President Obama encourages support for wildfire victims, firefighters
Source: CNN
President Barack Obama advocated for private support of the victims and firefighters affected by and battling wildfires in Colorado in his weekly address, a message taped during his Friday visit to see the efforts and destruction firsthand.
"For those of you who can provide some help, you should get on the online site of the American Red Cross," Obama said from Colorado Springs. "They're very active in this community and you can make your contributions there. We're going to continue to make sure that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Forest Service, our military and National Guard and all the resources that we have available at the federal level are brought to bear in fighting this fire."
(snip)
"I know this is a little bit unusual," he said. "We don't usually do weekly addresses like this, but I thought it was a good opportunity for us to actually focus attention on a problem that's going on here in Colorado Springs."
(snip)
"And one of the things that I told these firefighters is that we can provide them all the resources they need, but only they provide the courage and the discipline to be able to actually fight these fires," he said. "And it's important that we appreciate what they do not just when our own communities are struck by disaster."
Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/30/obama-encourages-support-for-wildfire-victims-firefighters/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2012/06/30/weekly-address-all-hands-deck-approach-fighting-colorado-wildfires#transcript
In this week’s address, President Obama spoke to the American people from Colorado, where he had just finished touring areas impacted by the devastating Waldo Canyon fire, meeting with first responders as well as families affected by the fires. The President thanked the brave firefighters and countless volunteers who are providing food, water, and shelter to those in need, and made clear that his administration will continue to bring all resources available to assist efforts to combat the fires. The federal government has marshaled thousands of firefighters, hundreds of fire engines, and more than 100 aircraft, including 19 airtankers that are available for us as of today, to support firefighting efforts in a number of Western states including Colorado.
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