FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 15, 2005
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The White House - Office of the Press Secretary
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President Discusses Hurricane Relief in Address to the Nation |
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Jackson Square
New Orleans, Louisiana
8:02 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. I'm speaking to you from the city of New Orleans
-- nearly empty, still partly under water, and waiting for life and hope to
return. Eastward from Lake Pontchartrain, across the Mississippi coast, to
Alabama into Florida, millions of lives were changed in a day by a cruel and
wasteful storm.
In the aftermath, we have seen fellow citizens left stunned and uprooted,
searching for loved ones, and grieving for the dead, and looking for meaning in
a tragedy that seems so blind and random. We've also witnessed the kind of
desperation no citizen of this great and generous nation should ever have to
know -- fellow Americans calling out for food and water, vulnerable people left
at the mercy of criminals who had no mercy, and the bodies of the dead lying
uncovered and untended in the street.
These days of sorrow and outrage have also been marked by acts of courage and
kindness that make all Americans proud. Coast Guard and other personnel rescued
tens of thousands of people from flooded neighborhoods. Religious congregations
and families have welcomed strangers as brothers and sisters and neighbors. In
the community of Chalmette, when two men tried to break into a home, the owner
invited them to stay -- and took in 15 other people who had no place to go. At
Tulane Hospital for Children, doctors and nurses did not eat for days so
patients could have food, and eventually carried the patients on their backs up
eight flights of stairs to helicopters.
Many first responders were victims themselves, wounded healers, with a sense
of duty greater than their own suffering. When I met Steve Scott of the Biloxi
Fire Department, he and his colleagues were conducting a house-to-house search
for survivors. Steve told me this: "I lost my house and I lost my cars, but I
still got my family ... and I still got my spirit."
Across the Gulf Coast, among people who have lost much, and suffered much,
and given to the limit of their power, we are seeing that same spirit -- a core
of strength that survives all hurt, a faith in God no storm can take away, and a
powerful American determination to clear the ruins and build better than before.
Tonight so many victims of the hurricane and the flood are far from home and
friends and familiar things. You need to know that our whole nation cares about
you, and in the journey ahead you're not alone. To all who carry a burden of
loss, I extend the deepest sympathy of our country. To every person who has
served and sacrificed in this emergency, I offer the gratitude of our country.
And tonight I also offer this pledge of the American people: Throughout the area
hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it
takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives. And all who
question the future of the Crescent City need to know there is no way to imagine
America without New Orleans, and this great city will rise again.
The work of rescue is largely finished; the work of recovery is moving
forward. In nearly all of Mississippi, electric power has been restored. Trade
is starting to return to the Port of New Orleans, and agricultural shipments are
moving down the Mississippi River. All major gasoline pipelines are now in
operation, preventing the supply disruptions that many feared. The breaks in the
levees have been closed, the pumps are running, and the water here in New
Orleans is receding by the hour. Environmental officials are on the ground,
taking water samples, identifying and dealing with hazardous debris, and working
to get drinking water and waste water treatment systems operating again. And
some very sad duties are being carried out by professionals who gather the dead,
treat them with respect, and prepare them for their rest.
In the task of recovery and rebuilding, some of the hardest work is still
ahead, and it will require the creative skill and generosity of a united
country.
Our first commitment is to meet the immediate needs of those who had to flee
their homes and leave all their possessions behind. For these Americans, every
night brings uncertainty, every day requires new courage, and in the months to
come will bring more than their fair share of struggles.
The Department of Homeland Security is registering evacuees who are now in
shelters and churches, or private homes, whether in the Gulf region or far away.
I have signed an order providing immediate assistance to people from the
disaster area. As of today, more than 500,000 evacuee families have gotten
emergency help to pay for food, clothing, and other essentials. Evacuees who
have not yet registered should contact FEMA or the Red Cross. We need to know
who you are, because many of you will be eligible for broader assistance in the
future. Many families were separated during the evacuation, and we are working
to help you reunite. Please call this number: 1-877-568-3317 -- that's
1-877-568-3317 -- and we will work to bring your family back together, and pay
for your travel to reach them.
In addition, we're taking steps to ensure that evacuees do not have to travel
great distances or navigate bureaucracies to get the benefits that are there for
them. The Department of Health and Human Services has sent more than 1,500
health professionals, along with over 50 tons of medical supplies -- including
vaccines and antibiotics and medicines for people with chronic conditions such
as diabetes. The Social Security Administration is delivering checks. The
Department of Labor is helping displaced persons apply for temporary jobs and
unemployment benefits. And the Postal Service is registering new addresses so
that people can get their mail.
To carry out the first stages of the relief effort and begin rebuilding at
once, I have asked for, and the Congress has provided, more than $60 billion.
This is an unprecedented response to an unprecedented crisis, which demonstrates
the compassion and resolve of our nation.
Our second commitment is to help the citizens of the Gulf Coast to overcome
this disaster, put their lives back together, and rebuild their communities.
Along this coast, for mile after mile, the wind and water swept the land clean.
In Mississippi, many thousands of houses were damaged or destroyed. In New
Orleans and surrounding parishes, more than a quarter-million houses are no
longer safe to live in. Hundreds of thousands of people from across this region
will need to find longer-term housing.
Our goal is to get people out of the shelters by the middle of October. So
we're providing direct assistance to evacuees that allows them to rent
apartments, and many already are moving into places of their own. A number of
states have taken in evacuees and shown them great compassion -- admitting
children to school, and providing health care. So I will work with the Congress
to ensure that states are reimbursed for these extra expenses.
In the disaster area, and in cities that have received huge numbers of
displaced people, we're beginning to bring in mobile homes and trailers for
temporary use. To relieve the burden on local health care facilities in the
region, we're sending extra doctors and nurses to these areas. We're also
providing money that can be used to cover overtime pay for police and fire
departments while the cities and towns rebuild.
Near New Orleans, and Biloxi, and other cities, housing is urgently needed
for police and firefighters, other service providers, and the many workers who
are going to rebuild these cities. Right now, many are sleeping on ships we have
brought to the Port of New Orleans -- and more ships are on their way to the
region. And we'll provide mobile homes, and supply them with basic services, as
close to construction areas as possible, so the rebuilding process can go
forward as quickly as possible.
And the federal government will undertake a close partnership with the states
of Louisiana and Mississippi, the city of New Orleans, and other Gulf Coast
cities, so they can rebuild in a sensible, well-planned way. Federal funds will
cover the great majority of the costs of repairing public infrastructure in the
disaster zone, from roads and bridges to schools and water systems. Our goal is
to get the work done quickly. And taxpayers expect this work to be done honestly
and wisely -- so we'll have a team of inspectors general reviewing all
expenditures.
In the rebuilding process, there will be many important decisions and many
details to resolve, yet we're moving forward according to some clear principles.
The federal government will be fully engaged in the mission, but Governor
Barbour, Governor Blanco, Mayor Nagin, and other state and local leaders will
have the primary role in planning for their own future. Clearly, communities
will need to move decisively to change zoning laws and building codes, in order
to avoid a repeat of what we've seen. And in the work of rebuilding, as many
jobs as possible should go to the men and women who live in Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Alabama.
Our third commitment is this: When communities are rebuilt, they must be even
better and stronger than before the storm. Within the Gulf region are some of
the most beautiful and historic places in America. As all of us saw on
television, there's also some deep, persistent poverty in this region, as well.
That poverty has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off
generations from the opportunity of America. We have a duty to confront this
poverty with bold action. So let us restore all that we have cherished from
yesterday, and let us rise above the legacy of inequality. When the streets are
rebuilt, there should be many new businesses, including minority-owned
businesses, along those streets. When the houses are rebuilt, more families
should own, not rent, those houses. When the regional economy revives, local
people should be prepared for the jobs being created.
Americans want the Gulf Coast not just to survive, but to thrive; not just to
cope, but to overcome. We want evacuees to come home, for the best of reasons --
because they have a real chance at a better life in a place they love.
When one resident of this city who lost his home was asked by a reporter if
he would relocate, he said, "Naw, I will rebuild -- but I will build higher."
That is our vision for the future, in this city and beyond: We'll not just
rebuild, we'll build higher and better. To meet this goal, I will listen to good
ideas from Congress, and state and local officials, and the private sector. I
believe we should start with three initiatives that the Congress should pass.
Tonight I propose the creation of a Gulf Opportunity Zone, encompassing the
region of the disaster in Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama. Within this
zone, we should provide immediate incentives for job-creating investment, tax
relief for small businesses, incentives to companies that create jobs, and loans
and loan guarantees for small businesses, including minority-owned enterprises,
to get them up and running again. It is entrepreneurship that creates jobs and
opportunity; it is entrepreneurship that helps break the cycle of poverty; and
we will take the side of entrepreneurs as they lead the economic revival of the
Gulf region.
I propose the creation of Worker Recovery Accounts to help those evacuees who
need extra help finding work. Under this plan, the federal government would
provide accounts of up to $5,000, which these evacuees could draw upon for job
training and education to help them get a good job, and for child care expenses
during their job search.
And to help lower-income citizens in the hurricane region build new and
better lives, I also propose that Congress pass an Urban Homesteading Act. Under
this approach, we will identify property in the region owned by the federal
government, and provide building sites to low-income citizens free of charge,
through a lottery. In return, they would pledge to build on the lot, with either
a mortgage or help from a charitable organization like Habitat for Humanity.
Home ownership is one of the great strengths of any community, and it must be a
central part of our vision for the revival of this region.
In the long run, the New Orleans area has a particular challenge, because
much of the city lies below sea level. The people who call it home need to have
reassurance that their lives will be safer in the years to come. Protecting a
city that sits lower than the water around it is not easy, but it can, and has
been done. City and parish officials in New Orleans, and state officials in
Louisiana will have a large part in the engineering decisions to come. And the
Army Corps of Engineers will work at their side to make the flood protection
system stronger than it has ever been.
The work that has begun in the Gulf Coast region will be one of the largest
reconstruction efforts the world has ever seen. When that job is done, all
Americans will have something to be very proud of -- and all Americans are
needed in this common effort. It is the armies of compassion -- charities and
houses of worship, and idealistic men and women -- that give our reconstruction
effort its humanity. They offer to those who hurt a friendly face, an arm around
the shoulder, and the reassurance that in hard times, they can count on someone
who cares. By land, by sea, and by air, good people wanting to make a difference
deployed to the Gulf Coast, and they've been working around the clock ever
since.
The cash needed to support the armies of compassion is great, and Americans
have given generously. For example, the private fundraising effort led by former
Presidents Bush and Clinton has already received pledges of more than $100
million. Some of that money is going to the Governors to be used for immediate
needs within their states. A portion will also be sent to local houses of
worship to help reimburse them for the expense of helping others. This evening
the need is still urgent, and I ask the American people to continue donating to
the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, other good charities, and religious
congregations in the region.
It's also essential for the many organizations of our country to reach out to
your fellow citizens in the Gulf area. So I've asked USA Freedom Corps to create
an information clearinghouse, available at usafreedomcorps.gov, so that families
anywhere in the country can find opportunities to help families in the region,
or a school can support a school. And I challenge existing organizations --
churches, and Scout troops, or labor union locals to get in touch with their
counterparts in Mississippi, Louisiana, or Alabama, and learn what they can do
to help. In this great national enterprise, important work can be done by
everyone, and everyone should find their role and do their part.
The government of this nation will do its part, as well. Our cities must have
clear and up-to-date plans for responding to natural disasters, and disease
outbreaks, or a terrorist attack, for evacuating large numbers of people in an
emergency, and for providing the food and water and security they would need. In
a time of terror threats and weapons of mass destruction, the danger to our
citizens reaches much wider than a fault line or a flood plain. I consider
detailed emergency planning to be a national security priority, and therefore,
I've ordered the Department of Homeland Security to undertake an immediate
review, in cooperation with local counterparts, of emergency plans in every
major city in America.
I also want to know all the facts about the government response to Hurricane
Katrina. The storm involved a massive flood, a major supply and security
operation, and an evacuation order affecting more than a million people. It was
not a normal hurricane -- and the normal disaster relief system was not equal to
it. Many of the men and women of the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, the United States military, the National Guard, Homeland
Security, and state and local governments performed skillfully under the worst
conditions. Yet the system, at every level of government, was not
well-coordinated, and was overwhelmed in the first few days. It is now clear
that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader
role for the armed forces -- the institution of our government most capable of
massive logistical operations on a moment's notice.
Four years after the frightening experience of September the 11th, Americans
have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency.
When the federal government fails to meet such an obligation, I, as President,
am responsible for the problem, and for the solution. So I've ordered every
Cabinet Secretary to participate in a comprehensive review of the government
response to the hurricane. This government will learn the lessons of Hurricane
Katrina. We're going to review every action and make necessary changes, so that
we are better prepared for any challenge of nature, or act of evil men, that
could threaten our people.
The United States Congress also has an important oversight function to
perform. Congress is preparing an investigation, and I will work with members of
both parties to make sure this effort is thorough.
In the life of this nation, we have often been reminded that nature is an
awesome force, and that all life is fragile. We're the heirs of men and women
who lived through those first terrible winters at Jamestown and Plymouth, who
rebuilt Chicago after a great fire, and San Francisco after a great earthquake,
who reclaimed the prairie from the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Every time, the
people of this land have come back from fire, flood, and storm to build anew --
and to build better than what we had before. Americans have never left our
destiny to the whims of nature -- and we will not start now.
These trials have also reminded us that we are often stronger than we know --
with the help of grace and one another. They remind us of a hope beyond all pain
and death, a God who welcomes the lost to a house not made with hands. And they
remind us that we're tied together in this life, in this nation -- and that the
despair of any touches us all.
I know that when you sit on the steps of a porch where a home once stood, or
sleep on a cot in a crowded shelter, it is hard to imagine a bright future. But
that future will come. The streets of Biloxi and Gulfport will again be filled
with lovely homes and the sound of children playing. The churches of Alabama
will have their broken steeples mended and their congregations whole. And here
in New Orleans, the street cars will once again rumble down St. Charles, and the
passionate soul of a great city will return.
In this place, there's a custom for the funerals of jazz musicians. The
funeral procession parades slowly through the streets, followed by a band
playing a mournful dirge as it moves to the cemetery. Once the casket has been
laid in place, the band breaks into a joyful "second line" -- symbolizing the
triumph of the spirit over death. Tonight the Gulf Coast is still coming through
the dirge -- yet we will live to see the second line.
Thank you, and may God bless America.
END 8:28 P.M. CDT
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