For Immediate Release
August 7, 2004
President's Radio Address
Audio
RADIO ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE NATION
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. My most solemn duty as President is
to protect our country, and in the three years since our country was
attacked, we have taken important steps to overcome terrorist threats
to this nation.
We have pursued terrorists across the world, destroying their
leadership and denying them sanctuaries. We are working with other
governments to break up terror cells and stop planned attacks, on
virtually every continent. We've created a new Department of Homeland
Security to win the battle against terror on the home front. We are
working to secure our borders, air and sea ports and critical
infrastructure. We are bringing the best technologies to bear against
the threat of chemical and biological warfare.
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We're using the tools of the Patriot Act to track terrorists within
our borders, and stop them before they kill our people. We have
transformed the FBI to focus on the prevention of terrorist attacks.
We've established a Terrorist Threat Integration Center, to merge and
analyze foreign and domestic intelligence on global terror in a single
place. And we are sharing that intelligence in unprecedented ways with
local officials and first responders who need it to protect our
communities.
I agree with the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission. Because of
these steps at home and abroad, our country is safer than it was on
September the 11th, 2001. Yet, we're still not safe. The elevation of
the threat level in New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. is a grim
reminder of the dangers we continue to face. Information from arrests
in Pakistan, taken together with information gathered by the U.S.
intelligence community, indicated that al Qaeda has cased financial
targets in New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., and has recently
updated their targeting information. This information was
buttressed by other information we already had.
We and our allies are working to protect our people from these
threats. As we fight the ongoing terrorist threat we will continue
moving forward with additional changes to protect our country. This
week, I asked Congress to create the position of a National
Intelligence Director. The person in that office will be appointed by
the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and will
serve at the pleasure of the President. The Director will serve as the
President's principal intelligence advisor and will oversee and
coordinate the foreign and domestic intelligence community. The CIA
will be managed by a separate Director. The National Intelligence
Director will assume the broader responsibility of leading the
intelligence community across our government, and he or she will have
the resources and authority to meet that responsibility.
This week I also announced that we establish a new National
Counter-Terrorism Center. This new center will build on the excellent
work of the Terrorist Threat Integration Center and will become our
government's knowledge bank for information about known and suspected
terrorists. This center will also be responsible for preparing the
daily terrorism threat report for the President and senior officials,
and its director will report to the National Intelligence Director,
once that position is created.
We will act on other valuable recommendations made by the 9/11
Commission. In the coming days, I will issue a series of directives to
various departments on essential steps for the government on the war on
terror. As we take these steps, our nation is grateful to the
dedicated, hardworking men and women of our intelligence community who
are working day and night to keep our country safe. We're a nation in
danger. We're doing everything we can in our power to confront the
danger. We're making good progress in protecting our people and
bringing our enemies to account. But one thing is certain: We'll keep
our focus, we'll keep our resolve, and we will do our duty to best
secure our country.
Thank you for listening.
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