    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
    [September 15, 2005]
    [Pages 1439-1444]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Address to the Nation on Hurricane Katrina Recovery From New Orleans,
    Louisiana
    September 15, 2005

        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

    [[Page 1440]]

    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

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    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 are already 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

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    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. 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.
        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.

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        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
    faultline 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.

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    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 streetcars 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.

    Note: The President spoke at 8:02 p.m. at Jackson Square. In his
    remarks, he referred to Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi; Gov. Kathleen
    Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana; and Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans,
    LA. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language
    transcript of this address.