Political Quotes

“I rise to voice my sincere congratulations to Joe Allbaugh on his confirmation today as the new director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. I welcome him most sincerely to the Washington community. Director Allbaugh has pledged to work closely with state and local governments. I believe this is the key to effective response. I encourage him to direct additional energies to expanding the ability of local agencies to respond immediately to those disasters that can be foreseen but not scheduled. In my State of Alaska, we are familiar with natural disasters. We have experienced them, from storm flooding to tsunamis, to the great Alaska earthquake of 1964. We know the value of a strong federal presence during such crises. I know that he is interested in my State. He has visited before, and I hope to be able to welcome him back as soon as possible--preferably with a fishing pole in hand, not on some less welcome occasion. Joe Allbaugh is a big man with big skills. His reputation is that of an extremely accomplished manager with extraordinary abilities, and he has worked on campaigns that have given him knowledge of key issues in a majority of the states. These traits will be important to the smooth operation of FEMA, which is faced with extraordinary pressures in the event of a major disaster, as we have seen in past events. I am confident that he will serve our people and our communities well during times of need.”