OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

CNN Live Saturday - Transcript

Date: Oct. 2, 2004
Location: Washington DC
Issues: National Security

CNN

SHOW: CNN LIVE SATURDAY 12:00

October 2, 2004 Saturday


HEADLINE: Activity Continues At Mt. St. Helenes; Jordanian Truck Driver Taken Hostage

GUESTS: Tim Appenzeller, Rob Becker

BYLINE: Carol Lin; Kimberly Osias, Orelon Sidney, Suzanne Malveaux, Frank Buckley

SEN. MARIA CANTWELL, WASHINGTON: Thank you. I want to thank Secretary Norton for visiting the northwest today and paying particular attention to this issue that is so important to Washingtonians and Oregonians as well. Secretary Norton's agency, the Department of Interior, oversees the USGS. So they are within her agency. And I think it's safe to say that the investment-excuse me-by our government in the U.S. Geological Survey is providing great information to all of us in monitoring the events of yesterday, the past several years, and the events that may come in the next following days. So I want to thank the men and women who have been a part of this operation because it is their hard work, their scientific information that is helping the rest of the community plan and prepare for the best outcome, if an event does happen. Their communication is the basis that goes to the state's emergency management team and to various other providers within the community that are working on those issues as air transportation alert, as the secretary said, is a major concern being an event where an ash explosion could be something similar to very high elevations and things that we've seen in the past.

I think it's safe to say Washingtonians remember digging out the ash from streets, the masks on the face of people in Yakama and other parts of the state. I don't think that that's what anybody is expecting here. But we appreciate the hard work and the advance notice that this team of people is giving us so that we can prepare, that people are aware, and that the agencies plan for the important issues of air transportation and other issues of health and safety of our population. So again, thank you Secretary Norton and thank you USGS for the fine work that you do.

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