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Bush to applaud miners' 'spirit'
CNN KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (CNN) -- A week after the dramatic rescue of nine Pennsylvania coal miners, President George W. Bush will meet with the men and their families Monday in a visit designed to salute the "spirit of America," a senior administration official said. Bush will hold a private, closed meeting with the miners and then make public remarks with the men, their families and the first responders to the accident during an event in Pittsburgh. Republican Gov. Mark Schweiker, who was a constant presence in the media giving updates while the miners were trapped during their 77-hour ordeal, will introduce the president. "He'll be talking about the spirit of the American people as exemplified by these miners and the workers who rescued them," Claire Buchan, White House deputy press secretary, told reporters. Buchan said Bush will credit this spirit as why he believes the country will "continue to win the war on terror" and the economy will continue to grow.
A church service was held Sunday to give thanks for the rescue of the nine miners. The service was held at Christ Casebeer Lutheran Church, about 100 yards from the rescue center at Quecreek mine. Eight of the miners and their family and friends attended the service. Candles were lit to represent the miners who escaped as the mine flooded after getting the alert from those who became trapped that they had broken through into abandoned mine area and had "hit water." At one point, Rev. Dennis Doebler of the Christ Casebeer Lutheran Church turned to the miners and said, "It is you that give us faith," and the congregation broke into applause. (Full Story) Last Monday, the president commended the miners' rescue as an example of U.S. resolve. "You saw the great spirit of America recently in Pennsylvania," Bush told an audience at a fund-raiser in Charleston, South Carolina. "When their miners were trapped, people prayed for their deliverance. Americans spent hours trying to figure out how best to save those miners, came up with a plan, successfully got each and every one of them out." Following his remarks to the miners, the president continues his fund-raising streak with a luncheon for Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher, the GOP candidate for governor. Also on Monday, President Bush is expected to sign a bill giving a fetus certain legal protections if delivered alive as part of an abortion procedure. On Tuesday, the president begins a 25-day stay at his home in Crawford, Texas. But his fund-raising efforts will continue as he travels to Jackson, Mississippi, to raise money for Rep. Chip Pickering. |
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