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REMARKS BY: TOMMY G. THOMPSON, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PLACE: United Jewish Communities Conference, Washington, D. C. DATE: November 13, 2001
Thank you so very much, Joel, for those very kind words. Your leadership is greatly needed in these difficult days and I thank you for it.
I would also be remiss, if I didn't mention the driving force behind my being here today - my good friend, Marty Stein of Milwaukee.
Although I know he can't be here, he's well loved by many of you and I wanted to publicly thank him for his friendship and his leadership in Milwaukee and our entire state.
Let me also thank you for inviting me here today. We are living in unsettled and unsettling times.
So I appreciate the opportunity to come before the United Jewish Communities and thank you for all of the tremendous work you do.
While I was governor, I was proud to work with the state of Israel in a number of ways. One year, we invited ten Israeli public defenders to come to Wisconsin so they could learn about our system of public legal defense.
And I was privileged to receive the Anti-Defamation League's distinguished public service award and to be named a "Friend of Israel." In politics, you get a lot of awards, but those are two that I truly cherish.
While I was governor of the great state of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin state investment board devoted substantial state resources to the purchase of Israel bonds. I thought this was an excellent investment as a fiduciary decision and also because supporting Israel is absolutely essential to the security of the United States and to the advancement of freedom and democracy in our time.
Your organization is one of the premier philanthropic organizations in America - one of those we so naturally turn to in difficult times like these.
I know that firsthand because of my work with the federations in my great home state of Wisconsin, including the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, Madison Jewish Community Council and the Kenosha Jewish Welfare Fund.
Any charity that distributes $2 billion every year to help build better lives for untold thousands of men, women and children deserves abiding gratitude - gratitude for your generosity, your commitment to others and for the example you are setting for our entire country. You are in the frontlines of what our great president, George W. Bush, calls the "armies of compassion."
Most especially, let me thank you for the help you have provided to the victims of the September 11th attack on America.
The UJC emergency relief fund has already helped so many people whose lives were permanently altered by the vicious terrorist assault on our nation.
I know that some of you lost family and friends on September 11th. On behalf of the President of the United States, let me extend the deepest condolences of our entire country. I can only imagine the continuing pain in your hearts. But I hope you know that a grieving nation stands with you.
During the past several weeks, the unity of our country has been something wonderful to behold. America has rallied as seldom before in our history. Much of that is due to the tremendous leadership of president Bush.
I know we all share in his spirit of conviction and intensity of purpose. The terrorists caused us great pain. But they steeled our resolve.
As President Reagan once said, "Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a weapon that we as Americans do have. Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors."
President Bush, and all of us who serve in his administration, are utterly committed to rooting out the international terrorism that would threaten our freedom. As he said last week:
"Like the fascists and totalitarians before them, these terrorists try to impose their radical views through threats and violence. We see the same intolerance of dissent; the same mad, global ambitions; the same brutal determination to control every life and all of life."
The Jewish people are all too familiar with the "mad, global ambition" and "brutal determination" of totalitarianism. Just a few blocks from my office here in Washington is the holocaust museum. It is a painfully eloquent witness to the kind of brutality exercised by tyrants.
But the very existence of the state of Israel is a story of resolve, courage and faith. And there are great personal stories of triumph, as well.
I think, for example, of Andy Grove, whose Intel Corporation sets a global standard for excellence and innovation. He and his family were persecuted by both the Nazis and the Soviets.
But finally he got out from behind the Iron Curtain and came to America, where the freedom and opportunity and security our country offers became living realities for him, as they have for so many others.
Andy Grove recently called the international terrorists "the third wave" of brutality he has witnessed in his lifetime - the first being Hitler, the second being Stalin. But just as we stopped and pushed back the first two waves of brutality - so will we succeed in turning back this third wave.
It's not an overstatement to say that we are fighting the same spirit of tyranny today that we fought in the Second World War. And so much of that tyranny is committed under the pretext of religion. Many of you in this room understand and empathize with the suffering of those persecuted for their religious beliefs. And should Bin Ladin have his way, the Jewish people would be persecuted yet again.
This type of evil is apparent in his words and in the brutality of the Taliban. Beyond their jihad against us, they are using their religious intolerance to persecute their own citizens.
The Taliban regime has brutally oppressed Afghani women - those who will never receive an education, whose murder is sanctioned for merely stepping outside without a male escort, who can be beaten for wearing socks that are the wrong thickness.
Bin Ladin also said he wants to "penetrate Israel." While he might strike the Jewish state, he will not defeat it.
On behalf of President Bush, I can tell you that America will stand with Israel - period.
We cannot, and will not, let those who would hurt us, hurt our friends and allies, and hurt their own people succeed.
The sponsors of international terrorism are every bit as guilty as those who perpetrate violence. In the words of Golda Meier - who began life as a school teacher from Milwaukee, Wisconsin - said many years ago: "There's no difference between (one who kills) and (the person) making decisions that will send others to kill. It's exactly the same thing, or even worse."
That's why we have built a coalition to defeat the Taliban, which is now on the run. This war was not of our choosing. But our enemies have left us no choice. We will defend ourselves, our liberties and the civilization of decency and dignity we represent.
We are fulfilling the challenge of Abraham Lincoln: "let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it."
We understand our duty - to stand for freedom. The battle to preserve our freedom is ongoing and, sadly, it is not restricted to foreign soil.
It began in New York and Pennsylvania and just a few miles from here at the pentagon on September 11th.
It continues today. Consider the recent spate of anthrax exposures. We all grieve for those who have died in these attacks. And make no mistake about it - those who would send anthrax through the mail - whether domestic or international - are terrorists.
We are taking aggressive steps to ensure that our postal system is safe . that our government continues to function without pause . and that America has all the resources necessary to handle anything the terrorists want to throw at us.
But our work is just beginning. And as part of an effort to respond to bioterrorism attacks, I am working with members of congress to develop comprehensive legislation to bolster our defenses, and improve our responses to bioterrorist threats. Never has our nation's public health surveillance been more important.
I know some critics are charging that our public health system is not prepared to respond to a major bioterrorist attack.
But we have responded to each and every threat, and we continue and will continue to do so.
We have learned much since September 11th and we are getting stronger every day. We are focusing our efforts to ensure that we are better prepared to respond tomorrow than we are today.
And even before this legislation is passed, President Bush has requested additional funds to strengthen our ability to prevent and respond to a bioterrorism attack - particularly to improve state and local response capacity.
The President's request also provides substantial funding for the CDC's rapid response and advanced technology labs and their epidemiology teams.
In addition, I want to fund a graduate of the CDC epidemiology intelligence service for each state health department, as well as 410 new FDA inspectors to help ensure our food is not tainted with biochemical or other agents.
We're moving forward. And we're moving forward together.
I'm not going to pretend that in the wake of September 11th, all partisan differences suddenly disappeared. But on the key issues of national security, both at home and abroad, democrats and republicans are working together.
As you know, partnerships are what make America strong. The UJC unites 189 federations and 400 independent communities. You are a testimony to the value of joining together in a common cause. But the principle of partnership extends to the way government works together with the private sector, as well.
Your network of family services and nursing homes and other health-related activities receives support from local, state and federal sources. It works because your partners in government helps fund many of the worthy projects you are involved in.
In my home state, the Jewish Federation of Wisconsin does so much good. In Milwaukee alone, there are 13 Jewish outreach programs for senior citizens.
They include housing, senior centers and synagogue programs that add dignity and friendship to the lives of the elderly. Many of these types of programs benefit from government support.
We work together and are building a stronger America as we strive for a higher quality of life for our fellow citizens.
The quality of life we enjoy in our country is remarkable by any standard. Here, we are free - free to worship, to speak, to learn, to practice our professions and raise our families.
And from the earliest days of our republic, that freedom has been purchased at great cost.
Consider the example of Haym Solomon. He was born in Poland in 1740. He came to America a few years before the revolution and built a fortune in banking and trade.
He loved his new homeland and he became devoted to the cause of American independence, serving as one of the chief financiers of the new nation.
Haym Solomon negotiated the war subsidies the fledgling United States received France and Holland. And he gave his personal fortune of $600,000 - multiple millions in today's currency - to support the war for independence.
Haym Solomon died bankrupt. The bulk of his loans, given interest free, were never repaid. But his legacy lives on today. That legacy is each of us - free citizens of the greatest nation on earth.
America is renewing the spirit of Haym Solomon today. We have been forced, through the crucible of great loss, to recalculate the precious value of our liberties and our cherished heritage of mutual respect, civility and justice under the law.
Let me thank you again for all you have done and continue to do to strengthen our great country, to sustain our way of life and make the hope that is America shine even more brightly in the days ahead. May God bless each of you, may He always bless Israel and may He always bless America.