Bush Urges Americans to Be Alert, Stay Calm

With the nation remaining at “high risk” of attack, President Bush on Saturday called on Americans to be alert but calm and said the government is “working to track down every lead and standing watch 24 hours a day” to prevent a terrorist strike.

Amid repeated television images in recent days of people rushing to stores to buy duct tape and plastic sheeting while antiaircraft missile launchers were deployed around the nation’s capital, officials have faced the difficult balancing act of urging the public to prepare for a possible attack but not panic.

Continuing that effort, Bush warned in his weekly radio talk, “Our enemies are still determined to attack America.”

But he encouraged Americans to “go about their lives.”

The Department of Homeland Security raised its terrorism threat level to “code orange” more than a week ago, prompted by reports of Al Qaeda’s continuing desire to strike the United States.

The heightened warning, Bush said, was “primarily a signal to federal, state and local law enforcement to take additional precautions and increase security measures,” but it also was intended to signal the public to be “more alert to their surroundings and prepared for possible emergencies.”

He suggested people check the Department of Homeland Security Web site at www.dhs.gov/dhspublic to find out more about how to prepare for and react to an attack.

Early last week, federal officials released a list of materials people should have on hand in case of an attack, including duct tape and plastic sheeting to seal doors and rooms against chemical or biological agents. Following the rush on such materials, officials have found themselves trying to quell public anxiety.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Friday urged Americans to be vigilant, but said there was no need to begin sealing doors and windows. He said that people should watch for a media campaign, scheduled to start Wednesday, that would lay out how to respond to attack scenarios.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) took to the Senate floor Friday to encourage families to discuss how they would respond to an attack, such as how they would contact one another.

But Frist, a physician, said that although people should be vigilant, “Do not lock yourself down and worry about this.” He also advised: “Take a news break.... You do not need to watch the 24-hour news channels where you see those same images of gas masks” over and over again.

Bush in his speech said there is “no such thing as perfect security.”

“Yet, I assure you that our government at every level is responding to this threat, working to track down every lead and standing watch 24 hours a day against terrorism.”

His comments come amid growing Democratic criticism that he and the Republicans who control Congress have failed to provide enough money for homeland defense.

Bush said his administration has moved to strengthen security, including deploying the nation’s “first early warning network of sensors” to detect a biological attack.

Security has been tightened at dams, power plants and other critical facilities, he said. And troops and local fire, police and emergency personnel -- so-called first responders -- are being inoculated against smallpox.

“The FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Defense are working together as never before to assemble and analyze the threat information so we can act before our enemies can strike us,” he said.

Efforts are underway to enable local police -- from their patrol cars -- to access federal terrorist information, he said. Bush said he also has called on Congress to “fill a critical need in our defense against bioterror” by providing nearly $6 billion for vaccines and treatments against agents such as smallpox, anthrax and Ebola.

“Our nation is preparing for a variety of threats we hope never will arrive,” Bush said. “The best way to fight these dangers is to anticipate them, and act against them with focus and determination.”