President Honors Port Authority Heroes & Outlines New Security Measures
Remarks by the President on Homeland Security
Port Elizabeth, New Jersey
11:03 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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 Advisor, 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.
(Applause.) Admiral Tom Collins, who's the Commander of the U.S. Coast
Guard. (Applause.) I want to thank Commissioner Jim Ziglar of the INS
for his steadfast leadership. Jim, thank you very much. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
Members of the might 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. (Applause.) 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 U.S. 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 please rise, and thank you for being here.
(Applause.) 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.
(Applause.) 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
heros, we pay tribute to America's character. And it's important for
many to see the character of our country. One of those heros 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. (Applause.)
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 coworker 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
This is a different kind of war, and it has placed many Americans
on the front line 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. (Applause.)
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 of cold-blooded 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. (Applause.) 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 hundred 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, D.C. 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. (Applause.)
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.
(Applause.) 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.
(Applause.)
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.
(Applause.)
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 Zubaydah killer
organization. This is the organization which captured the Burnhams.
They're nothing but cold-blooded killers again. They may espouse some
kind of doctrine; 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 she did. So I
guess it's 2,401. But we're making progress, one person at a time.
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 remain 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. (Applause.) God bless, and God bless America.
(Applause.)