Government Official

The American people need to go about their lives. We cannot let the terrorists lock our country down.

I just talked to Leader Daschle. His office received a letter and it had anthrax in it.

Today... There's been another reported case of anthrax in New York City at NBC News. And it has got to cause concern for our nation. But I want everybody in the country to know we're responding rapidly.

I do not believe that... we inappropriately undertook any investigative steps in the course of the investigation, regardless of the individual. That means to say, I think the steps that were taken in the course of the investigation, given the information that we had at a particular time, generated appropriate investigative steps in the course of the investigation.

Yesterday, the FBI issued a nationwide alert based on information they received indicating the possibility of attacks using crop-dusting aircraft.

The director of the FBI and I just returned from a memorial service at the National Cathedral and wanted to take this time to give you a report.

The FBI requests that anyone who may have information about these individuals immediately contact an FBI field office or call the toll-free hotline.

Now it's obvious, I think. I think we have a terrorist act of proportions that we cannot begin to imagine at this juncture.

as a guy living inside the Beltway, feeling a sense of crisis, trying to decide what to do in some situation room in the White House with people who had data that was incomplete. We weren't really thinking about what that would mean to Wilk and his family in Minnesota, a thousand miles away from where the virus was hitting so hard.

We weren't really considering the consequences in communities that were not New York City or some other big city. If you're a public health person and you're trying to make a decision, you have this very narrow view of what the right decision is, and that is something that will save a life. It doesn't matter what else happens.

So you attach infinite value to stopping the disease and saving a life. You attach a zero value to whether this actually totally disrupts people's lives, ruins the economy, and has many kids kept out of school in a way that they never quite recover from.

So there you go. Collateral damage. This is a public health mindset. And I think a lot of us involved in trying to make those recommendations had that mindset. And that was really unfortunate. That's another mistake we made.

And... The federal government does not exist to employ people. It exists to serve people.

We'll be making major changes, so get used to it.

And what we're trying to do is reduce government. We have too many people. We have office space.

No, in fact, the actions that we're taking with the support of the president and the support of the agencies is what will save Medicare will save Social Security.