Posted at 3:17 p.m., Thursday, November 8, 2001
Bush calls on Americans to be alert, not afraid
By Sonya Ross
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA — President Bush urged an uneasy nation tonight to meet "our great national challenge" to protect America against future terrorist attacks by volunteering for community service and watching for suspicious activity.
"There is a difference between being alert and being intimidated, and this nation will not be intimidated," Bush said.
Nearly two months after the hijacker attacks in New York and Washington, the president said the United States will emerge stronger.
"None of us would ever wish the evil that has been done to our country, yet we have learned that out of evil can come great good. During the last two months, we have shown the world America is a great nation," he said in speech prepared for prime-time television.
The address, coming nearly two months after the hijacker attacks, was billed as an update on the war in Afghanistan, the anthrax scares at home and the new responsibilities of government and all Americans. He also outlined actions the government has taken to strengthen homeland security.
"Our great national challenge is to hunt down the terrorists and strengthen our protections against future attacks; our great national opportunity is to preserve forever the good that has resulted. Through the tragedy, we are renewing and reclaiming our strong American values," Bush said.
He said the country is different — "sadder and less innocent; strong and more united" — than before the attacks.
He spoke in Atlanta, chosen because it is home to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nation's leading disease control facility.
Recognizing in polls a desire by Americans to get involved in the fight against terrorism, the president suggested ways people can serve their country. He urged people to head into "careers of service," such as firefighting or police work.
He said people should volunteer to work in hospitals and other places on the front lines of terrorism response, such as military installations.
On Friday, Bush was announcing a "dramatic increase" in the use of National Guard personnel for airport security, including the stationing of Guardsmen at airport boarding gates, an administration official said.
"Many ask what can I do to help in our fight? The simple answer is all of us can become a September 11th volunteer by making a commitment to service in our own communities," Bush said.
Bush announced that the national service groups created by former President Clinton in 1993, AmeriCorps and Senior Corps, would provide more than 20,000 government-subsided volunteers to help police, fire and public health departments and "free up" the professionals for work on the front lines of homeland defense.
Bush also created a task force on citizen preparedness, which will have 40 days to give him recommendations on helping Americans prepare their homes, neighborhoods, schools and workplaces for the potential consequences of any future attacks.
"One way to defeat terrorism is to show the world the true values of America through the gathering momentum of millions of acts of responsibility and decency and service," he said.
Bush asked states to help develop a modern civil defense service. The program would be modeled after volunteer firefighter programs, which provide trained, equipped firefighters.
The president had little progress to report during his planned Georgia World Congress Center address. The chief suspect in the Sept. 11 hijackings, Osama bin Laden, remains free in Afghanistan despite the pounding by American bombs, and investigators remain baffled by the anthrax attacks.
Four people have died, 13 others have fallen ill since the bacteria was unleashed in the nation's mail last month.
Still, Bush confidently predicted victory in the terrorism fight.
"No group or nation should mistake America's intentions: Where terrorist groups of global reach exist, the United States and our friends and allies will seek it out and destroy it," he said.
Bush praised Americans for responding to the crisis with "courage and compassion, calm, reason, resolve and fierce determination."
Attorney General John Ashcroft gave the investigation a positive spin, saying hours before Bush's address that America has "emerged victorious in the opening battle in the war against terrorism." He said the country has avoided another major attack through the hard work of law enforcement personnel and the patience and vigilance of the public.
Ashcroft said "two periods of extremely high threat have passed" without additional attacks. He was referring to a pair of terrorism threat warnings that placed law enforcement nationwide at their highest alert.
In a separate development, White House adviser Karl Rove planned to meet with Hollywood executives Sunday to discuss ways in which the entertainment industry might want to promote the war and anti-terrorism effort. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said public service announcements are one option.
In that meeting, organized by Paramount executive Sherri Lansing, Rove hoped to discuss the themes the White House is stressing in the anti-terror campaign — tolerance, courage, patriotism.
