[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
[June 24, 2002]
[Pages 1050-1054]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks on Homeland Security in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey
June 24, 2002
Thank you all very much. Please be seated. Well, not everybody be
seated. [Laughter]
Thank you all very much for coming today. It is my high honor to be
in the midst of so many great Americans, people who serve our country
with dignity and honor, people who allowed me to say, ``We're winning,
and we're going to continue to win as we fight for our freedoms.''
I'm honored to be here at the largest marine cargo terminal on the
East Coast. I'm so impressed with the massive size of this operation and
its obvious importance to the economy of our country, but not nearly as
impressed as I have been and am by the way New Jersey firefighters and
police officers and emergency rescue units and Port Authority officers
responded on September the 11th and have continued to respond.
The country has come to appreciate so very much the dedication of
our Nation's first-responders, thanks to the bravery of many in this
audience and the continued hard work you do on behalf of all America. So
on behalf of a grateful nation, I want to thank you for the job you're
doing for the people of New Jersey and the people of New York and, as
importantly, for the people of this great land, your fellow Americans.
I appreciate the many who have traveled with me today, key Cabinet
members and
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heads of agencies all involved with the defense of our homeland. I
appreciate Norm Mineta, the Secretary of
Transportation, who's doing such a fantastic job in his important
Cabinet position. I want to thank Tom Ridge, who's
the Homeland Security Adviser, who's with me today. I appreciate the
Secretary of Agriculture, Ann Veneman, and
Christie Todd Whitman, who is running
the Environmental Protection Agency. [Applause] They still remember you.
[Laughter]
I appreciate Commissioner Robert Bonner
of the U.S. Customs, Admiral Tom Collins,
who's the Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard. I want to thank
Commissioner Jim Ziglar of the INS for his
steadfast leadership. Jim, thank you very much. I appreciate Jack
Sinagra of the--Port Authority chairman, and
all those who work hard to make sure this port runs well.
I also want to thank very much the Governor of New Jersey for being
here; Jim, thank you for coming,
appreciate your time. Members of the mighty New Jersey Congressional
delegation who have joined us, Senator Torricelli and Senator Corzine, thank you
all for being here. Congressman Mike Ferguson,
Frank LoBiondo, Congressman Steve
Rothman, Congressman Marge
Roukema, I'm honored you all are here, and
thanks for coming. Rush Holt, I appreciate you
being here, Rush. Thank you for your time.
I marvel at the strength of our country. It's an incredibly great
country because the people are great. Today when I landed at--on Air
Force One, I had the honor of meeting a young lady named Joanna
Glick. She's a member of the USA Freedom Corps.
Her brother, Jeremy, was one of the heroes on Flight 93. That was the
flight in--where average citizens were flying across the country. They
realized their airplane was to be used as a weapon to harm their fellow
Americans. They told their loved ones good-bye on cell phones. They said
a prayer, and they drove the airplane in the ground. They served
something greater than themselves in life.
And Joanna and her classmates Kelly
Bianco and Allison Cohen heard the call, the example of her brother to serve
something greater than themselves in life. They understand that in order
to defeat evil, you can do so by loving your neighbor like you'd like to
be loved yourself. They started what they call the Teen Freedom Corps in
their high school. They serve as a fabulous example for young and old
alike to respond to the challenge of our country by working to make
somebody else's life better. Would you girls please rise, and thank you
for being here. I'm real proud of you. Thank you. I'm really proud of
your service and your leadership.
I also want to thank Arlene Howard for
coming. Arlene is my friend, mother of George Howard, Port Authority
policeman. She represents so many moms and dads and loved ones who mourn
for the loss of a child or a husband or a wife. I appreciate your
strength, Arlene. I love seeing you every time. She's always telling me
what to do. [Laughter]
But being here reminds me that the country still continues to pay
tribute to the heroism of 9/11, and we must. As we pay tribute to the
heroes, we pay tribute to America's character. And it's important for
many to see the character of our country. One of those heroes was Fred
Morrone. Many of you may have known Fred. He was the Port Authority
Superintendent of Police and Director of Public Safety. Immediately
after the plane crashed into One World Trade Center, Fred raced from his
New Jersey City office to the Trade Center. He oversaw the evacuation of
staff from the Port Authority's offices on the 67th floor. The plane
crashes, he heads over, up to the 67th floor. Many were leaving; he's
heading in. Evacuees heading downstairs saw the calm superintendent
urging people to leave in an orderly fashion. He was posthumously
awarded the Port Authority's Medal of Honor.
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Eddie Calderon was a civilian employee of the Port Authority, a
former Marine. You're never really a former Marine. Eddie was a
supervisor of the Trade Center's Operation Control Center. On the
morning of September the 11th, Eddie stayed at his desk, speaking to
people trapped in elevators, coordinating requests for information from
firefighters. When a co-worker expressed concern about Eddie's own
safety, here's what he said: ``I'm a Marine. I do not ever leave anybody
behind.'' He, too, received the Port Authority Civilian Medal of Honor.
I know their loved ones are with us today. Our Nation is extremely
grateful for the dedication and example for others to see. God bless you
all.
All together, 75 Port Authority employees were killed on September
the 11th. And you need to know, no matter how long it takes, we're going
to hunt their killers down one by one and bring them to justice.
This is a different kind of war, and it has placed many Americans on
the frontline of this war, America's firefighters and police officers
and postal workers and all the folks who work here at the Port
Authority, New York and New Jersey, to keep America safe.
And we're working hard to make sure your job is easier, that the
port is safer. Here's some examples of what's taking place. The Customs
Service is working with overseas ports and shippers to improve its
knowledge of container shipments, assessing risk so that we have a
better feel of who we ought to look at, what we ought to worry about.
Inspectors here can focus on high-risk shipments. America will be better
protected.
The Port Authority of New York and Jersey has been putting together
a $60 million closed-circuit TV security system with cameras all around
sensitive areas here at the port. This will strengthen our ability to
safeguard these facilities. Coast Guard inspectors and law enforcement
officials currently board targeted commercial vessels shortly before
they enter the Port Authority, and then they escort them safely to
docks. Tomorrow the Coast Guard's Deep Water Project will award a multi-
year contract to replace aging ships and aircrafts and improve
communications and information sharing.
The whole purpose is to push out our maritime borders, giving us
more time to identify threats and more time to respond. The Coast Guard
is also working on ways to better detect weapons of mass destruction.
They've assembled strike teams, one of which I was able to meet today.
No, we're better and stronger and wiser today than we were. We're
working harder than ever before. As I travel our country, I remind our
citizens, there are thousands of people working as hard as they possibly
can to keep America safe. Today I recognize I'm in the midst of that
type of citizen who's working hard to keep America safe. Thank you, for
a grateful nation.
We must constantly think of ways to improve our ability to protect
the homeland, because these killers are still out there. Somebody asked
me to describe them one time. I said, ``They're nothing but a bunch of
coldblooded killers. And they still hate the fact that we love freedom,
and they really can't stand the fact that we're not backing down.'' See,
they thought we'd probably just file a lawsuit or two. [Laughter] They
didn't understand America. That's what they didn't know. They didn't
understand our character. They don't have any idea about what makes the
people right here tick.
And so we've got to continue to do everything we can to protect
innocent lives. And that's why I think it is vital the Federal
Government reorganize, so that we've got people involved with homeland
security under a Cabinet office dedicated to homeland security. You see,
we've got to change--change our priorities. We've got to focus our
priorities. We've got to set clear goals. If cultures need to be changed
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within agencies, we'll change the cultures, because this new war of the
21st century requires a 100 percent focused effort to protect the
homeland.
Now, I know some are nervous about taking this from here and that
from there. It is the right thing to do, to have the over 100 agencies
involved with homeland security under one authority, so that we can have
accountability and responsibility in Washington, DC. I want to thank the
Members of Congress who understand that it's important to put their own
personal turf aside. It's also important to put our political parties in
the background as we focus on doing what's right for the country.
I believe with hard work and a lot of effort and a lot of reminding
by the President that this is the right thing to do on behalf of the
American people, we can get this new Cabinet agency up and running. It
will make your jobs easier, for those of you involved with the agencies
I'm talking about. It'll make our Federal Government more responsive. It
will allow us to communicate better. It will allow all of you to make
sure that the hard hours you're putting in are able to more secure the
homeland.
But I want you to know that no matter what we do here in America,
the best way to protect the homeland is to chase the killers down
wherever they think they can hide and bring them to justice. And we're
making progress. Sometimes you'll read about it, and sometimes you
won't. It's important for our country to understand, this new war of the
21st century is really not like any other war we've fought. You see, we
fight people who, on the one hand, send youngsters to their death, and
they, themselves, try to hide in a cave. Those are the kind of people we
fight. You know, they claim in the name of a great religion that death
is justified.
You know, this country will take its time, because we defend
freedom. This country will not blink, because we defend freedom. We love
freedom, and we love our fellow Americans.
The mighty United States military in step one performed brilliantly
in Afghanistan. And I submitted a defense budget up in Washington that's
big--no question about it--because anytime we commit our young into
harm's way, they deserve the best pay and the best training possible.
And I expect the United States Congress to get the defense bill to my
desk quickly. They don't need to delay the defense bill in a time of
war. They need to deliberate like they're supposed to and get it to my
desk. And the big increase also says, the United States of America is in
this fight for the long run.
You know, the enemy would have loved to have seen a scrawny little
budget up there. They'd have said, ``Well, we were right. They're going
to quit.'' We're not quitting. I don't care where the theater is, how
long it takes. This mighty Nation is going to track them down until we
can say with certainty, ``Our children and our grandchildren are free.''
We've hauled in about 2,400 of them. This weekend I called Gloria
Arroyo, the President of the
Philippines, to congratulate her on her country's steadfast desire to
rout out the Abu Sayyaf* killer organization. This is the organization
which captured the Burnhams. They're nothing but coldblooded killers,
again. They may espouse some kind of doctrine, but they have no regard
for innocent life. I told Gloria early on in the fight that we'd help
her. If she wanted us to take on the enemy without her, we'd be glad to
do that too. And she said, ``No, we'd like your help to train so we can
go get them.'' And she did. So I guess it's 2,401. But we're making
progress, one person at a time.
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*White House correction.
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At the same time, we recognize that there are other threats that
could face our country and our history--these nations which have no
regard for human rights and
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at the same time want to develop weapons of mass destruction. We're not
going to let the world's worst leaders blackmail America with the
world's worst weapons.
This country recognizes, history has called us into action. History
has given us an opportunity to lead the world to more freedom. And as
far as I'm concerned, history will record this: The United States of
America led a mighty coalition to freedom so that all freedom-loving
people in every country could grow up in a peaceful environment, so
children of all walks of life could grow up understanding what freedom
means, in a peaceful way.
I think out of the evil done to America, the evil so many saw
firsthand and had to live with, will come incredible good. I believe
there will be peace in the world if the America--if America continues to
lead and remains strong. And I believe here at home, thanks to the
loving hearts of thousands of our fellow citizens, America can not only
be a safer place but a better place.
I want to thank you all for coming today. I want to thank you for
giving me the chance to be the President of the greatest country on the
face of the Earth.
God bless, and God bless America.
Note: The President spoke at 11:03 a.m. at the marine cargo terminal. In
his remarks, he referred to Gov. James E. McGreevey of New Jersey.