Bill Clinton: “First, let me thank you for what you said about the work done by Mr. Witt and FEMA. And let me also say again how very…”

“First, let me thank you for what you said about the work done by Mr. Witt and FEMA. And let me also say again how very sorry I am about what's happened and pledge our best efforts to stay in touch and keep working with you in the aftermath. As you know, Iowa's got a big clean-up job to do now. We still don't have--we don't have water back in Des Moines; we've got a lot of continuing problems. With regard to the specific question you asked, we're going to review FEMA's operations to see what needs to be done to strengthen them. From the point of view of the Governors and the people at the local level, one of the biggest criticisms has been that FEMA has to go through this long approval process with the Governor asking for emergency aid. And we're looking at what can be done to maybe pre- position people and move this whole process faster. With regard to the question of the professionalization of the Agency, Senator Mikulski has a bill now in the Senate that she's been working on. We are discussing it with her, we are working with her, and I want to evaluate it as we go along, as I'm sure you do. This is very important to me. I live in a State, or I did before I became President, lived in a State that had the highest tornado occurrences per capita in America, that regularly had floods and ice storms and drought. I've been through a lot of experience with FEMA. And I think the American people are entitled to an emergency management agency that is as good and quick and competent and professional as possible. Let me just mention one other issue that we have to really think through, and that is that FEMA is essentially set up to act quickly with problems that are immediate. But these disasters often leave a long rebuilding period in their wake. You can't just turn these things around overnight. Now, one of the things that we've tried to do is to set up a set of de facto solutions to this. For example, when I became President, I asked Henry Cisneros, the HUD Secretary, to take over coordinating the long-term response to Hurricane Andrew in Florida. I have asked Secretary Espy, the Agriculture Secretary now, to take over the long- term management of our commitment in the Midwest in the aftermath of the flood. But that also needs to be thought through because a lot of these problems we're going to be dealing with in the fall and the winter and next year as well. Senator Mikulski came to St. Louis with me last Saturday when we met with the Governors and other emergency personnel from all the States affected by the flood. And we're going to be talking about what else we need to do legally. Thank you. John Stroger. Thank you, Mr. President. And frankly, as a fellow Arkansan, I can't think of a better time to be president of the National Association of Counties and have this oppor- tunity to work with you. And I know that you're very sensitive, concerned. You're imbued with a sense of fairness for all Americans. And working with us here at NACO and with other groups of Americans like us, you're going to help us make America really, really great. So we stand here with you ready to face the challenges together and build on America's already greatness. Thank you very much, and God bless you. And I hope he continues to allow you to be strong to carry forth your charge.”