[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 26 (Monday, July 1, 2002)]
[Pages 1081-1084]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Homeland Security in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey

June 24, 2002

    Thank you all very much. Please be seated. Well, not everybody be 
seated. [Laughter]
    Thank you all very much for coming today. It is my high honor to be 
in the midst of so many great Americans, people who serve our country 
with dignity and honor, people who allowed me to say, ``We're winning, 
and we're going to continue to win as we fight for our freedoms.''
    I'm honored to be here at the largest marine cargo terminal on the 
East Coast. I'm so impressed with the massive size of this operation and 
its obvious importance to the economy of our country, but not nearly as 
impressed as I have been and am by the way New Jersey firefighters and 
police officers and emergency rescue units and Port Authority officers 
responded on September the 11th and have continued to respond.
    The country has come to appreciate so very much the dedication of 
our Nation's first-responders, thanks to the bravery of many in this 
audience and the continued hard work you do on behalf of all America. So 
on behalf of a grateful nation, I want to thank you for the job you're 
doing for the people of New Jersey and the people of New York and, as 
importantly, for the people of this great land, your fellow Americans.
    I appreciate the many who have traveled with me today, key Cabinet 
members and heads of agencies all involved with the defense of our 
homeland. I appreciate Norm Mineta, the Secretary of Transportation, 
who's doing such a fantastic job in his important Cabinet position. I 
want to thank Tom Ridge, who's the Homeland Security Adviser, who's with 
me today. I appreciate the Secretary of Agriculture, Ann Veneman, and 
Christie Todd Whitman, who is running the Environmental Protection 
Agency. [Applause] They still remember you. [Laughter]
    I appreciate Commissioner Robert Bonner of the U.S. Customs, Admiral 
Tom Collins, who's the Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard. I want to 
thank Commissioner Jim Ziglar of the INS for his steadfast leadership. 
Jim, thank you very much. I appreciate Jack Sinagra of the--Port 
Authority chairman, and all those who work hard to make sure this port 
runs well.
    I also want to thank very much the Governor of New Jersey for being 
here; Jim, thank you for coming, appreciate your time. Members of the 
mighty New Jersey Congressional delegation who have joined us, Senator 
Torricelli and Senator Corzine, thank you all for being here. 
Congressman Mike Ferguson, Frank LoBiondo, Congressman Steve Rothman, 
Congressman Marge Roukema, I'm honored you all are here, and thanks for 
coming. Rush Holt, I appreciate you being here, Rush. Thank you for your 
time.
    I marvel at the strength of our country. It's an incredibly great 
country because the people are great. Today when I landed at--on Air 
Force One, I had the honor of meeting a young lady named Joanna Glick. 
She's a member of the USA Freedom Corps. Her brother, Jeremy, was one of 
the heroes on Flight 93. That was the flight in--where average citizens 
were flying across the country. They realized their airplane was to be 
used as a weapon to harm their fellow Americans. They told their loved 
ones good-bye on cell phones. They said a prayer, and they drove the 
airplane in the ground. They served something greater than themselves in 
life.
    And Joanna and her classmates Kelly Bianco and Allison Cohen heard 
the call, the example of her brother to serve something greater than 
themselves in life. They understand that in order to defeat evil, you 
can do so by loving your neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself. 
They started what they call the Teen Freedom Corps in their high school. 
They serve as a fabulous example for young and old alike to respond to 
the challenge of our country by working to make somebody else's life 
better. Would you girls

[[Page 1082]]

please rise, and thank you for being here. I'm real proud of you. Thank 
you. I'm really proud of your service and your leadership.
    I also want to thank Arlene Howard for coming. Arlene is my friend, 
mother of George Howard, Port Authority policeman. She represents so 
many moms and dads and loved ones who mourn for the loss of a child or a 
husband or a wife. I appreciate your strength, Arlene. I love seeing you 
every time. She's always telling me what to do. [Laughter]
    But being here reminds me that the country still continues to pay 
tribute to the heroism of 9/11, and we must. As we pay tribute to the 
heroes, we pay tribute to America's character. And it's important for 
many to see the character of our country. One of those heroes was Fred 
Morrone. Many of you may have known Fred. He was the Port Authority 
Superintendent of Police and Director of Public Safety. Immediately 
after the plane crashed into One World Trade Center, Fred raced from his 
New Jersey City office to the Trade Center. He oversaw the evacuation of 
staff from the Port Authority's offices on the 67th floor. The plane 
crashes, he heads over, up to the 67th floor. Many were leaving; he's 
heading in. Evacuees heading downstairs saw the calm superintendent 
urging people to leave in an orderly fashion. He was posthumously 
awarded the Port Authority's Medal of Honor.
    Eddie Calderon was a civilian employee of the Port Authority, a 
former Marine. You're never really a former Marine. Eddie was a 
supervisor of the Trade Center's Operation Control Center. On the 
morning of September the 11th, Eddie stayed at his desk, speaking to 
people trapped in elevators, coordinating requests for information from 
firefighters. When a co-worker expressed concern about Eddie's own 
safety, here's what he said: ``I'm a Marine. I do not ever leave anybody 
behind.'' He, too, received the Port Authority Civilian Medal of Honor.
    I know their loved ones are with us today. Our Nation is extremely 
grateful for the dedication and example for others to see. God bless you 
all.
    All together, 75 Port Authority employees were killed on September 
the 11th. And you need to know, no matter how long it takes, we're going 
to hunt their killers down, one by one, and bring them to justice.
    This is a different kind of war, and it has placed many Americans on 
the frontline of this war, America's firefighters and police officers 
and postal workers and all the folks who work here at the Port 
Authority, New York and New Jersey, to keep America safe.
    And we're working hard to make sure your job is easier, that the 
port is safer. Here's some examples of what's taking place. The Customs 
Service is working with overseas ports and shippers to improve its 
knowledge of container shipments, assessing risk so that we have a 
better feel of who we ought to look at, what we ought to worry about. 
Inspectors here can focus on high-risk shipments. America will be better 
protected.
    The Port Authority of New York and Jersey has been putting together 
a $60 million closed-circuit TV security system with cameras all around 
sensitive areas here at the port. This will strengthen our ability to 
safeguard these facilities. Coast Guard inspectors and law enforcement 
officials currently board targeted commercial vessels shortly before 
they enter the Port Authority, and then they escort them safely to 
docks. Tomorrow the Coast Guard's Deep Water Project will award a multi-
year contract to replace aging ships and aircrafts and improve 
communications and information sharing.
    The whole purpose is to push out our maritime borders, giving us 
more time to identify threats and more time to respond. The Coast Guard 
is also working on ways to better detect weapons of mass destruction. 
They've assembled strike teams, one of which I was able to meet today.
    No, we're better and stronger and wiser today than we were. We're 
working harder than ever before. As I travel our country, I remind our 
citizens, there are thousands of people working as hard as they possibly 
can to keep America safe. Today I recognize I'm in the midst of that 
type of citizen who's working hard to keep America safe. Thank you, for 
a grateful nation.
    We must constantly think of ways to improve our ability to protect 
the homeland, because these killers are still out there. Somebody asked 
me to describe them one time. I said, ``They're nothing but a bunch

[[Page 1083]]

of coldblooded killers, and they still hate the fact that we love 
freedom. And they really can't stand the fact that we're not backing 
down. See, they thought we'd probably just file a lawsuit or two.'' 
[Laughter] They didn't understand America. That's what they didn't know. 
They didn't understand our character. They don't have any idea about 
what makes the people right here tick.
    And so we've got to continue to do everything we can to protect 
innocent lives. And that's why I think it is vital the Federal 
Government reorganize, so that we've got people involved with homeland 
security under a Cabinet office dedicated to homeland security. You see, 
we've got to change--change our priorities. We've got to focus our 
priorities. We've got to set clear goals. If cultures need to be changed 
within agencies, we'll change the cultures, because this new war of the 
21st century requires a 100 percent focused effort to protect the 
homeland.
    Now, I know some are nervous about taking this from here and that 
from there. It is the right thing to do, to have the over 100 agencies 
involved with homeland security under one authority, so that we can have 
accountability and responsibility in Washington, DC. I want to thank the 
Members of Congress who understand that it's important to put their own 
personal turf aside. It's also important to put our political parties in 
the background as we focus on doing what's right for the country.
    I believe with hard work and a lot of effort and a lot of reminding 
by the President that this is the right thing to do on behalf of the 
American people, we can get this new Cabinet agency up and running. It 
will make your jobs easier, for those of you involved with the agencies 
I'm talking about. It'll make our Federal Government more responsive. It 
will allow us to communicate better. It will allow all of you to make 
sure that the hard hours you're putting in are able to more secure the 
homeland.
    But I want you to know that no matter what we do here in America, 
the best way to protect the homeland is to chase the killers down 
wherever they think they can hide and bring them to justice. And we're 
making progress. Sometimes you'll read about it, and sometimes you 
won't. It's important for our country to understand, this new war of the 
21st century is really not like any other war we've fought. You see, we 
fight people who, on the one hand, send youngsters to their death, and 
they, themselves, try to hide in a cave. Those are the kind of people we 
fight. You know, they claim in the name of a great religion that death 
is justified.
    You know, this country will take its time, because we defend 
freedom. This country will not blink, because we defend freedom. We love 
freedom, and we love our fellow Americans.
    The mighty United States military in step one performed brilliantly 
in Afghanistan. And I submitted a defense budget up in Washington that's 
big--no question about it--because anytime we commit our young into 
harm's way, they deserve the best pay and the best training possible. 
And I expect the United States Congress to get the defense bill to my 
desk quickly. They don't need to delay the defense bill in a time of 
war. They need to deliberate like they're supposed to and get it to my 
desk. And the big increase also says, the United States of America is in 
this fight for the long run.
    You know, the enemy would have loved to have seen a scrawny little 
budget up there. They'd have said, ``Well, we were right. They're going 
to quit.'' We're not quitting. I don't care where the theater is, how 
long it takes. This mighty Nation is going to track them down until we 
can say with certainty, ``Our children and our grandchildren are free.''
    We've hauled in about 2,400 of them. This weekend I called Gloria 
Arroyo, the President of the Philippines, to congratulate her on her 
country's steadfast desire to rout out the Abu Sayyaf * killer 
organization. This is the organization which captured the Burnhams. 
They're nothing but coldblooded killers, again. They may espouse some 
kind of doctrine, but they have no regard for innocent life. I told 
Gloria early on in the fight that we'd help her. If she wanted us to 
take on the enemy without her, we'd be glad to do that too. And she 
said, ``No, we'd like your help to train so we can go get them.'' And

[[Page 1084]]

she did. So I guess it's 2,401. But we're making progress, one person at 
a time.
    * White House correction.
    At the same time, we recognize that there are other threats that 
could face our country and our history--these nations which have no 
regard for human rights and at the same time want to develop weapons of 
mass destruction. We're not going to let the world's worst leaders 
blackmail America with the world's worst weapons.
    This country recognizes, history has called us into action. History 
has given us an opportunity to lead the world to more freedom. And as 
far as I'm concerned, history will record this: The United States of 
America led a mighty coalition to freedom so that all freedom-loving 
people in every country could grow up in a peaceful environment, so 
children of all walks of life could grow up understanding what freedom 
means, in a peaceful way.
    I think out of the evil done to America, the evil so many saw 
firsthand and had to live with, will come incredible good. I believe 
there will be peace in the world if the America--if America continues to 
lead and remains strong. And I believe here at home, thanks to the 
loving hearts of thousands of our fellow citizens, America can not only 
be a safer place but a better place.
    I want to thank you all for coming today. I want to thank you for 
giving me the chance to be the President of the greatest country on the 
face of the Earth.
    God bless, and God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 11:03 a.m. at the marine cargo terminal. In 
his remarks, he referred to Gov. James R. McGreevey of New Jersey.