cake. Take pride in that 
cake because it gives you sense of control.
  As I mentioned earlier, take a news break. Do not get mesmerized by 
the television or the newspapers or as you are flipping through the 
newspaper do not stop on that one article that will scare you to death 
in terms of what a smallpox virus will do to you. It is real, so you 
have to be careful, but once you know it you do not need to read it 
every day as you go through the paper. You do not need to watch the 24-
hour news channels where you see those same images of gas masks and 
what the agents can do to people.
  The fifth is, join a group. Participate with others. Do not lock 
yourself down and worry about this. Some people play cards or play 
bridge. Take part in something that is larger than yourself. With most 
people it probably begins with family, doing family activities.
  Again, as a doctor--and then I will take my doctor hat off--exercise 
regularly, eat well, and get a good night's rest. That is enough of the 
physician end of things. It is a time of heightened anxiety, increased 
stress and if we do not address each of these head on it does result in 
pain and paralysis.
  We are about to begin a recess that will take us to our home and to 
our families. I encourage all of our colleagues to engage in a quiet 
resolve that they have shown on the floor of the Senate in completing 
the Nation's business.
  It has been a hugely successful first 45 days as we look at what has 
been accomplished in terms of nominations, unemployment insurance, 
addressing the 11 appropriations left over from the last Congress. It 
is pivotal. Now we can move on to the agenda which is very exciting for 
me as we look at jobs, and we look at the economy, and we look at 
growth and the feeling, the security in our everyday lives, and the 
health care issues, and the education issues as we go forward.
  When we go back home to our constituents, we will be held to a high 
standard. They want to make absolutely sure and we need to make it very 
clear to them that we are totally committed to defending them 
internationally, globally, and here in our homeland. Really, in each of 
those categories, defending them in this war

[[Page S2519]]

against terrorism. We have done it today. We have huge challenges over 
the coming weeks to continue to do so.
  Under President Bush's leadership, we have done a tremendous amount 
in making America safer from our enemies. We have reorganized 
Government and created a new Cabinet-level agency that consolidates, 
coordinates, and maximizes communication in our antiterror efforts. We 
passed the landmark bipartisan legislation in June 2002 to provide 
additional funding for our local law enforcement authorities to protect 
the Nation from public health threats, such as bioterrorism. We 
included $3.5 billion in the bill we passed--18 hours ago--that will go 
directly to the first responders. In the event something were to 
happen, those first responders become the most important people. That 
is who you will call. They are the people who provide treatment.
  The Department of Health and Human Services 2 years ago did not have 
smallpox vaccine. Right now, because of the hard work and the 
dedication and leadership of President Bush, we know the Department of 
Health and Human Services has obtained and procured enough smallpox 
vaccine for every man, every woman, and every child in the United 
States.
  That is but a part of what Government has done, and will continue to 
do, as we go forward. But we must also commit to defending ourselves 
from the terrorists' most dangerous weapon of all, the guts of what my 
remarks have been, and that is fear. It was one of our greatest 
Presidents ever, President Franklin Roosevelt, who in an earlier and 
darker moment in our history, calmed the Nation with the gentle 
remainder that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. In these days 
of stress and distress we must never forget the great words of those 
who have preceded us, and the test that they, over many generations, 
endured.
  At such a moment, I often turn to a favorite piece of Scripture or a 
passage from an inspirational work. As we in the Congress recess to our 
homes and families for the coming week, let me offer a closing thought, 
a passage from Thomas Paine's classic treatise ``The Crisis.''

       Lay your shoulders to the wheel, better have too much force 
     than too little when so great an object is at stake. Let it 
     be told to the future world that in the depth of winter when 
     nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and 
     the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet 
     and repulse it.

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