    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [July 16, 2002]
    [Pages 1250-1251]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Letter on the ``National Strategy for Homeland Security''
    July 16, 2002

    My fellow Americans:
        Since September 11, 2001, our Nation has taken great strides to
    improve homeland security. Citizens, industry, and government leaders
    from across the political spectrum have cooperated to a degree rarely
    seen in American history. Congress has passed important laws that have
    strengthened the ability of our law enforcement agencies to investigate
    and prosecute terrorists and those who support them. We have formed a
    global coalition that has defeated terrorists and their supporters in
    Afghanistan and other parts of the world. More than 60,000 American
    troops are deployed around the world in the war on terrorism. We have
    strengthened our aviation security and tightened our borders. We have
    stockpiled medicines to defend against bioterrorism and improved our
    ability to combat weapons of mass destruction. We have improved
    information sharing among our intelligence agencies, and we have taken
    important steps to protect our critical infrastructure.
        We are today a Nation at risk to a new and changing threat. The
    terrorist threat to America takes many forms, has many places to hide,
    and is often invisible. Yet the need for homeland security is not tied
    solely to today's terrorist threat. The need for homeland security is
    tied to our enduring vulnerability. Terrorists wish to attack us and
    exploit our vulnerabilities because of the freedoms we hold dear.
        The U.S. government has no more important mission than protecting
    the homeland from future terrorist attacks. Yet the country has never
    had a comprehensive and shared vision of how best to achieve this goal.
    On October 8, I established the Office of Homeland Security within the
    White House and, as its first responsibility, directed it to produce the
    first National Strategy for Homeland Security.
        The National Strategy for Homeland Security is the product of more
    than eight months of intense consultation across the United States. My
    Administration has talked to literally thousands of people--governors
    and mayors, state legislators and Members of Congress, concerned
    citizens and foreign leaders, professors and soldiers, firefighters and
    police officers, doctors and scientists, airline pilots and farmers,
    business leaders and civic activists, journalists

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    and veterans, and the victims and their families. We have listened
    carefully. This is a national strategy, not a federal strategy.
        We must rally our entire society to overcome a new and very complex
    challenge. Homeland security is a shared responsibility. In addition to
    a national strategy, we need compatible, mutually supporting state,
    local, and private-sector strategies. Individual volunteers must channel
    their energy and commitment in support of the national and local
    strategies. My intent in publishing the National Strategy for Homeland
    Security is to help Americans achieve a shared cooperation in the area
    of homeland security for years to come. The Strategy seeks to do so by
    answering four basic questions:

         What is ``homeland security'' and what missions does it
                entail?
         What do we seek to accomplish, and what are the most
                important goals of homeland security?
         What is the federal executive branch doing now to
                accomplish these goals and what should it do in the future?
         What should non-federal governments, the private sector,
                and citizens do to help secure the homeland?

        The National Strategy for Homeland Security is a beginning. It calls
    for bold and necessary steps. It creates a comprehensive plan for using
    America's talents and resources to enhance our protection and reduce our
    vulnerability to terrorist attacks. We have produced a comprehensive
    national strategy that is based on the principles of cooperation and
    partnership. As a result of this Strategy, firefighters will be better
    equipped to fight fires, police officers better armed to fight crime,
    businesses better able to protect their data and information systems,
    and scientists better able to fight Mother Nature's deadliest diseases.
    We will not achieve these goals overnight . . . but we will achieve
    them.
        Our enemy is smart and resolute. We are smarter and more resolute.
    We will prevail against all who believe they can stand in the way of
    America's commitment to freedom, liberty, and our way of life.

                                                              George W. Bush

     The White House,

     July 16, 2002

    Note: The letter was published in the ``National Strategy for Homeland
    Security.''