Remarks by Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge at the Northeast Pennsylvania Regional Counterterrorism Task Force Symposium

Release Date: 09/21/04 00:00:00

Lake Harmony, PA
September 21, 2004
(Remarks as Prepared)

Thank you Bob for the work you do, and thank you for inviting me to speak at this symposium.  I think the fact that the symposium is located here at Lake Harmony is a good start.  Harmony is what we’re looking for.

Before I begin, I’d like to thank the many dedicated men and women from around the country who are helping those affected by the hurricanes.  In places like Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina, and here in Pennsylvania, emergency responders, FEMA, Red Cross, Salvation Army, National Guard, church groups and other organizations are removing debris, feeding and sheltering people, providing water, ice and comfort – basically saving lives or mending them.  

The devastation carried in the winds and rains of Ivan, Frances and Charley also brought out the spirit of service and the character of our citizens.  

I visited some of the areas hardest hit by Ivan and I saw restaurant owners offering free food to all those who needed it.  I saw National Guard members and FEMA representatives working day and night to help citizens.  I saw clusters of cots for volunteers to sleep on, if they slept at all, because there are no beds and there is no power.  I saw business owners lending space and supplies.

What I saw, mainly, was people coming together, asking, “What can I do to help?”

And I know that Governor Rendell declared a State of Emergency for Pennsylvania.  There are a lot of people impacted by the flooding caused by Ivan’s heavy rains, high winds, and tornadoes.  

I want to say to those people that the state government and the federal government are doing everything in our power to help you – from FEMA and PEMA, Environmental Protection, Department of Transportation, Public Welfare, the National Guard – we are working around the clock to get you food and water, electricity, and shelter, and help you get back on your feet.

Winston Churchill famously challenged his fellow citizens on the eve of ferocious attacks from the Nazis in the Battle of Britain.  He said “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, this was their finest hour.”

I know that every time a disaster or terrible challenge has greeted Americans, we have met the challenge and displayed some of our finest hours, and I see that with the work being done to aid victims of these latest disasters.  This brings me to the War on Terror and the work that the Northeast Pennsylvania Regional Counter Terrorism Task Force is doing to prevent, prepare for, and respond to terrorist attacks and other emergencies.  

The recent hurricanes are reminders that disasters do happen and we have to be prepared for them.  And since September 11, 2001, we have been aware that there are evil killers in the world who seek to destroy innocent lives and alter a way of life that is a beacon for millions around the globe.

Here in Pennsylvania the tragedy of 9-11 hit close to our hearts when over a field in Shanksville Americans cried “Let’s roll” and overtook the terrorists – and the first victory in the war on terror was won.

And here in Pennsylvania you are showing the nation a level of cooperation, coordination, and communication that reflects the urgency of our challenge and tells those who seek to do us harm that we are not afraid, but we are prepared.

Washington, DC alone cannot protect the homeland, just as a town alone cannot rebuild itself after a hurricane or a flood.  The key to disaster recovery, and much more importantly, the key to prevention, is mutual cooperation; sharing resources – equipment, supplies, training – and people.

Fighting terrorism requires the integration of a nation – everyone pledged to a common goal for the common good, everyone pledged to preserve freedom.  After all, we are all freedom’s beneficiaries, thus we must all therefore be its protector.  

Yes, the federal government must protect freedom, but so must governors, mayors, county officials, law enforcement, fire fighters, business leaders, schools, hospitals, every home and individual – all must be counted…and we count on you all.

You have a wonderful foundation here.  The people of Pennsylvania understand our philosophy of shared responsibility, shared accountability, and shared leadership.

The Northeast Regional Counter Terrorism Task Force is one of nine such task forces in Pennsylvania…task forces designed to leverage the state’s many resources to achieve our mission: to prevent a terrorist attack from ever occurring again and to prepare for and respond to any emergency we face.

The Northeast Regional Task Force, consisting of eight counties, is led by an executive board that meets quarterly to discuss homeland security needs, such as equipment purchases and training.

In addition, you also have regionally organized committees that encompass a wide spectrum of sectors and organizations involved in emergency response, from public health to law enforcement, to Red Cross, to urban search and rescue.  These committees meet monthly, also to discuss homeland security issues.

And one of the benefits derived from the task force being organized like this, and meeting like this, is you get people involved, you get people talking to each other, talking to groups they did not even know existed.  This is critical because it helps establish baselines and guidelines – in training, in equipment purchases, in disaster response – and it helps avoid overlap, duplication, and wasted expenses.

One of the things we discovered immediately after 9-11 was that some first responders from different jurisdictions could not communicate with each other because they were on different frequencies.  Some fire hoses did not fit into hydrants without special adapters.  

We also learned that federal agencies were not sharing intelligence with each other, let alone with state and local law enforcement partners.  We knew we had to change the way we thought about defeating terrorism, about protecting the homeland…and so we did.  We established equipment standards to ensure compatibility.  We worked with many states and localities to help them establish immediate solutions as well as develop long-term solutions to interoperable communications.  

And tools like our Homeland Security Information Network and the Patriot Act have allowed us to share information between federal agencies and among state and local and private sector partners like never before.

The Northeast Regional Counter Terrorism Task Force is doing similar things – creating partnerships to build regional prevention and response capabilities, ensuring that equipment is compatible and that all partners can communicate together, and using the subcommittee structure to plan and consider how to spend homeland security funds based on the goals, objectives, principles, and priorities defined in Pennsylvania’s state strategy.

You are spending the funds wisely.  Our job in the federal government is to get you the resources you need as quickly as we can in order for you to purchase tools and provide training to fight terrorism.  Your job is: to plan, to be informed, to be involved, so that you will be prepared to use those resources well.

And you are using the resources well, training hundreds of first responders; providing every police officer in the region with the same compatible millennium mask – which are also compatible with the state police; providing the cascade system for firemen to ensure they have fresh air to breath when they are battling thick choking smoke; purchasing decontamination trailers and providing robots for three bomb teams – and the list goes on and on.

These resources purchased by the task force can be used by all of the members of the counties in this region whose job it is to prevent and respond to terror and other emergencies.  Sharing these resources saves money, improves compatibility, and demands cooperation.

But the tools are only as good as the people using them.  The structure in place for regional cooperation is only as good as the people implementing it.  And the monthly and quarterly meetings established to increase communication are only as good as the people attending and participating in them.

When our Founders met not far from here in Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence, they knew they risked death by signing it.  But they committed to each other to each be resolved to the challenge of establishing a freedom that would serve as a light for not only their own generation, but also for their children and their children’s children.

Ben Franklin summed up their determination, courage and common purpose toward their most worthy cause when he said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

All of you here today possess the same determination, courage and common purpose to maintain our freedom – just as our Founders had the common purpose to declare it many years ago in this state.

You are the ones who will make this regional structure, these plans, and these preparations work.  You are the ones who will be on the front lines of the war on terror saving lives and risking your own. And you are the ones who must be involved, informed, coordinated, and prepared.  I urge you to continue to work together and participate in the Task Force.

The war on terror will not be won with a decisive battle.  Terrorism will not be eradicated tomorrow.  We have a long, hard struggle ahead.

“We Americans of today, together with our allies, are passing through a period of supreme test.  It is a test of our courage – of our resolve, of our wisdom – our essential democracy.  If we meet that test – successfully and honorably – we shall perform a service of historic importance which men and women and children will honor throughout all time.”

Franklin Roosevelt spoke those words while the outcome of WWII was still in doubt.  We too will be tested.  But I am certain that future citizens, looking at what you have accomplished, and what all of us together will accomplish, will say of you, “they beat back the scourge of terror.”

And you, and we – will have shown America’s strength and resolve and greatness.

Thank you.

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