    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
    [October 1, 2001]
    [Pages 1177-1179]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to Federal Emergency Management Agency Employees
    October 1, 2001

        Thank you all very much. Thank you. I admit he's not very pretty to
    look at. [Laughter] But he's doing a heck of a job. I'm so proud of my
    friend. It's become clear to all the hard-working FEMA employees that I
    didn't pick Joe Allbaugh because of his
    haircut. [Laughter] But I picked him because he's a good man who knows
    how to run a very important organization. And I'm proud of my friend.
    I'm proud of the job he's doing. And I'm proud of the work that the FEMA
    employees all across the country are doing on behalf of America.
        I'm here to thank you all. I was up in the operations room, thanking
    the folks who are working 12 to 13, 14, 15 hours a day, still, to this
    day. I had the honor of going to New York City; I saw what they call
    ``dirty boot'' operations, from Sacramento and Puerto Rico--all FEMA
    employees, all people who love their fellow Americans, all who want to
    join in to say loud and clear to the evildoers, ``Your actions won't
    stand in America.''
        Joe said it best. He said, ``This is
    something I hope I never have to go through again as long as I live.'' I
    know every FEMA employee feels that way. After all, yours was an
    organization that was used to dealing with, generally, acts of nature,
    hurricanes or tornadoes and fires or floods. And then all of a sudden,
    some evil people came and they declared war on America. And your agency
    and the good working people, true Americans, had to rise to the
    occasion.
        And rise, you did. And for that, the people of New York and
    Connecticut and New Jersey and Pennsylvania and every other State in the
    Union are proud of the job you're doing. So on behalf of the American
    people, I say thanks from the bottom of our hearts for the FEMA
    employees.
        I also want to talk about the battle we face, the campaign to
    protect freedom; the willingness of the American people to not only
    repair the damage done but the willingness of our Nation to stand
    united, to say loud and clear that freedom will stand, that you can tear
    down our buildings but you can't tear down our spirit, that we're strong
    and united in the cause of freedom not only here in America but all
    around the world.
        This will be a different kind of campaign than Americans are used
    to. It's a campaign that must be fought on many fronts. And I'm proud to
    report that we're making progress on many fronts. Not only have the FEMA
    employees showed the world

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    what it's like to stand up and help a neighbor in need; we're also
    beginning to make progress on the financial front.
        As you may remember, I made it clear that part of winning the war
    against terror would be to cut off these evil people's money; it would
    be to trace their assets and freeze them, cut off their cash flows, hold
    people accountable who fund them, who allow the funds to go through
    their institutions, and not only do that at home but to convince others
    around the world to join us in doing so. Thus far, we've frozen $6
    million in bank accounts linked to terrorist activity. We've frozen 30
    Al Qaida accounts in the United States and 20 overseas. And we're just
    beginning.
        Also, on the military front, we're making progress. We've deployed
    29,000 military personnel and 2 carrier battle groups, as well as an
    amphibious-ready group and several hundred military aircraft. We've
    called about 17,000 members of the reserve to active duty, as well as
    several thousand National Guard operating under State authority.
        As I said, this is a different kind of war. It's hard to fight a
    guerrilla war with conventional forces. But our military is ready. And
    as I said to the Congress, they will make us proud.
        In this new kind of war, one that requires a coalition, we're making
    good progress on the diplomatic front. At our request, the United
    Nations unanimously enacted a binding resolution requiring all its
    members to deny financing support or safe harbor to terrorists. We've
    had 46 declarations of support from organizations including NATO, the
    Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Organization of the Islamic
    Conference, and the Organization of American States.
        You see, the evildoers like to hit, and then they try to hide. And
    slowly but surely, we're going to make sure they have no place to hide.
    Slowly but surely, we're going to move them out of their holes and what
    they think is safe havens and get them on the move.
        We're a patient nation. We're a nation who has got a long-term view,
    a nation that's come to realize that in order to make freedom prevail,
    the evildoers will be forced to run and will eventually be brought to
    justice.
        Now, along those lines, we're taking any threat seriously here at
    home. The FBI has conducted hundreds of interviews and searches, issued
    hundreds of subpoenas, and arrested or detained more than 400 people as
    it investigates the attacks. About 150 terrorists and their supporters,
    as well, have been arrested or detained in 25 different countries.
        In my speech to the Congress, I said, sometimes the American people
    aren't going to see exactly what's taking place on their TV screens. But
    slowly but surely, the results are coming in. You see, we've said to
    people around the world, ``This could have happened to you. This could
    have easily have taken place on your soil. So you need to take threats
    seriously as well.''
        We're beginning to share intelligence amongst our nations. We're
    finding out members of the Al Qaida organization, who they are, where
    they think they can hide. And we're slowly but surely bringing them to
    justice. We're slowly but surely calling their hand and reining them in.
    We've just begun. There's 150 detained and more to come.
        And along these lines, this weekend, through the collaborative
    efforts of intelligence and law enforcement, we've arrested a known
    terrorist who was responsible for the deaths of two U.S. citizens during
    a hijacking in 1986, a terrorist by the name of Zayd Hassan
    Safarini. He's
    not affiliated with Al Qaida, yet he's an example of the wider war on
    terrorism and what we intend to do. Here's a man who killed two of our
    own citizens when he hijacked a plane in Pakistan. By the way,
    obviously, there's only two Americans--

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    that's two too many--but there was a lot of people from other countries,
    as well, involved. And he was convicted and sentenced to death, yet he
    only served 14 years. Well, we arrested him; we got him; we brought him
    into Alaska. And today the United States of America will charge him with
    murder.
        Sometimes we'll have success in the near term; sometimes we have to
    be patient. Sometimes we'll be able to round somebody up who threatens
    us today; sometimes it may take us awhile to catch him. But the lesson
    of this case, and every case, is that this mighty Nation won't rest
    until we protect ourselves, our citizens, and freedom-loving people
    around the world.
        The evildoers struck, and when they did, they aroused a mighty land,
    a land of compassionate people, a land who wants to help a neighbor in
    need, but a land who stands solidly on principles, the principles of
    freedom: freedom to worship, freedom to govern, freedom to speak,
    freedom to assemble.
        We sent a loud message to the world: We will not be cowed by a few.
    We sent another message to the world: Together, we're going to bring
    these people to justice. And that's exactly what we're going to do.
        Thank you for your hard work. I want to thank you all so very much
    for your hard work and for your love for America. May God bless you all.
    May God continue to bless America. Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:39 p.m. in a ballroom of the Holiday Inn
    Capitol adjacent to the Federal Emergency Management Agency
    headquarters.