Posted on 07/21/2004 9:41:34 AM PDT by jmstein7
Senator John Kerry, D-Mass. December 17, 2003 Portsmouth, New Hampshire
One hundred years ago today - at this very hour - two brothers from Ohio stood on a lonely hill at the Outer Banks of North Carolina and changed the world. The Wright Brothers' invention of the airplane changed the world for ever and for the better. We are able to understand and learn about, first-hand, distant corners of the globe. We are able to unlock the doors to commerce with other nations and get our people and products to places we never otherwise could never reach. And at this holiday time, millions of families pass through our airports as they travel to visit relatives that are distant in miles but close at heart.
But none of us who lived through the past few years need to be reminded of the terrorists on September 11th who used Orville and Wilbur Wright's invention to inflict so much terror and destruction.
Here, in this Port that is a symbol of so much hope to people in New Hampshire, we'd do well to remember that lesson. America's ports are sources of jobs and our window on the world. We receive products from Europe, Africa, Asia and beyond. And our products are sent out to eager buyers around the world.
But in this dangerous world, we don't know what that cargo really contains. And we can't afford to continue being in the dark. We screen millions of shoes in airports everyday, but less than four percent of the 21,000 enormous shipping containers that arrive in America's ports every day. Any one of them could have a biological, chemical, or nuclear weapon inside. We need to invest in and employ new technologies to screen the containers, ships, trains, and trucks that come into this country.
This week, Americans are busy doing their holiday shopping, but with the capture of Saddam Hussein, America's security isn't far from our minds.
Saddam Hussein's capture is a great tribute to the skill and bravery of the U.S. Armed Forces. This nation stands united with a single message for our troops: Job well done.
But September 11th showed us that danger isn't only found in distant deserts, but - in this age - it is unfortunately confronted here at home. And that's why we need a President who will do much more to make America's homeland secure.
Two years ago, President Bush went to New York and stood at Ground Zero and gave firefighters his commitment. I wish the President would go back now and ask first defenders whether the commitment has been kept. Let me state it plainly: We shouldn't be opening firehouses in Iraq while closing them in America.
When it comes to protecting America from terrorism, this Administration is big on bluster and short on action.
We need an Administration with less double-talk and more working double-time to guard Americans from danger.
But this Administration has given us a dangerous Preparedness Gap. A recent bipartisan panel led by former New Hampshire Republican Senator Warren Rudman reported how much more America needs to do to close the Preparedness Gap. Fire departments only have enough radios for half their firefighters and almost two-thirds of firehouses are short-staffed - with more firefighters and police officers being laid off. President Bush says we can't afford to fund homeland security. I say we can't afford not to. The Bush Administration is tinkering while the clock on homeland security is ticking.
The most basic responsibility of government is to provide for the common defense. But this Administration has provided too little support, provided too little leadership, and provided too little vision for the common defense of our homeland. Any American anywhere in our country may pay a price for this failure. But here at our Ports - here in New Hampshire and across the country - the danger is even greater.
So we need to make our Ports more secure. With 95 percent of all our trade from outside this continent coming to us by sea, the question isn't if we can afford to take action on port security. The question is if we can afford not to. After September 11th, Governor Shaheen appointed a high-level commission on preparedness and security. That commission showed there was a need for action. But this Administration hasn't done nearly enough to help New Hampshire follow through.
Even though there is a very real threat of nuclear and biological weapons in any one of the millions of containers which come into this country every year, there is no global system for tracking and security. We have affordable, existing technology that could allow sensors to be placed on containers which could track their position, signal when and where they were entered, and detect whether they contain radioactive or dangerous chemicals. As President, I would move immediately to protect American ports and the Americans who live near them by putting such a system in place.
Along with providing new technology for screening in our ports, we need to have more well-trained Customs Inspectors on the job checking the containers as they come through. We need to secure our borders and the bridges that cross them. And we need to work with state and local governments to develop security standards for ports and increase the security of the 85 percent of American infrastructure that is held in private hands.
As we work to discover weapons that reach our shore, we need to do much more to stop them from getting here in the first place. We need a President who will lead this country in reducing the threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. For less than 1 percent of what we spend on defense annually, we could all but eliminate the risk of a nuclear weapon or the materials to make one being stolen and used against a target in the United States.
As President, I will tackle this issue head-on by removing potential bomb making entirely from the world's most vulnerable sites within four years. We will work with other countries to track down and secure existing nuclear weapons and stop the development of chemical and biological arsenals. And we will start a global effort to remove weapons-usable materials from the more than 100 insecure civilian plants around the world that still use this kind of material. And I will appoint a top-level coordinator whose job is to make sure this gets done.
This Port, here at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, welcomes hundreds of vessels a year. Vessels that bring with them opportunity for our workers and our young people. But our openness also makes ports like this one an opportunity for those who would do harm to our country and those who live here. We don't need to close ourselves off from the world, but we do need to open a new era of national security. With a President who will marshal our technology, our diplomacy, our values, and our strength in a concerted effort to make America safe. This President hasn't done that. I will. I ask for your support and together we can make America and New Hampshire stronger and more secure.
This is one of the speeches that allegedly alludes to/contains information from the stolen Berger documents.
Thanks. Foundation is good.
I remember wondering just what in the Heck prompted him to talk like he did during that speech. It seemed out of sync with the rhetoric that had preceeded/led up to that speech...
Yup... the context and timing of this speech made no sense.
Now we know that it may have been prompted by Berger's stolen documents.
But where's the smoking gun in the speech? I guess we might have to be familiar with the contents of the classified documents to know that.
It could be that we only screen 4% of containers. Our ability or inability to secure borders or take certain precautions is often classified.
ping
So, he gives the speech before Berger's house is searched by the FBI in January? Interesting.
Thanks to hc hutch, if you hurry up, you can go to Google and get the data removed yesterday from al Kerry's site. The speech you cite came from the removed data or was part of it:
Google still has a cache:
http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:-D_V0TfzaH0J:www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0227a.html++%22UCLA+International+Institute%22+site:johnkerry.com&hl=en
SAVE IT TO YOUR HARD DRIVES, PEOPLE!!!
Copy it and sent an email to yourself.
Then send that email to your email group and ask them to save it and send it to their email groups.
Then this data will not disappear.
As it should be! This is what bothers me...why don't "the American people" understand that every time they want "threat specifics", or some pol. preaches in this kind of detail about what we "need to do" for better security, it's like telling the whole world?!
Might as well just say, "OK, all you terrorists, criminals, and other evil-doers...we're ready for you over here, so better go after our Achilles heel over there instead..."!!
jm, re: "Now we know that it may have been prompted by Berger's stolen documents."...
Very interesting article about the Kerry speech...I do wonder when Dean dropped out of the primary? didn't Bergler "advise" Dean at first? or was he a "mole"??
Still puzzled about the "Kerry surge" out of nowhere...he was such a weak candidate, initially, and is even still having trouble despite the massive propping up by the powerful and devious Dem. "machine"...
So he's admitting he's not fit to be president?!
He's king of the flip flop and he's missed the vast majority of votes in the last year...he's both double minded AND not hard working.
Freepers rock! BTTT
BM and a Bump!
"Then this data will not disappear."
SMILE! Thank you!
Thanks!
I believe that saving this data across the land will be a big problem for Berger, Kerry and the rats in 2004.
"I believe that saving this data across the land will be a big problem for Berger, Kerry and the rats in 2004."
I think so, too. The criminals of the Slick Willie club won't skate forever.
I just saved all research to CD in case of a computer crash.
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