[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[August 28, 1992]
[Pages 1446-1450]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1446]]


The President's News Conference on the Aftermath of Hurricane Andrew
August 28, 1992

    The President. I have with me several of the key leaders at the 
Pentagon who are working on this humanitarian problem. And our military 
resources are responding promptly and massively to the hurricane 
disaster.
    At least 7,000 Federal troops are on station or en route to deliver 
services to Floridians who are the victims of this horrible disaster. 
That amounts to a full brigade. Another 1,000 Marines are going to Opa 
Locka to help, if necessary.
    Two tent cities with sanitation facilities which can house 5,000 
people will arrive in Florida this afternoon from Guantanamo. General 
Reimer, with me today, and Secretary Atwood tell me that the Department 
of Defense has already delivered nearly 200,000 meals. In addition, 
another 200,000 would be delivered today and tomorrow. Also, 20 mobile 
kitchen trailers, which are each capable of feeding 300 personnel every 
2 hours, will serve food around the clock. The Department of the Navy is 
providing shelter for up to 5,000 personnel.
    In addition, the Army is sending up to 1,250 tents, 25,000 cots, and 
50,000 blankets. The military is sending a full medical brigade and 
seven special medical teams to deal with the health problems. Ten 
thousand gallons of bottled water arrive today. Contracts have been let 
for 6 million more gallons of water, Generators are being supplied for 
electricity support in relief centers. In addition, the Army Corps of 
Engineers is on the ground to help with the removal of debris that will 
allow people to move around.
    The United States Department of Agriculture has just distributed 
over 100,000 food packages. In addition, 7,000 cases of food from the 
Red Cross and other agencies have been sent to Florida shelters.
    Finally, with the respect to the maintenance of public order and 
security, functions now the responsibility of State and local officials 
in Florida, I have made very clear to Governor Chiles both yesterday and 
today that I am willing to send more Federal troops and federalize the 
National Guard in Florida if he wants us to. We will commit all Federal 
military resources necessary to help the people in Florida. I've just 
talked to Governor Chiles, and I think we are in agreement on all of 
this.
    As far as Louisiana goes, problems for some families are terrible. 
The size, the scope of the disaster is not near as great. But the 
military is helping there as well. There are MRE's on the ground. The 
generator sets are there. And I've been trying to contact Governor 
Edwards, with whom I visited the area the other day, to be sure that we 
are giving him the proper support for the people of Louisiana.
    So things are moving, and the big thing is to get this job done for 
the people. It is a cooperative effort between private agencies, between 
local, State, and the Federal government. I am very, very proud of the 
way the military has responded here.

State and Federal Cooperation

    Q. Mr. President, how do you respond to criticism that you did not 
act fast enough or you didn't respond to the needs----
    The President. Well, I think the reason--I would simply say this: 
First place, I'm not going to participate in the blame game, nor is 
Governor Chiles. What we're trying to do is help people. It doesn't do 
any good to go into ``who shot John.'' I can tell you this, that this 
large a military movement would not have taken place if there was not 
very early planning and cooperation by the military, and we have 
responded. I think the Governor would agree that when he asked for this 
massive movement of force, it was only within a few hours that we 
responded to that.
    So I think much more important than when something took place or 
didn't take place is the feeling we must convey of total cooperation. 
I'm satisfied that we responded properly, and I'm very confident that 
the military have conducted their mission

[[Page 1447]]

so far with beautiful planning, now excellent execution. I'm also 
satisfied that they will do whatever it takes to go the extra mile to 
help the people of Florida. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
    Q. Was Chiles slow to ask for Federal troops?
    The President. I'm not going to say that. I just expressed myself on 
this subject. I think we've responded. I think he would agree that when 
he asked for a massive amount of force yesterday, it's on the way. There 
were some things he asked about that we were not able to do, but as he 
said down there, and I will say here, we are having excellent 
cooperation between the Governor's office, the State of Florida, and the 
Federal Government. He said it, and I say it. I'm not going to change my 
mind on that. He's working----
    Q. Weren't you ready to send troops in there sooner?
    The President. ----very, very hard to coordinate. He's got a very 
difficult job down there.
    Q. Weren't troops ready to move sooner than that at Bragg, though, 
and elsewhere?
    The President. I've already said when we were asked to move, we 
moved these massive numbers of forces.
    Q. But they were ready to move sooner if asked, weren't they?
    The President. I'm not going to go into that because I don't--what 
you seem to be interested in is kind of assigning blame or something. 
That is not what's at stake here, and I don't want to participate in 
that.
    There was some unit that we couldn't--what was it?
    Mr. Heldstab. One air battalion.
    Mr. Reimer. Air battalion.
    The President. ----engineer, and what was the reason for that?
    Mr. Heldstab. They had already been on their 2-week active duty and 
were unable to be involuntarily recalled.
    The President. There was one battalion he wanted to have--this was 
before yesterday's request--and we were not able to do it because those 
people had served. It was a reserve unit. They had served, and under the 
law we're not able to mobilize them. But perhaps that's what's causing 
some of the concern.
    But the Governor and I are looking at this, I think, the same. I'm 
not going to--you can ask him. But we want to give full cooperation to 
what's happening there. You just turn on the set, and you can see these 
planes rolling in there. That's the main thing. Look forward, try to 
help, and try to wipe out these little differences that some people want 
to talk about. I want to dwell on how we're going to help the people in 
Florida.
    Q. Mr. President, does the Federal Government have the lead role in 
this right now?
    The President. The Federal Government has a leading role in the 
humanitarian relief. It does not have a role in the security right now. 
That's in the hands of the State, and it's been entrusted largely to the 
National Guard, which is under the control of the Governor because it 
has not been federalized.
    Q. Mr. President, is the magnitude of this disaster going to require 
additional Federal funds?
    The President. Well, if it does, we will have to acquire additional 
Federal funds. I have not had an estimate on that yet.

President's Schedule

    Q. Mr. President, what are your plans for this weekend? And since 
you were able to manage the crisis involving the Soviet coup and the 
prewar plans last year, why did you decide to scrub your trip to 
Kennebunkport?
    The President. Well, I think I'll be having meetings here over the 
weekend. I'll be down here either tomorrow or Sunday for a report from 
the people on the ground down there. I don't want to pull them out of 
there right now, but I think it is very important that the coordination 
go forward. We've talked here about the military. We have a lot of 
civilian agencies, 27 of them to be exact, that are involved in all of 
this. Our staff here under Jim Baker have been actively involved almost 
'round the clock. But I think it's important that all of these agencies 
know that the President is going to be on top of this.
    Q. Was there a political consideration in not going to 
Kennebunkport, sir?

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    The President. No political consideration. I'd very much would like 
to be there and regret not going. But I've got my responsibilities here, 
and I think I can do that from here. Then I'm going to be at Camp David. 
We've got excellent communications; it's almost like being in your 
office here. But I'll just do what I've got to do.
    Q. Mr. President, did Jim Baker or anyone say it wouldn't look 
right, sir?

Disaster Planning

    Q. Mr. President, you mentioned that what happened last night and 
this morning was the result of considerable planning that had been done 
by the military. When did that planning actually begin, sir, and how 
closely did you stay on top of it on the days that followed your visit 
to Florida?
    Secretary Atwood. On Sunday we activated the Army to make plans. 
This was before the hurricane struck.
    The President. Sunday the planning began, and they activated the 
planning before the hurricane struck. They were giving me reports on 
what possibly we would use in terms of assets.
    Q. Mr. President, were you in contact with Governor Chiles as soon 
as that plan was developed to be sure that he understood it and could 
right then, that the second he asked for Federal assistance these troops 
would be in there?
    The President. I think I said that publicly when I was in Florida on 
Tuesday--was it Tuesday I was down there? But when I was there he was 
standing right next to me, and we did talk about that, yes.
    I think we've had a good, cooperative relationship. I heard some 
local officials who were somewhat, well, not somewhat, quite critical. 
But I understand that. These people have been up all night. They've been 
worried about their constituency. In this case it was a commissioner. 
They're wondering how their people are going to get fed. So I can 
understand tempers flaring. But I don't want to contribute to that. We 
want to move forward here.
    Q. Mr. President, part of the problem also that they were saying was 
that there was, as you were saying earlier, a lack of coordination, and 
also they were saying perhaps some redtape. Is there anything more the 
White House can do to eliminate some of the redtape to get the aid going 
quicker?
    The President. Well, any time you have this massive an operation I 
suppose, as the young major I heard on the television right now, he 
said, ``Well, there's a glitch from time to time, but it's overwhelmed 
by the fact that so much good is happening.'' But we've got good, 
competent people trying to work out the coordination between the 
agencies. Andy Card, our Secretary of Transportation, has my full 
confidence, and he's on the spot working with the other Federal 
officials and with the Governor's people. So if there are any 
difficulties or redtape, we want to cut right through it.
    Q. Were you disappointed--[inaudible]--early response, sir?
    The President. No. I don't know what area they've not responded in. 
Listen, if anybody can do the job better, why, we'll be pushing them to 
do it better.

Louisiana

    Q. To clear up the situation in Louisiana, Mr. President, is it your 
expectation that no Federal troops will be necessary there?
    The President. Well, I gather that's the case right now. But we made 
clear to Governor Edwards that if more was required, please let us know. 
I think we had assurance on that. I didn't talk to him. I've been trying 
to get hold of him. But one of our White House officials talked to him, 
and I think that was his last, latest judgment on it.
    I've got time for one more question.

State and Federal Cooperation

    Q. Mr. President, yesterday you said the reason you were sending in 
the military is because the size of the disaster is so much larger than 
originally anticipated. Sir, why didn't we know sooner that hundreds of 
thousands of people have been left homeless?
    The President. I think one of the reasons is you've got a lot of 
isolated areas. Secondly, I don't know that there was a large 
discrepancy in numbers of people that are out of their homes. But as I 
said, yesterday we received the request for massive numbers of troops, 
and yesterday we responded within several hours. I think that will be

[[Page 1449]]

Governor Chiles' understanding, too.
    But look, if any Federal official is trying to blame a State 
official, I want it to stop. If any State official is trying to blame 
the Federal official or local official, that's not constructive. I know 
it makes very good, wonderful debate, but it doesn't help anything. What 
we're trying to do is work together here. I am determined that from the 
Federal Government's standpoint we give maximum cooperation to local and 
State officials. And that's the way it's going to be.
    There is no point getting into blame and this ``who shot John'' 
thing that I know everybody's fascinated with. I don't want that, and I 
don't want one single Federal official trying to be in the blame-
assigning business. I've given you the facts here today. I think 
Governor Chiles will understand that those are the facts. The important 
thing is to help the people.
    This military of ours, these men standing behind me and those that 
work for them, are doing a first-rate job in responding to the order. 
The order is to get down there and help people, and it's a wonderful 
thing. I think the people of Florida when they see this, see the 
magnitude of this operation, will be very, very grateful. We all should 
be grateful that we can have this kind of response.
    Thank you all very much.

                    Note: The President's 140th news conference began at 
                        12:10 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
                        House, following a meeting with Deputy Secretary 
                        of Defense Donald J. Atwood, Jr.; Lt. Gen. 
                        Dennis J. Reimer, USA, Deputy Chief of Staff for 
                        Operations and Plans; and Maj. Gen. John 
                        Heldstab, USA, Director of Operations, Readiness 
                        and Mobilizations.

Nomination of Alvin P. Adams, Jr., To Be United States Ambassador to Peru

August 28, 1992
    The President today announced his intention to nominate Alvin P. 
Adams, Jr., of Virginia, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, 
class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador of the United States of 
America to the Republic of Peru.
    Since 1989, Ambassador Adams has served as Ambassador to the 
Republic of Haiti at the American Embassy in Port-au-Prince. He has also 
served in several other positions at the Department of State including: 
Associate Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism, 1987-89; detailed to Ryder 
Systems, Inc., 1986; Ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti, 1983-1985; 
Deputy Executive Secretary at the State Department, 1981-83; Director of 
the Secretariat Staff, 1981; Special Assistant for Legislative and 
Public Affairs at the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, 1979-81; 
and Deputy Director of the Office of Business Practices at the Bureau of 
Economic and Business Affairs, 1977-79.
    Ambassador Adams graduated from Yale University (B.A., 1964) and 
Vanderbilt University (LL.B., 1967). He was born August 29, 1942, in New 
York, NY. Ambassador Adams is married, has one child, and resides in 
Alexandria, VA.

Statement by Press Secretary Fitzwater on the London Conference on the 
Former Yugoslavia

August 28, 1992
    The President met this morning with Acting Secretary of State 
Lawrence Eagleburger to discuss the results of the London conference on 
the former Yugoslavia.

[[Page 1450]]

    The conference has given us a better foundation to defuse, contain, 
and bring to an end the conflict in former Yugoslavia. It has 
established a new, permanent negotiating forum, cochaired by the United 
Nations and the European Community, in Geneva. The United States has 
offered $3 million to help with startup costs of the conference.
    The conference developed an international plan of action to deal 
with this crisis. As a result, the international community is taking a 
number of concrete actions to provide humanitarian relief, increase 
pressure on the aggressors, and contain the conflict. These include a 
massive humanitarian relief effort for this winter; a strengthening of 
the sanctions regime by introducing international monitors in 
neighboring states; and the placing of human rights monitors as well as 
``early warning'' monitors in neighboring states and regions.
    The conference also made progress with the parties themselves. The 
leader of the Bosnian Serbs has agreed to consolidate heavy weapons 
under international control and the Government of Bosnia has agreed to 
rejoin the negotiating process.
    The causes of this conflict are complex; it will not be ended 
overnight. We thank Prime Minister Major and Secretary-General Boutros-
Ghali for organizing and running this conference, which has succeeded in 
galvanizing international action to alleviate the humanitarian nightmare 
in Bosnia, to support the negotiating process, to punish the aggressors, 
and to quarantine the conflict.