    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
    [July 22, 2004]
    [Pages 1400-1405]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy in
    Glenview, Illinois
    July 22, 2004

        Thanks for the warm welcome. It is a pleasure to be back in the
    great State of Illinois. It's an honor to be sharing the stage with some
    of America's finest citizens, our firefighters and policemen, EMS teams.
    Thanks for welcoming me here.
        Our country faces new and unprecedented threats. The American people
    are counting on all who wear our Nation's uniform. We are counting on
    the brave men and women of our Armed Forces, who are serving in distant
    corners of the world.

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    We're counting on those who wear the uniform here at home: the police,
    the firefighters, the emergency rescue personnel, and others who risk
    their lives each day to protect our homeland and its citizens. The
    Nation is proud of your service. We're grateful for your sacrifices.
        Here at the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy,
    you're performing a critical mission. I've just seen an impressive
    demonstration of the training that you provide to protect our
    communities from acts of terrorism. You are showing the commitment of
    our Nation: We will work tirelessly to disrupt and prevent terrorist
    attacks, and if an attack should come, America will be prepared.
        I want to thank my friend Tom Ridge for taking
    on a tough assignment. He's the first Secretary of the Department of
    Homeland Security. His job is to coordinate agencies and groups of
    people that have really never worked together as well as they should
    have. He's done a fantastic job for the country. And I appreciate your
    service, Tom.
        I appreciate Al. Thanks for having us.
    Thanks for your leadership here. And I want to thank Bob Lahey as well, who is the Director of NIPSTA. It sounds
    like Bob may have invited some of his family here today. [Laughter] I
    want to thank my friend Congressman Mark Kirk,
    who represents--[applause].
        You know, I'm traveling today by chopper from the O'Hare Airport,
    and I was honored that truly one of the country's great mayors welcomed
    me there and flew over, and that's Mayor Richard Daley of the great city of Chicago. I want to thank Mayor Larry
    Carlson from Glenview for joining us. Mr.
    Mayor, thank you for coming. Mayor Peter Moy of
    Lincolnwood--thank you for coming, Peter. Mayor George Van Dusen of Skokie--thanks for coming, George, great
    first name. [Laughter] Fill the potholes. [Laughter]
        I appreciate all the State and local officers who are here as well
    as the first-responders. Thanks for having me.
        The events of September the 11th, 2001, demonstrated the threats of
    a new era. We found that oceans which separated us from other continents
    no longer separate us from danger. We saw the cruelty of the terrorists,
    and we glimpsed the future they intend for us. They intend to strike the
    United States again. They're seeking increasingly powerful weapons that
    would allow them to kill our citizens on an unprecedented scale. That's
    the reality of the world we live in today. We didn't ask for it. It came
    to our shores because of what we believe in. It came to our shores
    because we're the beacon of freedom, and we're not going to change.
        A new kind of threat has required a new kind of war, a new kind of
    response, and we are prosecuting the war on many fronts. Our military
    has captured or killed hundreds of terrorists, removed terrorist regimes
    in Iraq and Afghanistan that had harbored terrorists and threatened our
    people. Our intelligence community helped uncover the A.Q. Khan network that had supplied nuclear weapons-
    related equipment and plans to Libya and Iran and North Korea, and we
    put them out of business. Our diplomats, working with Great Britain,
    convinced Libya to give up its weapons of mass destruction. Our law
    enforcement officials, working with friends and allies around the world,
    have disrupted terrorist financing and broken up terrorist cells
    virtually on every continent.
        The results of these efforts are solid, and they're clear: In just 3
    years, we've captured or killed about two-thirds of Al Qaida's known
    leadership; we've removed two terrorist regimes from power and convinced
    a third to voluntarily disarm; we helped eliminate the world's most
    dangerous nuclear trading network. Because of these achievements,
    America and the world are safer.

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        As we conduct this war abroad, we will always remember where it
    began: here in our homeland. We will not permit the terrorists to find
    sanctuary or safe haven, especially not within our own borders. In the
    past 3 years, we have dismantled terrorist cells, prosecuted terrorist
    supporters from California to Florida to Massachusetts.
        In Lackawanna, New York, we broke up a terrorist cell whose members
    had trained in an Al Qaida affiliated camp near Kandahar, Afghanistan.
    In New Jersey, we indicted a man who was
    trying to sell shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles for the purpose of
    downing a U.S. commercial airliner. Here in Illinois, we convicted a
    man with a longstanding ties to bin
    Laden, who had been using a Chicago-area
    charity called the ``Benevolence International Foundation'' to channel
    money to Islamic militants.
        Today, because we are on the offensive against terrorist networks,
    the American people are safer. But this does not mean that our Nation is
    fully secure. In a vast, free society such as ours, there is no such
    thing as perfect security. And no matter how good our defenses are, a
    determined enemy can still strike us. Terrorists only need to be right
    once; we need to be right every single time. Yet our fellow citizens can
    be certain of this: Our Government is doing everything we can to stop
    another attack. We're using every resource and technological advantage
    we have as a nation to pursue our enemies, at home and overseas. We're
    doing everything we can to protect our country. In the past 3 years, we
    have taken unprecedented steps to defend the homeland, to increase
    security, and to give our brave first-responders the tools they need to
    deal with a terrorist attack.
        On September the 11th, 2001, there was no single Department of
    Government charged with protecting the American homeland, so we have
    undertaken the most sweeping reorganization of the Federal Government
    since the start of the cold war. Last year, we created the Department of
    Homeland Security, merging 180,000 personnel from 22 different
    Government organizations into a single Department with a single mission:
    to protect America from future attacks.
        On September the 11th, many of the police, firefighters, and rescue
    personnel at the World Trade Center could not speak to one another by
    radio. It made it much more difficult to work as a single team to save
    lives. Since then, my administration has dedicated $280 million
    specifically to improve the ability of our first-responders to
    communicate with each other and work together in a crisis. And later
    this year, a new program called RapidComm will ensure that first-
    responders in Chicago and nine other large cities have the ability to
    communicate clearly in a major emergency.
        On September the 11th, we saw the character of America as first-
    responders from around the country flooded New York and Pennsylvania and
    Virginia with offers of assistance. Since then, we've helped States
    establish Mutual Aid Agreements and Regional Response Plans so that when
    first-responders need help from their neighbors, they can be certain the
    right assistance will get to the right people at the right time.
        Before September the 11th, the Federal Government set--sent threat
    information to local authorities by fax machines. Since then, we've
    established 21st-century communication networks to make information on
    rapidly emerging threats available to local officials in real time.
    We've given them access to the Department of Homeland Security's state-
    of-the-art mapping and imagery capabilities.
        On September the 11th, the FBI did not have either the right tools
    or the clear mission to prevent terrorist attacks, so we are
    transforming the FBI into an agency whose primary focus is stopping
    terrorism. We have nearly tripled the number of FBI Joint Terrorism Task
    Forces, where FBI agents work shoulder to shoulder with State and local
    partners to stop the enemy before the next attack.

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        On September the 11th, there was no unified military command in the
    Department of Defense whose job it was to protect the homeland of the
    United States, so we have created a new Northern Command, with the
    mission of defending the American homeland.
        Before September the 11th, our intelligence and Federal law
    enforcement communities were often prevented from sharing information
    about potential terrorist activities. They couldn't talk to each other.
    So we passed the PATRIOT Act, permitting investigators who sit next to
    each other to share information that could save American lives.
        On September the 11th, the Federal Government often did not share
    classified information with local law enforcement, the ones most likely
    to first encounter terrorists and disrupt their planned attacks. Today,
    we've established secure connections to Emergency Operations Centers in
    every State and every Governor's office so local officials will have
    information they need to recognize suspicious behavior.
        On September the 11th, there was no one place focused on pulling
    together a complete picture of all the terrorist threats at home and
    abroad. So we created the Terrorist Threat Integration Center to bring
    together all that information and to get it to the people at the
    Federal, State, and local level who need it to prevent attacks.
        Since September the 11th, we have also implemented a new strategy to
    protect our borders. Posting Homeland Security personnel at foreign
    ports. We've beefed up airport and seaport security here at home. We've
    instituted better visa screening for those entering the country. We want
    to know who is coming in the country, why they're coming in the country,
    and if they're leaving the country, when they're supposed to leave the
    country. We have instituted new measures to protect critical
    infrastructure, including America's communications system and
    transportation networks.
        After September the 11th, we created the Citizen Corps, a grassroots
    effort spearheaded by the Department of Homeland Security and the USA
    Freedom Corps to help Americans learn how to be prepared for and respond
    to attacks on our homeland.
        Nicole Meier is with us. She is a member
    of the Citizen Corps Community Emergency Response Team. She is a
    volunteer. She completed 20 hours of training on disaster preparedness.
    By the way, Nicole and her three teenagers helped clean up
    debris in neighborhoods struck by a tornado near Utica, Illinois. I
    appreciate you being here, Nicole, and thank you for your voluntarism
    for the country. Thanks for bringing Gerhard. That would be the
    husband. [Laughter]
        Since September of 2000, my administration has provided more than--
    along with the Congress, I might add--has provided more than $13 billion
    to equip and train America's State and local first-responders. We've
    sent nearly one-half billion dollars to help the first-responders of the
    State of Illinois. Those funds have helped pay for mobile command
    centers, mobile decontamination equipment, hazmat trucks, mobile WMD-
    detection equipment, and other rescue equipment that is making this
    State and local communities safer. In all, more than a half a million
    first-responders across America have been trained since 2001.
        We are also bringing the best technologies to bear against the
    threat of chemical and biological weapons. Through the BioWatch program,
    we have placed state-of-the-art equipment in many major U.S. cities to
    detect biological agents. We have greatly expanded the Nation's
    stockpile of drugs and vaccines, including antibiotics to treat exposure
    to anthrax. We have enough smallpox vaccine for every American in case
    of an emergency. At the National Institutes

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    of Health, we have increased our investments in biodefense medical
    research and development to more than $1.6 billion a year. That's nearly
    a 3,000-percent increase since 2001.
        Yesterday I signed into law the Project BioShield Act to speed the
    development of new vaccines and treatments against biological agents
    that could be used in a terrorist attack. Project BioShield authorizes
    $5.6 billion over 10 years to develop and stockpile the best and latest
    medical countermeasures for anthrax, for botulinum toxin, for Ebola, and
    for plague.
        We have done all this in less than 3 years. There are good people
    working hard on your behalf. There is more to do. The report of the 9/11
    Commission, which was released earlier today, will help us in our
    efforts. The Commission members have produced a serious and
    comprehensive report with thoughtful recommendations. These fine
    citizens dedicated more than a year of their lives in this effort. And
    on behalf of the American people, I thank them for their hard work.
        I agree with their conclusion that the terrorists were able to
    exploit ``deep institutional failings'' in our Nation's defenses that
    developed over more than a decade. The Commission's recommendations are
    consistent with the strategy my administration is following to address
    these failings and to win the war on terror. But the job is not done.
    And this report will help our country identify even more steps we can
    take to better defend America.
        The Commission has suggested a number of reforms to improve our
    intelligence capabilities so we can better anticipate emerging threats.
    We will carefully study all their proposals, of course. We agree that
    better coordination between the various intelligence agencies is needed.
    We agree that more human intelligence is needed, because we know the
    best way to figure out what the enemy is thinking is to get to know the
    enemy firsthand. We agree that we need to improve the technology at our
    disposal and develop capabilities that allow us to track our enemies
    anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
        I appreciate the hard work of the Commission and the spirit in which
    their recommendations are written. We will give serious consideration to
    every idea because we share a common goal: to do everything in our power
    to prepare for and to stop any terrorist attack.
        The new threats of the 21st century--they are dangerous and they are
    frightening, but America has the resources and the strength and the
    resolve to overcome them. We are waging a broad and unrelenting war on
    terror overseas and here at home. We're not going to give up. We're not
    going to weaken. Our resolve is firm. We have a duty to the American
    people. We are using this country's technological advantages to develop
    new cures and defenses to protect our citizens. We have dramatically
    improved our capacity to prevent and, if necessary, respond to a
    terrorist attack.
        In nearly 3 years since September the 11th, life in America has in
    many ways returned to normal, and that's good for the country. It means
    that citizens are doing their jobs and raising their families and living
    as free people. Americans want to live in peace. I want peace for our
    country and peace for the world. Yet we have not forgotten what happened
    to our Nation on that day. We must do everything we can to prevent an
    even bolder and deadlier attack. We will never let our guard down.
        Americans will always remember the courage we saw on that day as
    well, the unselfish heroism of police and firefighters and rescue
    personnel who rushed toward danger to save lives. All of you know that
    the next alarm could bring serious danger and even sacrifice. Americans
    are grateful that you are on the job. We're grateful that you're on the
    lookout for the enemy. We're grateful that you're prepared to respond if
    tragedy strikes.

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        You are vital to the Nation's defenses, the ones most likely to
    first encounter a terrorist, the ones who will be the first on the scene
    should there be an attack. You have dedicated your careers to serving
    others. That is a noble calling. In these challenging times, with the
    Nation relying on your efforts, you deserve the full support of our
    governments, and you can count on that support.
        It's an honor for me to be here with those who defend us and protect
    us. May God bless you and your families, and may God continue to bless
    our great country. Thank you for coming.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:49 p.m. in the field training facility.
    In his remarks, he referred to Albert Rigoni, president, Northeastern
    Illinois Public Safety Training Academy; A.Q. Khan, former head of
    Pakistan's nuclear weapons program; Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al
    Qaida terrorist organization; and the National Commission on Terrorist
    Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission).