    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
    [September 6, 2005]
    [Pages 1398-1400]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters
    September 6, 2005

        The President. Thank you all for coming. My message to the Cabinet
    this morning is this: This administration is not going to rest until
    every life can be saved, until families are reconnected, until this
    recovery is complete. Our goals--our immediate goals are these: We want
    to complete the search-and-recovery; we want to restore essential
    services; we want to drain the water in the affected areas and begin
    removing debris; we want to--and are assessing public health and safety
    matters.
        I've asked the Vice President to go down to
    the affected region on Thursday. He will go down to assess our recovery
    efforts. He will help me determine whether or not we're meeting these
    goals. He'll work with Secretary Chertoff
    and others to make sure that we remove any obstacles, bureaucratic
    obstacles that may be preventing us from achieving our goals. In other
    words, bureaucracy is not going to stand in the way of getting the job
    done for the people.
        I was briefed on plans to immediately help our folks, plans to
    reconnect families, plans to make sure health care is available. And
    Secretary Leavitt gave me a good brief--
    plans on housing, both immediate and long-term housing. Most
    importantly, I was briefed by members of my Cabinet about how we're
    going to make sure that people who are owed a Social Security check, get
    their Social Security check. At the center in Baton Rouge I went to
    yesterday, I remember clearly a person saying, ``When am I going to get
    my Social Security check?'' And it's important to note, people
    understand we have a strategy to make sure the benefits that are due are
    going to get to them.
        Now, we understand people are scattered out across the country, but
    we have an obligation to make sure that whether a veteran's benefit or
    an unemployment benefit or a Social Security benefit gets to these
    people. And so we have a strategy in place, and we're going to implement
    that strategy--to find people who are in those shelters or in churches
    or in private homes--and get them the benefit.
        A lot of people are doing good work. We've got a heck of a lot more
    work to do, and that's exactly what this Government is going to do.

    Hurricane Katrina Recovery Efforts

        Q. Mr. President.
        The President. Yes, Bob [Bob Franken, Cable News Network].
        Q. Do you intend to replace any from your administration who are
    leading this recovery effort, who were part of the effort last week that
    has been so widely criticized?
        The President. What I intend to do is lead a--to lead an
    investigation to find out what went right and what went wrong. And I'll
    tell you why. It's very important for us to understand the relationship
    between the Federal Government, the State government, and the local
    government when it comes to a major catastrophe. And the reason it's
    important is, is that we still live in an unsettled world. We want to
    make sure that we can respond properly if there's a WMD attack or
    another major storm.

    [[Page 1399]]

    And so I'm going to find out, over time, what went right and what went
    wrong.
        Q. Sir.
        The President. Yes, Jennifer [Jennifer Loven, Associated Press].
        Q. Secretary Chertoff has talked about being disturbed at the
    information--or lack of information to the State from the region. Just
    from what you know initially, do you think that more went wrong at the
    local or State level or the Federal level? And do you think there should
    be a commission to sort it out?
        The President. I think one of the things that people want us to do
    here is to play a blame game. We've got to solve problems. We're
    problem-solvers. There will be ample time for people to figure out what
    went right and what went wrong. What I'm interested in is helping save
    lives. That's what I want to do. And I want to make sure those poor
    folks who have been taken out of their communities and who live in a--
    whose world has been shattered, get the help they need. And then we want
    to help New Orleans rebuild, and we want to see Biloxi rise again.
        And, you know, I was with the mayor of Waveland the other day, from Mississippi. His town was
    completely destroyed. What I'm interested in is helping that man and
    that community get back on their feet. That's where my focus is. There
    will be ample time to assess--and we need to assess. And this
    administration will be part of the assessment as to what went wrong,
    because, I repeat, we've got to have as good a relationship as possible
    with all levels of government to be able to respond to major problems.
    And if things went wrong, we'll correct them. And when things went
    right, we'll duplicate them.
        Patsy [Patricia Wilson, Reuters].

    Upcoming Supreme Court Nomination

        Q. Mr. President, on the Supreme Court, do you have a candidate in
    mind? And now that you have a second opportunity, are you more inclined
    to follow the First Lady's advice and choose a woman?
        The President. First of all, I'm proud of my nominee to be the
    Chief. And the goal is to get this good
    person confirmed by the time the Court convenes this fall. See, they're
    going to need their Chief. And, therefore, the Senate needs to have a--
    obviously, a thorough debate about Judge Roberts and get him confirmed
    quickly so that when the Court convenes, there is a Chief Justice. And I
    was deliberate in my process last time. I'll be deliberative this time.
    I obviously interviewed a lot of good candidates last time. I still will
    continue to reach out and make sure every good candidate is considered.
        Q. Are the same ones on the list, sir? Some of the same ones that
    you interviewed last time, are they----
        The President. The list is wide open, which should create some good
    speculation here in Washington. [Laughter] And make sure you notice,
    when I said that, I looked right at Al Gonzales, who can really create speculation. [Laughter]
        Assistant Press Secretary Josh
    Deckard. Thank you all.
        The President. I'm not through yet. But this is important for people
    to understand: I want the Senate to focus not on who the next nominee is
    going to be, but the nominee I've got up there now. And it's important
    for the country that they complete the work. And in the meantime, the
    country can be assured that I'll take a good, long look at who should
    replace Justice O'Connor. I called her
    from Air Force One yesterday and told her of my decision to name John
    Roberts to be the Chief. And her first
    reaction was that she better get back to doing her homework, and she
    said so somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but she's right, she'll be there when
    the Court is seated with a new Chief Justice. And then we'll move
    deliberately to replace Justice O'Connor.
        Thank you all for coming.

    [[Page 1400]]

    Note: The President spoke at 11:08 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Chief Justice-designate John G.
    Roberts, Jr.; and Mayor Tommy Longo of Waveland, MS. The Office of the
    Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these
    remarks.