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The President:
This weekend, millions of
our fellow Americans are still
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picking up the pieces from
one of the worst storms in
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our history.
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I toured New Jersey on Wednesday
with Governor Christie,
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and witnessed some of the
terrible devastation firsthand.
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It's heartbreaking.
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Families have lost loved ones.
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Entire communities
have been wiped away.
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Even some of the first
responders who repeatedly put
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themselves in harm's way to
bravely save the lives of others
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have suffered
losses of their own.
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Today, I ask everyone to
keep them in your prayers.
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And as President, I promise them
this: your country will be there
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for you for as long as it
takes to recover and rebuild.
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Throughout the week, I've
been in constant contact with
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governors and mayors
in the affected areas,
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who are doing an excellent
job in extraordinarily
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difficult circumstances.
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And we owe the first responders
and National Guardsmen who have
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been working around the
clock our deepest gratitude.
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Our number one concern has been
making sure that affected states
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and communities have everything
they need to respond to and
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recover from this storm.
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From the earliest hours, I
ordered that resources be made
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available to states in the path
of the storm as soon as they
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needed them.
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And I instructed my team not to
let red tape and bureaucracy get
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in the way of
solving problems --
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especially when it came to
making sure local utilities
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could restore power as
quickly as possible.
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Before the storm hit, FEMA
pre-staged emergency response
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teams from North
Carolina to Maine,
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and deployed resources
like food, water,
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and generators up
and down the coast.
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As the storm passed, thousands
of FEMA personnel were on the
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ground responding
to those in need.
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And by midweek, the Department
of Defense was ready to fly in
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cargo planes that could be
loaded with trucks and equipment
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to help local power companies
get up and running faster.
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But recovery will
still be a long,
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hard road for many communities.
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There's a lot of work ahead.
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If you've been directly impacted
by this storm and need temporary
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assistance getting
back on your feet,
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you can call 1-800-621-FEMA,
1-800-621-FEMA,
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or apply at DisasterAssistance.gov.
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If you know folks who
are still without power,
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please spread the word
and let them know.
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And if you don't live in an
affected area and want to help,
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supporting the Red Cross is
the best and fastest way.
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This week, we've been humbled
by nature's destructive power.
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But we've been inspired as well.
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For when the storm was darkest,
the heroism of our fellow
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citizens shone brightest.
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The nurses and doctors at NYU
Medical Center who evacuated
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fragile newborns, carrying some
down several flights of stairs.
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The firefighters in Queens who
battled an inferno from flooded
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streets, and rescued people from
an apartment building by boat.
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The Coast Guard crews from North
Carolina who saved a sinking
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ship in stormy seas -- and
their rescue swimmer who,
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when he reached those in need,
said, "I'm Dan, and I hear you
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"guys need a ride."
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That's who we are.
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We're Americans.
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When times are
tough, we're tougher.
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We put others first.
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We go that extra mile.
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We open our hearts and
our homes to one another,
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as one American family.
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We recover, we rebuild,
we come back stronger --
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and together we will
do that once more.
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Thanks, God bless you,
and God bless America.
