[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 40 (Monday, October 8, 2001)]
[Pages 1400-1402]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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 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

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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--
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.

[[Page 1402]]

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.