Bush urges nation to act

  The Associated Press President Bush
delivers remarks on his tour of the Centers for Disease Control

By Sonya Ross
The Associated Press

ATLANTA “”mdash; President Bush assured an uneasy nation Thursday
night that the United States will prevail against terrorists and
said Americans should not “give in to exaggerated fears or
passing rumors.”

In a prime-time address, he told Americans to turn their fears
into action: Volunteer in hospitals, schools, homeless shelters and
at military facilities or train for emergency service work and join
a new civil defense force he hopes to build.

“We have entered a new era. This new era requires new
responsibilities ““ both for the government and our
people,” the president said.

Nearly two months after the hijacker attacks in New York and
Washington, Bush conceded that his administration does not know who
unleashed anthrax in the U.S. mail. Nor did he offer hope that U.S.
troops would soon find Osama bin Laden and unravel his
Afghanistan-based terrorist network.

But he confidently predicted victory abroad ““ “We
will persevere in this struggle, no matter how long it takes to
prevail” ““ and lauded Americans for their actions so
far.

“We are a different country than we were on Sept. 10th:
sadder and less innocent; stronger and more united; and in the face
of ongoing threats, determined and courageous,” the president
told a crowd of 5,000, most of whom were police, postal workers,
firefighters and other uniformed public servants.

He was interrupted by applause more than 25 times in his
32-minute speech.

The loudest applause came at the end, when he praised the
actions of passengers who fought with hijackers aboard United
Airlines Flight 93 before it crashed into a Pennsylvania field.
Bush recalled the words of Todd Beamer, a 32-year-old businessman
and Sunday school teacher, who was overheard on a cell phone to
say, “Let’s roll” as passengers charged the
terrorists.

“We cannot know every turn this battle will take. Yet we
know our cause is just and our ultimate victory is assured,”
Bush said. “We will no doubt face new challenges. But we have
our marching orders: My fellow Americans, let’s
roll.”

The address was billed as an update on the war in Afghanistan,
the anthrax scares at home and the new responsibilities of
government and all Americans. He also outlined actions the
government has taken to strengthen homeland security, including
deploying National Guard troops to airports and giving law
enforcement authorities more powers.

“None of us would ever wish the evil that has been done to
our country, yet we have learned that out of evil can come great
good. During the last two months, we have shown the world America
is a great nation,” he said.

The address was billed as an update on the war in Afghanistan,
the anthrax scares at home and the new responsibilities of
government and all Americans. He also outlined actions the
government has taken to strengthen homeland security.

“Our great national challenge is to hunt down the
terrorists and strengthen our protections against future attacks;
our great national opportunity is to preserve forever the good that
has resulted,” Bush said. “Through the tragedy, we are
renewing and reclaiming our strong American values.”

He said the country is different ““ “sadder and less
innocent; strong and more united” ““ than before the
attacks.

He spoke in Atlanta, chosen because it is home to the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nation’s
leading disease control facility.

Recognizing in polls a desire by Americans to get involved in
the fight against terrorism, the president suggested ways people
can serve their country. He urged people to head into
“careers of service,” such as firefighting or police
work.

He said people should volunteer to work in hospitals and other
places on the front lines of terrorism response, such as military
installations.

On Friday, Bush was announcing a “dramatic increase”
in the use of National Guard personnel for airport security,
including the stationing of Guardsmen at airport boarding gates, an
administration official said.

“Many ask what can I do to help in our fight? The simple
answer is all of us can become a September 11th volunteer by making
a commitment to service in our own communities,” Bush
said.

Bush announced that the national service groups created by
former President Clinton in 1993, AmeriCorps and Senior Corps,
would provide more than 20,000 government-subsided volunteers to
help police, fire and public health departments and “free
up” the professionals for work on the front lines of homeland
defense.

Bush also created a task force on citizen preparedness, which
will have 40 days to give him recommendations on helping Americans
prepare their homes, neighborhoods, schools and workplaces for the
potential consequences of any future attacks.