Citizen Corps Annual Conference
Willard Intercontinental Hotel

Washington, DC - Thank you for inviting me to join you. I'm delighted to be here today.

It's an honor to stand among a group that has so diligently worked to make America's communities safer - and to make those communities better prepared to combat the adversaries of our peaceful daily existence.

I want to thank the leaders of the Local Citizen Corps Councils and the National Citizen Corps Council members that are here today. I also want to thank the State Citizen Corps Points of Contact.

The people of Citizen Corps resolved to engage the willingness of people in every corner of the country - and that resolve has made a great difference in America's ability to protect our homeland. Well done!

After the attacks of September 11, 2001 - selfless individuals all over the country asked, "What can I do to help? How can I get involved?"

Citizen Corps answers that question every day by offering people countless ways to serve their country - whether it be through a neighborhood watch program, by volunteering at the local police department or by lending critical support to first responders….all so that professional officers are able to devote more of their time to frontline duty.

As President Bush has said, "If you want to join us, if you want to make the country stronger, participate; help somebody in need." Thousands of Americans are heeding his call - and because of it, America's communities are safer, stronger and better prepared to respond to threats of terrorism, to crime, and to other emergencies and disasters.

To be sure, you have seen a year of incredible accomplishments.

• At this time last year, there were 100 Local Citizen Corps Councils. Today, there are 700 active Local Citizen Corps Councils, all making the most of community strengths to implement the Citizen Corps programs;
• And in one year, Citizen Corps has gone from 10 state and territory councils…to 50;

What's more, the life-saving programs that these Councils work to coordinate are flourishing.

• The Volunteers in Police Service program has made incredible strides. At this time last year, approximately 70 police departments were participating. Today, more than 600 registered VIPS programs (Volunteers In Police Service) aid our police officers in towns all across the country;
• 13,000 registered Neighborhood Watch Groups stand guard over America's families;
• In 42 communities, the Medical Reserve Corps has taken shape to coordinate the skills of health care professionals so that even more caring individuals are tending those in need;
• And more than 36 million dollars in grant money has been provided to state and local governments to start or accelerate CERT Training (Community Emergency Response Team)…with a 2 year goal of 400,000 trained men and women in communities across the country.

These results are incredible - and the fruits of your labor are immediate and widespread. People who serve as members of the Citizen Corps become an integral thread in the community fabrics that blanket America.

And America depends on that fabric, not just in times of national crisis, but during the everyday challenges of human life. Citizen Corps is an army of caregivers that march among us - that help to connect the threatened to the defender, as well as the hurting to the healer.

As you well know, none of this would be possible without the partnerships that Citizen Corps enjoys with the Department of Justice (Neighborhood Watch, Volunteers in Police Service), the Department of Health and Human Services (Medical Reserve Corps), and your new federal partners, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA], the EPA, and the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools under the Department of Education.

By tapping the expertise and programs of our Federal family, Citizen Corps is working to bring these resources to the state and to local communities around the country. But it's worth noting: Homeland security is not a federal strategy. It's a national strategy - one in which everyone has a role to play.

In that spirit, I'd also like to thank the American Red Cross, the Points of Light Foundation, the International Volunteer Firefighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the International Association of Police Chiefs, the National Safety Council, as well as others who work with Citizen Corps to educate and train the volunteers that help support our nation's first responders.

I can't stress enough how important it is that we reach out to citizens so that everyone is prepared for whatever emergency may come America's way.

But that can only happen if we can get all sectors of the population working toward this goal - that means federal, state and local authorities; businesses; schools; communities...and especially individual citizens.

As leaders of the Citizen Corps, you've taken up the responsibility of harnessing the great power of the American spirit - and channeling it into volunteer service. That service translates into a better prepared nation - one where you're helping us to reach one individual, one family, one neighborhood, one community at a time.

For our part, the Department of Homeland Security is working hard to supply the public with the best information possible - to help them prepare well before an emergency occurs with our Ready Campaign.

The American people are avidly seeking ways to better prepare themselves and their loved ones, and Citizen Corps is an important vehicle for that information.

I encourage you to work to deliver the Ready message at the grassroots level so that preparedness information is put into the hands of each individual.

All of this - the creation of Citizen Corps, the implementation of the Ready Campaign - it's not just a response to terrorism. We believe it's a deterrent. Americans do not live in fear. We instead stand alert and prepared. And that's a terrorist's greatest fear.

Also, it's important to note that taking charge of your own safety, that of your family's, that of your employees and your businesses -- it doesn't mean that you're charging into a fight alone.

The Department of Homeland Security stands with you. We've made great progress as a Department during our first six months. As a result, we can say that America is far safer, more secure and better prepared than it was nearly two years ago.

We're safer and better prepared because every day we collect more intelligence, share more information, inspect more passengers and containers, guard more borders and coastline, and better equip and train our "first responders" through funding - more than $4 billion to date. And we're safer because, every day, with your help, we empower more citizens and more families to take steps to ensure their own protection.

We have made great progress to secure our nation, our way of life and our freedoms from terrorism.

And yet, the best way to deter terrorism, of course, is to go after terrorist networks where they live and operate.

And we should all be proud of our men and women in uniform who have served that cause - and their country - so well.

These successes have turned what was once a late-night knock on the door by militant Iraqi soldiers - into a knock of opportunity - and freedom - and hope for a better life for the Iraqi people.

What's more, these military successes have significantly improved our national security, and that goes hand in hand with homeland security.

So let me close by saying: Thank you for your dedication, thank you for your perseverance - and most of all, thank you for the example you set for others who are following your lead. The work of the Citizen Corps is vital to the protection of our country…and we are tremendously grateful for it.

Again, thank you for your kind invitation. It's been a privilege to be with you today…

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