[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 11 (Monday, March 22, 1999)]
[Pages 436-440]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Legislative Conference of the International Association 
of Fire Fighters

March 15, 1999

    Thank you. That's a true story. [Laughter] But the truth is that Al 
didn't need to have any fear because by the time I called him, Harold 
had gone over the whole list, and I had written it down. Do you remember 
that? I mean, he had been very tough, very specific, very firm. And I 
actually wrote it down. And I think if I hadn't written it down, he 
would never have let me off the hook. [Laughter] I just called Al 
because sometimes people get better care in the hospital after I call 
them. [Laughter]
    I was with a guy over the weekend--I went home to Arkansas over the 
weekend--I was with a guy over the weekend who is about 83 years old. 
And he literally was at death's door. And I called him in the hospital, 
and I don't--this sounds more insensitive than it is, but this guy is 
like a brother to me, and we've been friends for 30 years. And I call 
him up, and I say, ``You old coot. You can't die. I'm not done with you 
yet.'' [Laughter] And all of a sudden, everybody rushed into his room. 
The next thing I know, 2 weeks later he's at a Democratic event, last 
weekend. So if you get in the hospital and you don't think they're doing 
right by you, let us know, and I'll see what I can do. [Laughter]
    I want to thank Al and Harold and Vince and all the officers of the 
IAFF for working with us. I want to thank my good friend James Lee Witt, 
and Kay Goss, who has now worked with me as my liaison to firefighters 
as Governor and as President. Thank you very much. I want to thank 
Congressmen Neil Abercrombie and Bill Pascrell, both of whom are here 
and are good friends of the firefighters and good friends of mine.
    You know, I was thinking about how much we have in common on the way 
over here. When I was a boy, like most kids I used to love to go to the 
fire station, slide down the pole, crawl on the truck, do all that. I 
never became a firefighter, but I believe I've learned about as much as 
you have about putting out fires in the last few years. [Laughter]
    I'm working on about 20 years now, of working with firefighters, 
working with the IAFF. When I was Governor, I worked with our local IAFF 
members to create a statewide fire and police pension system and to 
establish death benefits for firefighters killed in the line of duty. 
And I asked Al where Pete Reagan was standing over there because he's 
the president of the Arkansas Professional Fire Fighters, and whenever I 
go back to northwest Arkansas, he still leads the motorcade.
    I haven't been asked to pick up a hose or anything on any of these 
trips, but a few years ago when we were in Fayetteville, where I used to 
teach and where Hillary and I were married, I asked him if we could go 
by and see the home where we first lived in and where we were married. 
Pete redirected the entire motorcade to go past the

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house. You cannot imagine how this traumatized the Secret Service. 
[Laughter]
    Everybody else--I just said, ``I want to go by my house.'' And so, 
boom, boom, boom, all of a sudden we're going by the--then, they had to 
take us down a dirt road in order to get back on the motorcade route, 
which makes the point I want to get into, which is that now people who 
are firefighters have to do a lot more than battle fires.
    You all know that Benjamin Franklin started the country's first fire 
department in 1736. It was called the Union Fire Company, but it was not 
a union shop. It was a private company. And in those days, different 
companies would actually show up at a fire, and then they would fight 
over who would put it out, because you actually got paid if you put the 
fire out. Meanwhile the building would burn down. Kind of the way 
Washington works today. [Laughter]
    That bickering system ended with the rise of municipal fire 
departments in the 19th century. And ever since, I think that almost 
every American would agree that firefighters have embodied the best 
values of this country: teamwork, professionalism, helping your 
neighbor, showing courage when it's necessary. These things are at the 
core of this country's character, and they're what we think about--the 
rest of us--when we think about you and the people you represent.
    But the job has changed. From reviving heart attack sufferers, to 
cleaning up hazardous chemical spills, to rescuing victims of 
earthquakes and floods--firefighters have been called upon to assume 
ever-broadening responsibilities for helping our fellow countrymen and 
women.
    As we approach a new century, we have to ask our firefighters to 
meet yet a new challenge: to protect our citizens from terrorists armed 
with chemical and biological weapons. Today I want to talk about these 
new threats and about the efforts we're undertaking to equip and train 
our Nation's firefighters to deal with those threats, thanks in large 
part to the IAFF.
    America's municipal firefighters are already the best trained and 
best equipped in the world. All Americans benefit from that. The number 
of Americans killed in fires has dropped by one-third since 1988. I 
don't think the American people know that, and since the press is 
covering it, I want to say that again--I hope this gets on, if nothing 
else does--the number of Americans killed in fires has dropped by one-
third since 1988. Thank you very much.
    This is due, of course, to the prevention measures you have 
tirelessly advocated, to your bravery and skill. With the help of better 
safety equipment that you have fought for, such as flame-retardant 
suits, firefighters have been able to get to the heart of fires quicker 
and pull more victims to safety.
    Firefighting is still extremely dangerous. Firefighters are 6 times 
more likely to be injured on the job than the average private sector 
worker. That's why I have worked very hard with your leaders to better 
the lives of firefighters. We've improved the pay system for Federal 
firefighters, supported efforts to give all firefighters the right to 
join unions and bargain collectively, strengthen Federal rules--
[applause]--thank you. Thank you. And we strengthened the Federal rules 
that protect the lives of firefighters. But we have to do more.
    The 21st century will be a fascinating time. I envy those of you who 
are in this audience who are younger than me, which is most of you, 
because you'll live to see more of it. It will be a century in which 
limitless opportunities will be linked to dangerous new threats. Here's 
why: Open borders and fast-paced technological change fuel our 
prosperity; they create new job opportunities, new business 
opportunities every day; they also make life more interesting and they 
spread the message of freedom quickly around the globe.
    You may have noticed last week I was in Central America visiting 
four countries that were ravaged by the hurricane. All these countries 
once were gripped by horrible civil wars. Today, they're all governed by 
freely elected leaders, people sitting in the assemblies who fought each 
other for years. There's a lot of good things going on.
    But the more open and flexible societies are, the more vulnerable 
they can become to organized forces of destruction. They give new 
opportunities to the enemies as well as the friends of freedom. For 
example, scientists now use the Internet to exchange

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ideas and make discoveries that can lengthen lives. But fanatics can 
also use it to download formulas for substances and bombs that can be 
used to shorten lives.
    In most instances of domestic terror, the first professionals on the 
scene will be the firefighters. They're becoming the frontline defenders 
of our citizens, not just from accidents and arsonists but from those 
who would seek to sow terror and so undermine our way of life. The truth 
of this is apparent to anyone who saw that unforgettable photograph of 
firefighter Chris Fields, cradling in his arms a tiny victim of the 
Oklahoma City bombing.
    Since 1996, the number of weapons of mass destruction threats called 
in to firefighters, police, and the FBI has increased by fivefold. The 
threat comes not just from conventional weapons, like the bomb used in 
Oklahoma City, but also from chemical weapons, like the nerve agent that 
killed 12 but injured thousands in Tokyo in the subway just 4 years ago, 
and even from biological weapons that could spread deadly disease before 
anyone even realizes that attack has occurred.
    I have been stressing the importance of this issue, now, for some 
time. As I have said repeatedly, and I want to say again to you, I am 
not trying to put any American into a panic over this, but I am 
determined to see that we have a serious, deliberate, disciplined, long-
term response to a legitimate potential threat to the lives and safety 
of the American people. [Applause] Thank you.
    The only cause for alarm would be if we were to sit by and do 
nothing to prepare for a problem we know we could be presented with. 
Nothing would make me happier than to have people look back 20 years 
from now and say, ``President Clinton overreacted to that. He was overly 
cautious.'' The only way they will say that is if we are over cautious, 
if we're prepared, we can keep bad things from happening.
    Now, last fall the Attorney General announced plans to create a 
national domestic preparedness office, a one-stop shop where State and 
local first responders can get the equipment, the training, the guidance 
they need from a variety of Federal agencies. I proposed and Congress 
agreed to a 39 percent increase in resources for chemical and biological 
weapons preparedness.
    In the budget I submitted last month to Congress, I asked for $10 
billion to combat terrorism, including nearly 1.4 billion to protect 
citizens against chemical and biological terrorism here at home, more 
than double what we spent on such efforts just 2 years ago.
    Today I want to talk about the specifics of our domestic 
antiterrorism initiative that will most affect the people in this room 
and those whom you represent.
    First, equipment: Later this year, the Justice Department will 
provide $69\1/2\ million in grants to all 50 States and the large 
municipalities to buy everything from protective gear to chemical/
biological detection devices. Next month, we'll be asking you to tell us 
what you need.
    Second, training: This year, the Departments of Justice and Defense, 
along with FEMA, will invest nearly $80 million in new and existing 
training efforts for firefighters, EMS personnel, and other first 
responders. We want all of these resources to be accessible to the 
National Domestic Preparedness Office.
    Third, special response teams: The Department of Health and Human 
Services has helped 27 metropolitan areas develop specially trained and 
equipped medical response teams that can be deployed at a moment's 
notice in the event of chemical or biological attack. These teams, 
composed of local medical personnel, will get to the scene quickly, work 
closely with firefighters and police and ensure that patients are safely 
transported to hospitals. Our goal is a response team in each of the 
Nation's major metropolitan areas, and my new budget moves us in that 
direction.
    But the need is too urgent to wait for Congress to act on the budget 
at the end of the year. Therefore, Secretary Shalala will notify 
Congress today that she plans to spend an additional $11 million this 
year to create medical response teams in 12 more metropolitan areas, 
including Salt Lake City, the home of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
    Fourth, advice from the front line: Later this year, the Department 
of Defense will name members of a new weapons of mass destruction 
advisory panel. Three of the 17

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panel members will be firefighters. [Applause] Thank you. Next month, 
the National Domestic Preparedness Office will hold a conference with 
fire and police chiefs and hazardous materials experts to develop 
guidelines for dealing with biological and chemical threats and 
incidents.
    With action in these four areas, to better equip and train local 
firefighters and other first responders, we can save lives and show 
terrorists that assaults on America will accomplish nothing but their 
own downfall.
    Let me tell you again how grateful I am to have had the chance to 
work with you over these last 6 years, and for the next 2, how important 
I think it is that we always be preparing for the future, how strongly I 
believe--I was glad when you--and touched--when you stood up when I said 
I believed in the right of firefighters to organize and bargain 
collectively. I do. I think most people don't understand, until they go 
through a fire or some other emergency exactly how many different things 
you do and how dangerous it can often be.
    I also think that because you are leaders of your community, because 
your kids play on the ball teams, because you show up at the PTA 
meetings, because you're involved in the civic clubs, and the other 
activities, you can help to sensitize people to this issue I've talked 
with you about today.
    And again I say, I don't want any American to go around in mortal 
fear of a biological and chemical attack. But you have--a lot of you 
have kids that are better on the computer than you are. As a matter of 
fact, anybody here who is better than his or her child on a computer 
deserves a medal. [Laughter] But you know there are millions of websites 
now. You know what people can pull up. Now, it's not unusual now for 
children to turn in term papers where they never have to go to the 
library, and every single source they cite came off the Internet. And 
with that sort of access to information, people who want to do bad 
things with elemental chemical and biological products that can be 
poisonous or spread disease, is a legitimate possibility. I will say 
again, the best chance we have for this not to be a problem is to 
understand the dimensions of it and prepare for it, with discipline, in 
the quickest possible way.
    And so I hope you will talk to your friends and neighbors about it, 
again, not to overly frighten them but to sensitize them so they expect 
their elected officials and their other leaders to take appropriate 
steps. That is the way to deal with it.
    You know, I remember, it wasn't so many years ago that people were 
panicked that every airplane they took might be hijacked. And then we 
had the airport metal detectors. And then some people said, ``Well, is 
this too much of an infringement on our liberty?'' I can only speak for 
myself; I never once minded being stopped and asked to empty my pockets 
when I set off the metal detector, because I knew it was a way that we 
could prepare for a problem so that we wouldn't have to go around 
frightened all the time.
    That's all we've got to do here, to deal with this in an aggressive, 
comprehensive, professional, disciplined way. And I really think that 
you understand this. And I ask you when you go home, try also to make 
sure in all kinds of ways, perhaps formal and informal, that your fellow 
citizens do as well.
    Al said today that this is the first time a President has ever 
addressed the IAFF in person. The others made a mistake; that's all I 
can say. [Applause] Thank you. And I was a little slow off the mark. 
[Laughter] But I would like to point out that IAFF has hardly gone 
unnoticed by past Presidents. One I particularly admire, Harry Truman, 
sent this letter on August the 1st, 1952, to the then-president of your 
organization, John Redmond. He described you and your union in plain 
words that I cannot improve upon. So I would like to close with them.
    ``Your members are at their posts, day and night, ready to accept 
the call of duty, to protect the lives and property of their fellow 
citizens. They do so at risk of life and limb. For their devotion and 
heroism, they deserve the praise of all Americans.'' Amen.
    Thank you, and God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 4:05 p.m. in the International Ballroom at 
the Hyatt Regency Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Alfred K. 
Whitehead, general president, Harold A. Schaitberger, executive 
assistant to the general president, and Vincent J. Bollon, general 
secretary-treasurer, International Association of Fire Fighters.

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