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THE PRESIDENT: I’ve just had an extensive briefing on the fires here in Georgia and
Florida. You can see on the map back here, the fire covers a lot of area; a lot of timberland
is being burned down. A lot of people's livelihoods are being affected. A lot of good country
is being destroyed. And a lot of good people are fighting the fires.
First, I appreciate very much the folks that have put a strategy in place to deal with
these fires. They're doing their very best to contain the fires. But the best solution,
of course, would be if the weather provided a change. Until that, they're going to be
fighting these fires. We've got a lot of brave men and women on the front lines doing it.
Secondly, I got a briefing from the local officials about what your federal government
ought to continue to do. Right now, the coordination is good, in terms of fighting the fires. The
question is can we help them even more. And so we'll take back the recommendations to
Washington. Secretary Chertoff will look very carefully at the recommendations, and then
work closely with Senator Chambliss and Senator Martinez about what we can do to help the
good people down here.
It's a very difficult period for the people, particularly in southeast Georgia and north
Florida. A lot of lives are being affected. I've come down to let the people know that
we are concerned about their livelihood and I'm fully aware of the nature of these fires,
that we strongly support the efforts being done here to fight these fires, and we wish
the people all the best.
In the meantime, we'll be analyzing ways that we can help even further. Thank you.