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REMARKS BY:	TOMMY G. THOMPSON,SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:		District of Columbia Hospital Association Annual Banquet, Washington, D.C.
DATE:		November 15, 2001

It's a pleasure to see so many of Washington's leaders here tonight. Let me especially thank Mayor Williams and Dr. walks for their steadfast leadership of our nation's capital during a difficult time.

Now, I know the President took Mayor Williams out for dinner a few weeks ago. I'm sure they had a nice meal. You know, there are lots of restaurants in this great city I would like to try.

Of course, I am the secretary of health. I'm watching my diet. But if any of us ever go out to dinner together, don't be too tough on me. Remember, I'm the guy who invented the motto, "Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first." Well, maybe I didn't coin that phrase . I just like it a lot.

Speaking of food, I usually like the words of our Founding Fathers a great deal. But when Thomas Jefferson said, and I quote, "We never repent of having eaten too little," that strikes a little too close to home.

I'm so pleased to be joining you in honoring some true heroes. The hospitals represented here this evening are a vital part of this region's first line of defense in the battle for good public health.

Together with the fine work of the police, the fire departments and the EMS teams, your work in recent days has been meaningful to our whole country, and I thank you so very much for it.

In recent weeks, our nation has been subject to the violent attacks of evil men. We are all too familiar with the grim details and the painful human costs. Here in the District of Columbia, we are still mourning the loss of two postal workers afflicted by anthrax.

The men and women of the District hospitals have partnered with the Department of Health and Human Services, police and fire departments, emergency rescue teams and the U.S. Postal Service to help respond to threats we had hoped would never materialize.

As President Bush said last week in Atlanta, "We have gained new heroes: Those who ran into burning buildings to save others, our police and our firefighters . Those who deliver the mail -- America's postal workers. We also thank those whose quick response provided preventive treatment that has no doubt saved thousands of lives -- our health care workers."

The President's gratitude is truly the gratitude of a thankful nation for all of you.

From the day that the plane first struck the Pentagon, the hospitals of the District, the dedicated men and women who provide emergency help and the caring professionals at area hospitals have made a decisive difference in saving lives and caring for the victims.

And then the prospect of anthrax became a nightmarish reality. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control worked with you to provide medicines and treat people who were exposed.

Together, we have shown how local and federal resources can join in ensuring that the public's health is well protected.

Thank you for your leadership, your commitment and your compassion. Our entire country is in your debt.

We could not be moving forward if it were not for the work of the men and women we are here to recognize this evening.

They are the people who keep us healthy . who keep our streets safe and our homes secure . and who protect us when the unexpected suddenly becomes real. We are here to honor their commitment to all of us.

In one sense, that's a bittersweet duty. The heroism of the men and women we are recognizing tonight was defined by their response to the attacks of September 11th and the anthrax mailings thereafter.

Those attacks have left a wound in our hearts that has yet to heal. We continue to grieve for those we lost on that terrible day and those who died from contracting anthrax . and for their loved ones who were suddenly left without Moms and Dads, sons and daughters, husbands and wives.

Let me extend my personal condolences to Ana Raley, the new chair-elect of your wonderful board, on the loss of her husband, Ian Gray, on Flight 77. We're all so very sorry, Ana.

Yet even as we mourn, we are sustained by faith, by family, by friends and by the abiding convictions that define our life together as Americans.

For us, "freedom and justice for all" is a living reality, and is the very thing the international terrorists hate about us. They would destroy liberty - liberty of conscience, liberty of movement and liberty of expression - and replace it with oppression and coercion.

But the bankrupt dreams of these violent thugs will fail because the forces of freedom have rallied as seldom before in our history.

We're seeing that even now in Afghanistan as citizens flood the streets of Kabul in celebration. Men are defiantly shaving off the beards they were compelled to grow and women are removing their chadors and letting their faces see the light of day for the first time in year.

Of course, the battle isn't over. As the President put it last week, "Our nation faces a threat to our freedoms, and the stakes could not be higher. We are the target of enemies who boast they want to kill -- kill all Americans, kill all Jews, and kill all Christians. We've seen that type of hate before -- and the only possible response is to confront it, and to defeat it."

But now the Taliban is feeling the full weight of American force and is experiencing the penalty for harboring bin Ladin and his henchmen.

As Vice President Cheney said yesterday, "If anybody has any questions about whether or not we're determined to carry through, all they have to do is go to Afghanistan today and interview members of the Taliban - if they can find any.''

Osama bin Ladin is on the run. To borrow a phrase from President Bush, we are bringing justice to our enemies, and we will complete our mission to destroy the international terrorist network - period.

Like many of you, I've seen the destruction at the Pentagon firsthand. But I've also seen the determination of the men and women who are clearing the debris and preparing the reconstruction of the building.

Osama bin Ladin never anticipated something we know so well - the relentless determination of the American spirit. He thinks that our freedom makes us weak, easy to fragment, quick to fear.

We know our freedom makes us resilient and confident, that it unites us in our deep love of our country and inspires the resolution we always summon when faced by adversity.

As Winston Churchill said, "Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others." Our nation is demonstrating great courage and, in doing so, is showing our unswerving dedication to the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that embody America's tradition of justice and freedom.

Yet even as we continue our struggle against those the President has aptly termed "evildoers," we sustain the promise of hope that begins every morning that the sun rises on our great country.

That promise rings true in the daily work of the physicians and nurses, the emergency technicians and hospital staff who work so very hard to make sure that our communities are healthy . that our children are cared for . that our seniors have lives of hope and dignity.

The promise of hope is fulfilled by the law enforcement officers who protect our streets . who put their lives at risk every time they get in their squad cars . who defend and serve, day after day, often with little thanks.

The promise of hope is seen in the faces of the firefighters who risk their lives to save ours . who live constantly on the edge, never knowing when they will be called to face down a firestorm, even one that rages in the heart of the Pentagon.

Tonight we're honored by the presence of men and women from the District, from Virginia and from Maryland. They wear different uniforms, hold different jobs and serve in different ways. But they are all the quiet heroes of freedom, the doers of public good who make our society a beacon of hope for the world.

But whether you wear a badge or carry a stethoscope, work out of an ambulance or behind a hospital desk, we at the Department of Health and Human Services consider ourselves your partners and colleagues.

We have served shoulder to shoulder in recent weeks, sharing knowledge and resources, caring less for job titles and bureaucratic arrangements than with caring for those in need.

Whether we are in the federal, state or local government . the private sector or the not-for-profit sector . we share a common charge - to help those in need.

Hospitals can only do their wonderful work if they work in tandem with the police, with EMS personnel, with fire departments and public health agencies.

Human pain cannot wait for bureaucratic red tape to get untangled. Pain and need demand a quick and cohesive response from all public servants. The good news is that together, we are meeting that demand.

It's good to stand before you and say that we are working together, and working together well. And we're going to keep fine-tuning our coordination and information-sharing all the more in the days ahead.

We're listening more closely to people like you, the men and women who have to work and serve under the regulatory framework handed down by the federal government. We want to bring a more common sense approach to the way we develop and apply regulations.

The medical horizon is filled with new treatments and new technologies. This is an exciting time in the history of medicine, and we do not want to cloud the horizon with regulations that stand in the way of good care for patients.

At the Department of Health and Human Services, we've formed a new regulatory reform group that has already started listening to you and coordinating efforts with you, and is determining what rules need to be better explained . what rules need to be streamlined . and what rules need to be eliminated.

Ultimately, these efforts will help us address the concerns that you face each day on the front lines of caregiving. Lifting undue regulations, reducing the quantity of paperwork on physicians and making the system clearer for you and your patients is one component of our aggressive effort to improve the quality of health care and patient safety.

Like you, we want patients to receive the best care possible, and HHS is going to be your partner in achieving this goal.

As we work to help hospitals do their wonderful work more effectively, I am mindful of the sacrifices everyone in the caregiving community makes. And I am moved by the words of Mother Theresa, who once said something so appropriate to this evening's event: "We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love."

The men and women we're recognizing tonight have done great things. And they have done them with great love - love for people in crisis, for hurting men and women who need help desperately . and with love for our great country, which depends on the kind of selfless service they have rendered.

Whatever our roles, whether in the public eye or behind the scenes, things done with love . with compassion . with commitment . can make life better for so many others.

That's the calling we all must hear, and I thank you - the men and women on the very front line of public health and public service - for answering that call so very faithfully.

Thank you again for letting me be with you this evening. God bless you all, and God bless America.