"Be Secure for America" Campaign

Washington, DC - The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) announce the national kickoff for a joint program, the "Be Secure For America" campaign. A joint letter of cooperation was signed today by the Director of ATF, Bradley A. Buckles, and by the President of TFI, Gary Myers. The signing took place at the ATF Headquarters Building, 650 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20226.

After the devastating attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, ATF assisted TFI in creating a voluntary program that would help the fertilizer industry be alert to suspicious purchases. The program was designed to heighten general security, to make fertilizer dealers aware of involving local law enforcement of their concerns, and to give the dealers a toll-free ATF telephone number to call for direct assistance.

Ammonium nitrate is the most common crop fertilizer used in the United States, but was used as a component in the Oklahoma City bombing. The industry was determined that this beneficial, necessary product would never again used for such a destructive purpose, and so it took proactive measures to achieve that goal. The first phase of the voluntary ATF-TFI cooperation began in September, 1998, and was christened, "Be Aware For America." TFI succeeded in distributing nearly 30,000 posters and brochures to its nationwide members in order to draw attention to the program. Since the start of the initial awareness campaign, not a single bombing incident has been traced to the use of fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate.

The purpose of the new "Be Secure For America" campaign is to take the program a step farther --to make sure that everyone in the industry (including manufacturers, distributors, and retail dealers of ammonium nitrate) is storing that product properly and securely. ATF visited dealer storage sites throughout America, then assisted with suggestions on how to improve security. Since ammonium nitrate is not an explosive -- and is therefore not directly regulated by ATF -- these efforts mark an important voluntary cooperation between industry and government.

Click here to read the HTML version of the Be Secure for America pamphlet.