September 11, 2001 Posted: 3:24 PM EDT (1924
GMT)
Make no mistake, The United States will hunt down and punish those
responsible for these cowardly acts
BARKSDALE AFB, Louisiana (CNN) -- U.S. President George
W. Bush, in a statement issued from Barksdale Air Force Base in
Louisiana, said Tuesday afternoon that the United States would
hunt down and punish those responsible for horrific, catastrophic
terror attacks on New York and Washington.
"Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts," Bush said in a hastily arranged statement to White House pool reporters. The president said the U.S. military had been put on "high alert status" and said he had taken security precautions to ensure the functioning of the U.S. government.
"We have taken all appropriate security precautions to protect the American people," he said.
Bush abandoned his education promotion trip in Florida on Tuesday after receiving word of the devastating series of presumed terrorist attacks in lower Manhattan and on the Pentagon, just outside of Washington, D. C.
Bush, before heading to a fueled and idling Air Force One on Tuesday morning, issued a brief statement in Sarasota, Florida, where he had spent the first portion of his morning reading to a gathering of elementary schoolchildren.
"Today we've had a national tragedy," Bush said, even as the situation continued to unfold, and the attacks continued. "Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country."
Bush boarded Air Force One shortly thereafter, and the plane departed.
The White House and the U.S. military, particularly the Air Force, have taken precautions to see that Air Force One was protected while in flight, presumably with fighter escorts.
CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King reported while Bush was in the air that the White House was evacuated, with many employees running away from the premises on orders from Secret Service agents. Vice President Dick Cheney remained there for a while longer, however, and received regular updates on the unfolding developments.
He was then taken to an undisclosed location.
The Secret Service instituted security checks on the streets near the White House, placed snipers atop nearby buildings, and a helicopter gunship was seen, at points, patrolling the airspace between the White House and Pentagon -- an area that includes Washington's National Mall.
The Pentagon, home of the Department of Defense and center of coordination between all the armed services, was struck by an airliner midmorning Tuesday, collapsing the portion of the building that houses offices of the U.S. Army, setting off a massive fire, and sending vast clouds of black smoke over Arlington, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
That attack followed the catastrophic destruction of lower Manhattan's World Trade Center towers, both of which were struck by what were believed to have been hijacked commercial aircraft. The buildings, symbols of the American commercial power and influence, folded in upon each other and disappeared in billowing clouds of dust, smoke and office paper.
Many were feared dead in both locations.
First lady Laura Bush, meanwhile, had been scheduled to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday morning, offering her husband an assist as he promoted his education agenda through the week.
The hearing was canceled when word reached the committee room of the first attacks in New York. An ashen Laura Bush, accompanied by committee Chairman Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, approached a microphone and offered some words of comfort.
"Parents need to reassure their children everywhere in our country that they're safe," Mrs. Bush said. "Our hearts and our prayers go out to the victims of this act of terrorism," she said.
Mrs. Bush was later taken to an undisclosed location.
Evacuations were also ordered at the Capitol, the Justice Department and the State Department soon after the Pentagon was hit. The buildings of the Smithsonian Museum were also ordered closed, as well as the Supreme Court. There were no immediate reports of damage at those sites. Later, all federal office buildings in the city were closed and workers were told to go home.
Secretary of State Colin Powell was returning to Washington from Lima, Peru, cutting short his attendance at an international gathering.