[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 16 (Monday, April 22, 2002)]
[Pages 658-661]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner

April 18, 2002

    The President. Thank you all. Please be seated. Thank you all very 
much. Thank you

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for that warm welcome. I'm honored to be your President, and I'm honored 
to be a proud backer of the Crawford Texas Volunteer Fire Department. 
[Laughter]
    Anybody here from----
    Audience members. We love you, George! [Laughter]
    The President. I was hoping somebody would be here from the Crawford 
Volunteer Fire Department. [Laughter] It's a long drive from Crawford, 
but thanks for coming. [Laughter]
    This evening we pay a fitting tribute to our Nation's first-
responders, the men and women who answer America's alarms. Yours is one 
of the highest callings in our country and one of the hardest. Your 
neighborhoods depend on you and so does your country. And you've never 
let us down.
    It's good to be here with Hal Bruno. This man was one of the finest 
names in TV journalism. You know him as a champion of fallen 
firefighters and a champion of their families. And as a lifelong 
volunteer, Hal, you have the respect of the people in this room, and we 
thank you for your service.
    And America has come to know my friend, a steady and strong man, the 
man I picked to be the FEMA Director, Joe Allbaugh. I'm proud of--
[applause]--there's something reassuring about old Joe. [Laughter] It 
might be his haircut. [Laughter] But I know him well and trust him 
because he's got a big heart. And as Hal just told me, I'm proud of the 
fact that he's welcomed into any firehouse in America.
    And I give my thanks to a former volunteer fire chief, an eloquent 
former volunteer fire chief, the man who founded the Congressional Fire 
Services Caucus, my friend Congressman Curt Weldon. I want to thank 
Chief Dave Paulison for his willingness to serve our country.
    I want to thank the Congressmen who are here, Steny Hoyer as well as 
Rob Andrews. I understand that Senator Biden and Senator Sarbanes are to 
be here. They might be trying to pass some legislation right now--I 
hope. [Laughter] I've got a few suggestions in mind if they--
[laughter]--if they're interested. But I want to thank the Members of 
the Congress who are here. Thank you for taking time out of your 
evenings to be here and support this really important evening.
    I want to thank Chief Nigro, Chief Plaugher, and Chief Shaffer for 
their leadership and for leading the Pledge of Allegiance. And I want to 
thank you all for being such fine Americans.
    This annual event recognizes more than a million Americans who 
accept the difficult and dangerous work of fighting fires. At this hour, 
across our country, career and volunteer firefighters are waiting for 
the next call and prepared for anything that might come. Every one of 
them knows the risk that may be only minutes away, and every firefighter 
has made a decision. It has been said that a firefighter's first act of 
bravery is taking an oath to become a firefighter.
    We often read about surveys that ask Americans whom they trust and 
respect the most. In addition to their own family, one of the groups the 
young people of America most often name is the firefighters of our 
country--and rightly so. You defend us against humanity's oldest enemy.
    In many ways, modern societies have gained control over fire. We 
have invented new methods of detecting fires and new practices to 
prevent them. Yet, we know there will always be fires, and someone will 
have to face the flames. America will always need the kind of people who 
do that work. There is no substitute for the raw courage of the 
firefighter.
    On September the 11th, the world saw once again the true meaning of 
heroism. Thousands of lives were saved from certain death by the courage 
of rescuers. Thousands were killed in the attack on our country, but not 
one of the victims was abandoned. Undoubtedly, for many who died that 
terrible day, the last voice they heard was the voice of a rescuer.
    A woman who lost her daughter at the World Trade Center has written 
this: ``We do not know what Ann's final time on Earth was like. But one 
thing we do know; if she were conscious of being in a fire, she would 
have known that somewhere firemen were looking for her, and if it were 
humanly possible, they would save her or give their lives trying. She 
learned that as a fireman's daughter.''

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    Another fireman's daughter is here this evening, along with her 
three brothers and their mom, Rosalie. They are the family of Chief Ray 
Downey, who will always be remembered as one of the heroes of September 
the 11th. Those who knew him would tell him--tell you he was the bravest 
of the brave, a fireman's fireman. And today I proudly sign legislation 
designating a post office in Deer Park, New York, as the Raymond M. 
Downey Post Office Building.
    It is our job to make sure that our country does not forget the 
sacrifices of that day and the valor of those who made them. We will 
remember all the innocent people who were murdered and the terrorist 
leaders who sent the murderers. And we'll remember our mission, to run 
down the terrorists one by one and bring them to justice.
    I can't imagine what went through their minds when they were 
plotting this horrible evil. You know, they must have thought America 
was so materialistic, so self-centered, so self-absorbed, so weak that 
all we were going to do was file a lawsuit. [Laughter] They found out we 
think a little different here in America.
    These people are nothing but cold-blooded killers. And that's 
exactly how we're going to treat them. There is no cave--[applause]--
there's not a calendar on my desk that says, you know, you got to quit 
by this date. I'm patient; so is the American people. We're united. You 
see, when it comes to defending that which we hold dear, we're plenty 
tough, and we hold our freedoms dear.
    This is a different kind of war than we're used to in America. The 
days after September the 11th, I told the American people, and I'm 
telling them every chance I get, that this will be a war that will be 
fought on many fronts. Sometimes we'll use our military; sometimes we'll 
cut off their money; sometimes we'll conduct operations that no one will 
see, except the enemy when we grab them.
    I want you to know we're making good progress. But it's going to 
take a long time. It's going to take a lot longer than some of the 
calendar watchers would like. But that's okay, because we've got the 
resolve. Much to the chagrin of the enemy, this Nation has the resolve 
and the desire and the will to do what it takes to defend our freedoms 
and to make sure our children and our grandchildren can grow up in a 
free and peaceful world.
    I sent up--I sent up a budget to Congress that reflects the nature 
of the war we're in. It's a big increase, no question about it. It's a 
$48-billion increase for our Armed Forces. It's the largest increase in 
defense spending since Ronald Reagan. And it's necessary. Here's my 
attitude: If we put our soldiers in harm's way, they deserve the best 
equipment; they deserve the best training; they deserve the best support 
possible from the United States of America.
    I've also made homeland security a priority in the budget, with $3.5 
billion in proposed spending for our country's first-responders. We must 
prepare our country for whatever emergency may come and commit new 
resources to train and equipment our firefighters, our police, and EMS 
crews all around the country.
    You know, people oftentimes ask me what can they do to help fight in 
the war against terror. Firefighters answer that call every day. But 
there are other ways to fight in the war against terror as well. If you 
want to fight evil, do some good. If you want to join the war against 
terror, love your neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself.
    That's why I'm calling on people to join the USA Freedom Corps, and 
one of the initiatives is to help our firefighters and police and EMS 
teams--have volunteers support you all, have elderly help out in 
Neighborhood Watch. I mean, there are ways citizens can join in this war 
against terror.
    And there are other ways as well. If you mentor a child, you're 
doing some good. If you say to a shut-in, ``What can I do to help you 
out,'' you're doing some good. If you go to your church or synagogue or 
mosque and help people feed the hungry, you're doing some good. And it's 
the millions of acts of kindness and compassion which stand squarely in 
the face of evil.
    I am so proud--I am so proud of the way America has responded. You 
know, I think we're beginning to defeat the old culture which said, ``If 
it feels good, just go ahead and do it,'' and ``If you've got a problem,

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blame somebody else.'' You've lived the culture of personal 
responsibility, of being responsible for something greater than 
yourself. That's what the firefighter does. And making the sacrifice and 
risking your life, you're a part of a movement, of a culture that says, 
``It's important to serve something greater.''
    That was best seen in Flight 93. It's one of the moments that I'll 
never forget--when brave men and women on a flight were told via 
telephone on the plane that America was under attack and they, 
themselves, had become a weapon. They said to their loved ones--they 
told their loved ones they loved them; they said a prayer; one guy said, 
``Let's roll;'' and they drove an airplane in the ground, to serve 
something greater than themselves in life.
    Out of this evil will come incredible good in America. Out of the 
evil done to our country will come more peace in the world, a culture of 
personal responsibility, a willingness to serve something greater than 
ourselves in life. The enemy thought they hit a weak Nation, but 
instead, they hit the greatest Nation on the face of the Earth. And it 
is my honor to be the President of the greatest Nation.
    Thank you all. May God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 7:08 p.m. in the International Ballroom at 
the Washington Hilton Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Hal Bruno, 
chairman, National Fallen Firefighters Foundation; R. David Paulison, 
U.S. Fire Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency; Daniel A. 
Nigro, chief, Fire Department of New York City; Ed Plaugher, chief, 
Arlington County Fire Department, Arlington, VA; and Terry Shaffer, 
chief, Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department, Shanksville, PA.