Remarks by Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge at the Conference on Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities

Release Date: 09/22/04 00:00:00

Washington, DC
Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities Conference
September 22, 2004
(Remarks as Prepared)

Thank you, Alan for those kind words.  I first met Alan and Mike Deland shortly after the September 11th attacks.  We’ve enjoyed a strong and productive relationship.  In fact, when we met again last October, along with my dear family friend, Ginny Thornburgh – it was then that the idea for this conference was first hatched.  

As you know, this is the first major national conference to focus on the critical needs of the disability community during times of emergency.  I salute all of you here today from the National Organization on Disability and the National Capitol Region and many, many others who have worked tirelessly over the last year to make this event happen.  

As many of you know, this is National Preparedness Month.  More than 80 organizations and all 56 states and territories have joined together to plan events and get critical preparedness information to more people in their communities.  This is a unified effort brought together by The America Prepared Campaign that combines the innovation and expertise of the private sector, government, non-profit organizations and citizens.  I’m very pleased to know that the NOD is a partner in this campaign, and yet certainly not surprised.  Thanks to your efforts, millions of citizens will hear the important message of preparedness.  

The spirit of serving something greater than ourselves has always been hardwired into Americans.  

And in facing new hardships, new enemies, new wars and new challenges, the great people of this nation have shown again and again that we are more than equal to the task.  In fact, together – resolutely, collectively – we are joined to it.  

Since September 11, 2001, we have seen the continuing scourge of international terrorism, from Istanbul to Madrid, from Bali to Beslan.  And after the recent rampage of hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan, we have been reminded that natural disasters have their own means of senseless destruction.  And that is why we must be prepared for any emergency that comes our way, whether wrought by forces of evil or forces of nature.  

I think, too, that it’s important to note, that during moments of great crisis, as much as we have witnessed the depths of brutality and loss, we have also seen how civility and bravery during moments of despair give great credence to the important role every citizen plays during an emergency.  

Many of us remember the heroic story of two co-workers who, on 9-11, saw a woman in a wheelchair behind a glass door on the 68th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower.  The co-workers courageously carried her down all 68 flights to safety.  On that day, ordinary citizens become extraordinary heroes.

Would that we could – but given the vast scope of this country – Washington, DC, alone cannot protect the homeland, just as a town alone cannot rebuild itself after a hurricane or a flood.  Yes, the federal government must protect lives – and our way of life – but so must governors, mayors, county officials, law enforcement, fire fighters, business leaders, schools, hospitals, every home and individual.  The key to disaster recovery – and much more important, the key to prevention, is mutual cooperation – sharing resources – equipment, supplies, training – and people.  

We know that preparing before emergencies works.  It saves lives.  For instance, during last year’s Hurricane Isabel, August blackout and the deeply wounding California wildfires, the hard work of early preparation meant faster deployment of resources and manpower.  

It meant that assistance was available and ready to turnaround at a moment's notice.  And those individuals and families who took time to have transistor radios, batteries, food, water on hand; who gathered important papers and were ready for evacuation before disaster struck – they were in much better shape.  

Today, we are gathering to discuss a specific type of emergency preparedness – the particular and specific needs of people with disabilities.  While all Americans face difficulties during emergencies, people with disabilities and their families face a number of unique and difficult challenges.    

For example, the person who uses a wheelchair and works in a tall building must find a way to evacuate.  The person who is deaf needs information about when to evacuate, where to evacuate, and how to deal with the aftermath of the emergency…in a way that is easily understandable – through “closed captioning,” for example. There is the person with mental illness or with a cognitive disability, for whom emergency situations can be especially unsettling.  

There are issues faced by independent living centers, where a large number of people with various disabilities all live.  How should local emergency planners integrate the needs of these people in their planning?  

I could continue to list various scenarios, but you see my point – there are many complex problems in this specialized piece of the preparedness puzzle.  We’ve learned from 9-11.  We’ve learned from past natural disasters.  Preparedness gets you swift and efficient response – particularly for those who need extra help.

Over the last few weeks and as recently as this week, I visited some of the areas hardest hit by the recent hurricanes in the South.  I saw restaurant owners offering free food to all those who needed it – National Guard members and FEMA representatives working day and night to help citizens – clusters of cots for volunteers to sleep on, if they slept at all.  I saw business owners lending space and supplies.  

What I saw, mainly, was that the devastation carried in the winds and rains of Ivan, Frances and Charley also brought out the spirit of service and the character of a nation of highly compassionate and resilient people.  

In places like Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina… and many other states hit by flooding in the wake of Ivan – public works officials, emergency responders, FEMA, Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the 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.  

DHS’s FEMA has led a strong effort, and I want to salute all those men and women who have worked hard not only to serve the larger population of recent hurricane victims, but also those who extended an outstretched arm of compassion to those with disabilities.  For instance, early on, FEMA, along with state and local emergency management personnel, set up “special needs” shelters before Charley, Frances and Ivan made their respective landfalls.  In the last month, more than 11,000 people have used these special needs shelters in Florida alone – many of which are equipped with extra generators, wheelchair accessible entrances, lightweight hospital beds, oxygen lines and medical teams specifically designed to fulfill a diverse set of needs – for example, care for Alzheimer’s patients and those with pediatric emergencies.

The Administration and the Department of Homeland Security are deeply committed to improving preparedness capabilities for the disability community.  In fact, on July 22, President Bush marked the anniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act by signing an Executive Order to ensure that people with disabilities are included in planning for all types of emergencies…as well as to integrate people with disabilities at all levels of emergency planning.  It is a sweeping and important statement of the official policy of the federal government, and one that I hope that all who work in the emergency preparedness field will take seriously.

To ensure that this policy statement is actually implemented, the President also created an “Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and People with Disabilities.” Homeland Security has the privilege of chairing this Council, and in fact on Monday we convened its first official meeting.  

This Council will significantly enhance the federal government’s efforts to ensure that all Americans, including those with disabilities, are prepared and secure.  Members of this Council will coordinate the work being done currently by a variety of federal agencies, state and local governments and private organizations; identify gaps in the current work that is being done; and stimulate work at the federal, state and local levels, and in the private sector, to address and resolve issues.  There is a great deal of energy and enthusiasm among the Council members, and we are already hearing of new and important work being undertaken on this issue from several Cabinet agencies.

The Council will be seeking the valuable input from leaders in the disability community.  This effort is being organized by DHS’s own “Citizen Corps,” which helps to organize preparedness efforts around the country.  Citizen Corps is forming a Subcommittee on Disability and will be holding the first meeting of this group in October, and I hope that many of you from the disability community will be able to participate in that work.

It’s important to remind ourselves that people with disabilities are not passive consumers of help, but active and innovative problem solvers.  Those in the disability community have so much to offer in this context – as the good work of many of you in this room demonstrate…as Alan Clive, one of our fine employees at FEMA who you will hear from shortly, demonstrates on the job every day.  

The problem that this population group face shed a great deal of light on many related difficulties.  But more importantly, the solutions that people with disabilities propose can help so many others.  The energy and determination and skills that people with disabilities bring to these issues are a huge asset to our nation’s broader emergency preparedness effort.  

It’s a vast collaboration – with people who have needs – and yet have so much to offer as we work to keep people with special needs secure.  That’s why emergency preparedness is only one part of the Department of Homeland Security’s disability policy agenda.  We are also working hard to address the issues that travelers with disabilities face, and TSA has put in place an outstanding office that has created many innovative approaches to those issues.  

We’ve also undertaken aggressive strategies to make sure that people with disabilities get a fair opportunity compete for jobs, and we are seeing very encouraging results.  I encourage those of you in state and local government to join us in seeking the talents of candidates with disabilities.  

One of the best ways to understand the needs of people with disabilities and the innovative ideas they have to offer is to have them working with you, side by side, on a daily basis.

In the three years since September 11th, the people of this nation have made great progress in widening a base of protective measures to make this nation safer.  We have high expectations of ourselves and a monumental task ahead, but we won’t cut corners in a rush to security solutions that run contrary to our values – the values in keeping with 10 generations of history – including compassion for our fellow citizens.

You understand the great test of challenge – and that is what we are facing in these modern times.  Whether a fight against hate or a fight against hurricanes, each crisis tests the strength of our nation, our alliances, and our citizens.  

There is the old maxim:  strength in numbers.  And perhaps, if there is anything we gained from 9-11, it was the collective understanding of the most basic of principles:  That freedom's greatest companion is fellowship, unity – the integration of a nation, everyone pledged to freedom's cause, everyone its beneficiary, everyone its protector.

Our responsibilities to one another must reach from a national crisis to an individual need.  They must extend from community to community, neighbor to neighbor, citizen to citizen, in a nation that is, in itself, the greatest community ever formed.  

We have faced hard fights before. And we have stared down daunting adversaries before.  And we have faced moments of tragedy and disaster before.  And we have done so together.  Across the nation, a deep well of resiliency is engrained in all of us, in people who are not afraid or weary, but at times of great loss, rise up in defiance and with great resolve.  

Thanks to your efforts and those of a strong nation, we can say that, now more than ever, there's a level of preparedness – and thus a level of security – grounded in the purest notions of performance and outcomes...partnerships and patriotism...the preservation of freedom and our accountability to its future – to our family, our friends, our fellow citizens.

As we move on from the third anniversary of 9-11, as we move forward with efforts to help victims of hurricanes rebuild, may we keep our fellow citizens in our thoughts and prayers.  God bless you all – and thank you.  

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This page was last modified on 09/22/04 00:00:00