This post contains the text of President Bush's speech last night. I thought the beginning of the speech was really good but once we get below the fold, I start commenting on the speech giving my thoughts on what he said. I highlighted my thoughts in bold throughout this post.
BUSH: Good evening. I am speaking to you from the city of New Orleans, nearly empty, still partly underwater, and waiting for life and hope to return. Eastward from Lake Pontchartrain, across the Mississippi coast, to Alabama and 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 have 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 didn't 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 are 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 wastewater 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.
So far so good, excellent speech Mr. President.
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 the months to come will bring more than their fair share of struggles.
I understand, let's help them recuperate. Let's help these people get back on their feet, I understand that.
The Department of Homeland Security is registering evacuees who are now in shelters, 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 thousand evacuee families have gotten emergency help to pay for food, clothing and other essentials.
Impressive, 500 you say? Not bad, now let's just get to the rest of the 1.3 million that resides in New Orleans plus the people in the affected areas and we'll be alright. But 500,000 is worthy of boastfullness.
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 also 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 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.
Man you said that number too fast, what's that number again? THANK GOODNESS NBC put that number up on the screen. Oh never mind, they didn't. I wonder if Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are going to call NBC racist for not putting the number up on the screen for African Americans to write it down?
In addition, we are taking steps to ensure that evacuees don't 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 15 hundred health professionals, along with over 50 tons of medical supplies, including vaccines, 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.
So far I'm with you Mr. President, effective government, not bad.
To carry out the first stages of the relief effort and begin the 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.
Actually Mr. President, what that demonstrates is that the house, the senate, and the President are willing to spend other people's money and then take credit for being compassionate. If these two branches of government were so compassionate with money, shouldn't they open their own wallets? It's one thing to assist with government money but to call congress and the President compassionate because of it is misleading. I'll tell you what, Mr. President, let me have access to your finances in the form of taxes, I'll spend it and then take credit for being compassionate, how's that sound?
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 shelters by the middle of October. So we are 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 Congress to ensure that states are reimbursed for these extra expenses.
Arrrrgh, Mr. President, If those states chose to assist us, why does the federal government need to reimburse them? If the Federal government will reimburse New York, why then shouldn't New York just offer us an additional 50 billion in aid, then they can take even more credit for being compassionate with New Yorkers money and then not have to spend a dime of it? Just think, if the other 49 states decides to be just as compassionate as the Federal Government? What's to stop them? they will be reimbursed. Also, using this reasoning, shouldn't the federal government also reimburse the good citizens in the United States for all they gave? It is after all the role of the United States to reimburse people for being compassionate, or is it just compassionate with other people's money?
In the disaster area and in cities that have received huge numbers of displaced people we are beginning to bring in mobile homes and trailers for temporary use. To relieve the burden on local health care facilities in the region, we are sending extra doctors and nurses to these areas. We are also providing money that can be used to cover overtime pay for police and fire departments while cities and towns rebuild.
Okay, this is spending that I don't necessarily agree with but I understand it. However, with the influx of doctors, nurses, police, and fire departments from the affected area, we may have enough employees to avoid the overtime.
Near New Orleans, Biloxi and other cities, housing is urgently needed for police and firefighters, other service providers and the many workers who are going to rebuild those 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 will provide mobile homes and supply them with basic services, as close to the construction areas as possible, so the rebuilding process can go forward as quickly as possible.
Okay, you got me back on track with you here. For awhile there, I thought you were going to say, 'Congratulations Louisiana, you hit the Jackpot!' Mr. President, I think I speak on behalf of most Louisianans (at least I hope I do) when I say that we don't want anything extra, we just want to get back to our daily lives. We aren't asking for freebies, (most of us aren't) we are asking for some assistance.
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 will have a team of inspectors general reviewing all expenditures.
Actually, I think I prefer an independent organization to oversee the expenditures. A company not linked with any Democrats or Republicans. Independent CPA's from around the nation, anything but government overseeing how they spend money, they haven't proved to be the best spenders.
In the rebuilding process, there will be many important decisions and many details to resolve, yet we are 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 have seen. And in the work of rebuilding, as many jobs as possible should go to men and women who live in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Oh God, I wish he hadn't said Governor Blanco. Anybody willing to bet Shaw gets a large portion of that cash now?
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 is also some deep, persistent poverty in this region as well. And 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.
Mr. President, the Democrats have long controlled the South, are you accusing the Democrats of racism? I certainly hope not, besides, it's perfectly okay to be a racist- if you are a Democrat. But the legacy of inequality? That's an interesting term, can you name a single system without the Super rich and the Super poor? Doesn't even the most socialist countries get tainted by the rich and powerful that keep the poor down and in poverty? Anyway, I would like to see a country that everybody is perfectly equal as far as finances. Do you think that once we make everybody financially equal that they will stay that way? Or do you think that maybe some people will spend their money in ways that lead to poverty, while others will spend their money in ways that will lead them to riches? Personally, I think some people just choose to be wiser with their money than others, thus creating inequalities.
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.
I have to admit, when I heard this, my face cringed. Although it's obvious that I misheard what the President said. I don't believe in excluding minorities but I do not believe in giving extra treatment. I believe that in God's eyes we are all CREATED equal and that government ought to treat us as such. In other words, Government ought not to give favoritism based on the color of ones skin. That being said, rereading the transcript is actually better than the way I heard it.
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'll build higher." That is our vision of the future, in this city and beyond: We will not just rebuild, we will build higher and better.
You should have gotten his name, he's got the right spirit.
To meet this goal, I will listen to good ideas from Congress, state and local officials, and the private sector. I believe we should start with three initiatives that the Congress should pass.
Listen to the private sector Mr. President, we already had our fill of what government can do for us.
Tonight I propose the creation of a Gulf Opportunity Zone, encompassing the region of the disaster in Louisiana, 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.
Oh, good advice. Leave government out of this as much as possible. Trust me, we've had our fill of government assistance.
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.
Well Mr. President, I think educational funds and job training courses are readily available for just about anybody that wants it. I am not quite sure if you think this is a new idea, but we have plenty of that already. I could be wrong, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama might not have it.
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. Homeownership 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.
When I heard this I already had my fill of hearing of your compassion with the People's money. Now that I reread this, I think that this is a very good idea, but does that mean that we now have to find more property to create more projects so that we can fill that up with more poor people? I'm not opposed to giving people property and breaking up Projects with homeowners, I think I like this idea.
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.
Ah h*ll no! They were given enough chances to fix the levee and given another opportunity they would just build a Category 3 Levee and then milk the system for funds to build it up to a Category 5. No! On the flood protection system, send somebody else, h*ll contract Halliburton.
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 have 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 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.
You know, speaking of churches, they have really been extraordinary around here. Without the churches, uniting, working, helping, who knows what kind of mess we'd be in right now.
It is also essential for the many organizations of our country to reach out to your fellow citizens in the Gulf area. So I have 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, 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.
Ah, now there's the REAL compassion. It's in people's hearts. Republicans, Independents, and EVEN A COUPLE of Democrats were able to put their politics to the side and just help people in a time of need. Rich and poor alike reached out and helped the rich and poor that was suffering. People of all races united to help people of all races that were suffering. People helped not because it "was the compassionate thing to do" they helped because for them to do otherwise was inhumane. For many, they did what they did because they had to, for their own well being. They did exactly what anybody else would do and they did not seek credit for being "compassionate"
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, disease outbreaks or terrorist attack, for evacuating large numbers of people in an emergency and for providing the food, 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. Therefore, I have 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.
Oh don't go there Mr. President. Really, this whole terrorism thing is a little overboard. I understand national security issues but do we really have to jump at our own shadow? A natural disaster is not the same thing as terrorism.
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.
Mr. President, the biggest failure in all of this is the Louisiana State Government when they did not fix the levee when given the money in the past. They do that and there would not have been the flooding. The government would have been able to respond. It's not that hard to figure out.
Four years after the frightening experience of September 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 have 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 are 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.
Don't remind us of terrorism, it's not the same thing. I know you Washingtonians think it is, but it ain't.
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.
I wonder if they will suggest a mismanaged government on the local level for not fixing the levee when given the money in the first place. Probably not, they'll replace incompetent government with an even bigger incompetent government, then tell us they solved the problem.
In the life of this nation, we have often been reminded that nature is an awesome force, and that all life is fragile. We are 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.
You know, I don't think Kathleen used Jamestown, Plymouth, or the Dust bowl yesterday, you must know history better than her.
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 are 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 streetcars will once again rumble down St. Charles, and the passionate soul of a great city will return.
In this place, there is 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.
I liked this speech so much more after going through it the second time. I think after the last two weeks I expected more out of President Bush than I did out of Kathleen Blanco. Although I liked President Bush's speech much better, it didn't impress me as much as Kathleen Blanco.
The reason is simply this, immediately after Katrina, my support fell whole-heartedly behind all of our leaders. I was behind Nagin, Blanco, Landrieu, Vitter, Jindal, Jefferson, and yes President Bush. My support was there. Yet, I couldn't help but to notice the immediate politicization of this trajedy by the Democrats. Once Katrina turned political and political questions were raised, I wanted answers to the questions as well, but it was not the time to think about the answers. The day that we turned the corner down here, I began to look at what the problem was.
Had this never turned political, I would have never even thought about this politically. Yet, the questions raised continue to point at Kathleen Blanco. Also Mary Landrieu seemed to take some cheap political shots at the President as well but the ineptness was really on our Governor.
So when Kathleen gave her speech Weds night, it didn't take much from her to impress me. She finally actd like she had some control, and I think we throughout the state needed to see some stability in our Governor. Thinking back, she didn't offer any real solutions nor did she give a timetable for getting things done. Simple things, like when there will be a special session, if there is going to be one. Stability, she needed to show that to impress anybody.
Bush ought to be more stoic, like he was leading the nation. Well he was that, he had the stability and the leadership but I also thought that he appeared to be pandering. President Bush did not come out an apologize for failures of the government but his speech seemed to me, at various times, an apology of sorts. If Bush leads without apology he'd get more kudos from me.
I expected more out of President Bush, even though his speech was better than Gov Blanco's, I'd give him a 'C'
Context of Speech