Powell South Asia Earthquake and Tsunami

Briefing With Assistant Administrator for United States Agency for International Development Ed Fox. FULL STREAMING VIDEO from c-span

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Secretary Colin L. Powell Washington, DC December 27, 2004 (12:30 p.m. EST) SECRETARY POWELL: Well, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I wanted to give you an update on the situation in South Asia as a result of the tsunami and the loss of life that was so tragic.

I have just been on the phone a few moments ago with President Bush, where he has been following this situation very closely from Crawford, and as he indicated in the statement that the White House issued yesterday and he has also now written letters to the heads of state of the countries affected, he wants to extend his deepest condolences to the families of those who were lost. This is, indeed, an international tragedy and we're going to do everything we can to assist the nations that have been affected in dealing with this tragedy.

While the loss of any single life is precious, I would also like to take this opportunity to extend particular condolences for the tragic death of Khun Bhumi Jensen, who is the son of Princess Ubolratana and grandson of His Majesty King Bhumipol of Thailand. We extend condolences to the royal family.

The United States has been following this situation from the very beginning. Our embassies are working in the affected areas to assist contacting families and others, U.S. citizens who are unaccounted for. At the moment, we know of eight Americans who have died and there are several hundred who are not accounted for yet. It just means we haven't been able to reach out and get contact with them. It does not imply that they are necessarily injured or in any way a casualty.

For family members seeking information about one of their loved ones, they can contact the hotline number that we have, 1-888-407-4747. You can also go to the State Department website to get information about each of the countries involved, and that's state.gov.

Our ambassadors in Sri Lanka, the Maldives, India and Indonesia have provided a total of $400,000 in immediate assistance and we are in discussions with the International Committee of the Red Cross about providing $4 million in the course of the day of the $6.6 million appeal that they have made. We are also examining what other assets might be needed and we'll do everything we can to help.

The United States Pacific Command is also involved in this, of course. They have dispatched some P3 patrol aircraft to the region and the Pacific fleet is examining what else they might be able to do to help in this situation. I have also talked in the course of the last 18 hours to my counterparts in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, India and Malaysia, to reinforce our offers of assistance.

USAID and other elements of the United States Government have been deeply involved. What I'd like to do now, to give you more details with respect to the support we are providing, is to introduce Mr. Ed Fox, who is the Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. He'll give you some details and then I will return to the podium for questions and one or two other issues.

Ed. FULL TEXT Powell South Asia Earthquake and Tsunami