    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [April 18, 1998]
    [Pages 588-589]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 588]]

    The President's Radio Address
    April 18, 1998

        Good morning. Although Hillary and I are in Chile, far from home
    today, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Tennessee,
    Kentucky, and Arkansas, who have suffered the latest in a series of
    tornadoes that swept through the South with ferocious force.
        Yesterday I spoke with the Vice President, who was in his home State of Tennessee to see the damage,
    comfort the victims, and reassure the people of Tennessee that we're
    standing ready to help them in this time of crisis.
        It's often been said that when disaster strikes, the things that
    divide us fall away as neighbor helps neighbor and stranger reaches out
    to stranger. We saw this just a year ago tomorrow in Grand Forks, North
    Dakota, when flood and fire nearly destroyed the entire city but could
    not destroy the spirit of its residents or stop its newspaper, the Grand
    Forks Herald, which just this week was awarded the Pulitzer Price for
    public service. We saw it again this winter in New England, when ice
    storms isolated entire communities but couldn't keep people apart. And
    we saw it in Florida and Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas, as tornadoes
    have torn towns to pieces but have not taken away people's hope.
        These natural disasters have tested our faith, and tragically, they
    have taken many lives. But they've also reminded us of the enduring
    power of the American people to overcome calamity and the commitment of
    our national community to help people rebuild their communities. There
    are some challenges no individual--indeed, no community--can handle
    alone. When faced with them, all of us have a responsibility to act
    through our National Government.
        For more than 5 years, we've worked hard to make our Government
    smaller but more effective, with less redtape and more flexibility.
    Under the leadership of Vice President Gore, we have reinvented Government so that it better serves
    the American taxpayers, more effectively targets its efforts, and can
    respond more quickly to crises.
        There's no better example of what this new kind of Government can do
    than FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. I was Governor of a
    State that had more than its fair share of natural disasters for a dozen
    years. So when I became President, I vowed that the Federal Government
    would help communities respond to the ravages of nature. When I took
    office, disaster relief became one of our highest priorities. And our
    efforts were led by the very able person who had headed our effort in
    Arkansas when I was Governor, James Lee Witt.
        With the Vice President's commitment
    and James Lee Witt as its driving force, FEMA
    has gone from being a disaster itself, in the eyes of many, to becoming
    a model of disaster relief, recognized around the world for its skill,
    speed, and dedication. It used to take hours of waiting in line to
    register for assistance; now it takes only minutes over the telephone.
    It used to take over a month to receive that assistance; now it takes
    about a week. And our ``one stop shopping'' disaster recovery centers
    are helping people to rebuild their lives, their businesses, and their
    homes more quickly than ever.
        We know every dollar spent on disaster preparedness and prevention
    saves two or more dollars in future costs. That's why FEMA also has
    launched Project Impact, building disaster-resistant communities through
    partnerships with the private sector, volunteer groups, community
    organizations. FEMA has already started seven of these pilot projects,
    and we're working to put a Project Impact community in every State by
    this fall.
        I thank the dedicated public servants at the reinvented FEMA and
    other agencies for restoring citizen confidence in their Government
    simply by doing their jobs well.
        One year after the flood waters receded, the work of rebuilding
    communities continues in Grand Forks. And FEMA is still there to help,
    just as it is there to help in tornado-ravaged Arkansas, Tennessee,
    Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.
        In the worst of situations, we see the best in our citizens and our
    public servants. As I work here in Chile with other democratic leaders
    from our hemisphere at the second Summit of the Americas to bring the
    benefits of the modern world to all our people, it's reassuring to know
    that old-fashioned American values of neighborly care and concern will
    be a constant

    [[Page 589]]

    in our lives, no matter what good fortune or new trials the 21st century
    brings.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 7:30 p.m. on April 17 at the Hyatt
    Hotel in Santiago, Chile, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on April 18.