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 hank
you, Mr. President. I'm honored to join the extraordinary team you
have assembled to lead America. The attack of September 11th changed
our nation in so many ways, starting with the lives of the thousands
of victims and their families. It changed the lives of our men and
women in uniform, who are courageously defending our nation today.
It changed
the course of my own state, Pennsylvania, which now has a new governor.
And it changed the way we look at homeland security, defending our
borders from an attack and ensuring our preparedness should one
occur.
Americans should
find comfort in knowing that millions of their fellow citizens are
working every day to ensure our security at every level — federal,
state, county, municipal. These are dedicated professionals who
are good at what they do. I've seen it up close, as Governor of
Pennsylvania.
But there may
be gaps in the system. The job of the Office of Homeland Security
will be to identify those gaps and work to close them. The size
and scope of this challenge are immense. The President's executive
order states that we must detect, prepare for, prevent, protect
against, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks, an extraordinary
mission. But we will carry it out.
I am optimistic
because of your leadership, Mr. President, because of the unprecedented
support for you throughout the country and among my old friends
in Congress. Because we will have the very best people working on
it, and because our country's shared sense of duty and mission is
unprecedented.
And we will
operate from a few basic principles. First, candor. No one should
be wary of coming forward when they see a problem. It's the only
way to define a solution. The urgency of our task dictates candor
about our challenges and confidence in our ability to solve them.
The second,
cooperation. We must open lines of communication and support like
never before, between agencies and departments, between federal
and state and local entities, and between the public and private
sectors. We must be task-oriented. The only turf we should be worried
about protecting is the turf we stand on.
Finally, as
the President stated, we will continue to secure liberty, as we
secure this nation. Liberty is the most precious gift we offer to
our citizens. It's what the terrorists fear most, what they tried
to destroy on September 11th. We will work to ensure that the essential
liberty of the American people is protected, that terrorists will
not take away our way of life.
It's called
Homeland Security. While the effort will begin here, it will require
the involvement of America at every level. Everyone in the homeland
must play a part. I ask the American people for their patience,
their awareness and their resolve. This job calls for a national
effort. We've seen it before, whether it was building the Trans-Continental
Railroad, fighting World War II, or putting a man on the moon.
There are some
things we can do immediately, and we will. Others will take more
time. But we will find something for every American to do. My friends
in the Army Corps of Engineers remind me of their motto — Secretary
Powell's familiar with it — "The difficult, we do immediately.
The impossible takes a
little longer."
That's the
attitude we need. The task before us is difficult, but not impossible.
With your leadership, Mr. President, and with everyone working as
one, I have no doubt we will be up to the task.
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