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FEMA
Following a 20-minute White House meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney, the governor-elect told reporters that the fires that have scorched acres in the southern part of the state were the main topic of discussion.
``We talked about expediting the funds for the victims and their homes, the homes burned. We talked about homeland security. We had a very positive, very good meeting,'' Schwarzenegger said.
The move star-turned-politician has decided to cut short his two-day tour of the nation's capital to return to California for briefings on the wildfires. Schwarzenegger said Thursday he would tour some of the fire-devastated regions near San Bernardino and San Diego. He also offered condolences to the family of Steven Rucker, the first firefighter to be killed during the nine-day emergency.
``It's very sad,'' Schwarzenegger said.
Schwarzenegger canceled a planned meeting with Education Secretary Rod Paige and planned to leave Washington shortly after a meeting with Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, his spokesman Rob Stuzman said. Once in California, Schwarzenegger planned to rent a helicopter and tour some of the areas hardest hit by the fire _ one of the worst natural disasters to strike California in decades. He also planned to meet with firefighters.
Schwarzenegger did not meet with President Bush, who was out of town on a campaign swing through Texas and Ohio. The two met in California shortly after Schwarzenegger won a decisive victory in the October 7 recall election.
Schwarzenegger had hoped his first official visit here would largely be a ceremonial meet-and-greet affair. But the wildfires turned his trip into one part emergency mission, one part celebrity spectacle that electrified the halls of Congress Wednesday.
As he moved along the marbled hallways Wednesday, Schwarzenegger was trailed by an entourage more suited to a visiting head of state than to a political neophyte who hasn't been sworn into office. He was flanked by staff, a security detail, lawmakers and curious onlookers. Several dozen reporters and as many as 20 television camera crews greeted him at each of his news conferences.
``He's much more impressive in person than in pictures,'' Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said of the star of such action-hero movies as ``The Terminator'' and ``Conan the Barbarian.''
Schwarzenegger met Wednesday with Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to discuss emergency response to the fires. He also met with the House and Senate leadership; California's congressional delegation, including Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein; Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta.
Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, also joined Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy for a private lunch. Kennedy, a 41-year Senate veteran and one of the body's most outspoken liberals, is Shriver's uncle.
