[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
[September 12, 2005]
[Pages 1418-1420]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and an Exchange With 
Reporters in Gulfport, Mississippi
September 12, 2005

    The President. First of all, I want to thank the school 
principal for her hospitality. It's 
interesting, you know, she said she lost her school and lost her house, 
but I told her, she hadn't lost her smile or her will to succeed.
    Behind us we've got U.S. troops and Mexican troops working together 
to help get this school up and running. The superintendent of schools 
here in the region tells me that they're trying to have everybody back 
in school by the end of October. And that's part of what you're 
beginning to see here in Mississippi. This country is beginning to 
rebuild, and lives are starting over.
    I thank the Governor and the 
Congressman for their hospitality 
here. And, Mayor, thank you, sir. You've 
been in office for how long? Four months?
    Mayor Gregory Brent Warr. Two months.
    The President. Two months.
    Governor Haley Barbour. It seems like 4. 
[Laughter]
    The President. But there's a remarkable spirit all across this 
affected zone. It's a peculiar Mississippi spirit here, where there's a 
can-do attitude. People are coming together and slowly but surely 
putting their life back together. The Governor 
was telling me about the electricity, and the mayor has got a positive attitude.
    I remember when I was down here last time, they were talking about 
gasoline. I saw a gasoline station up and running. And so progress is 
being made, and yet there's a lot of work to do, a lot of issues to be 
resolved, a lot of lives to be lifted up, a lot of hope to be restored.
    I look forward to working with the congressional delegation, seeing 
people in Mississippi and the two 
Senators, of course, and the 
Governor, to address the problems. I mean, we 
are problem-solvers, and we look forward to working with the folks here.
    I said something in Louisiana I want to repeat here in Mississippi, 
and that is, as these communities are rebuilt, they're going to be 
rebuilt by people from Mississippi. And as the coast is replanned and 
the vision of the coast emerges, it's going to be planned by the people 
of Mississippi. The role of the people in Washington is to support the 
Governors and support the Congressmen, support the mayors, as a vision 
for what this part of the world will look

[[Page 1419]]

like. And it's important for people to understand that, and that's a 
pledge we will keep.
    Now, your school is going to open before the end of October?
    Phyllis A. Bourn. We're hoping for the 
end of October.
    The President. End of October--isn't that fantastic?
    Ms. Bourn. Well, I'm sorry--the 
beginning of October.
    The President. The beginning of October.
    Ms. Bourn. The beginning of October for 
this school, for this school.
    The President. Well, that's great. Well, thank you all very much. 
Thanks for having me.
    Are we doing another round of questions today, or is one enough, do 
you think?

Resignation of FEMA Director Michael D. Brown

    Q. Can you tell us----
    Q. Have you accepted the resignation of Michael Brown, or have you 
heard about it?
    The President. I haven't. No, I have not talked to Michael Brown or 
Mike Chertoff. That's who I'd talk to. As 
you know, I've been working. And when I get on Air Force One, I will 
call back to Washington. But I've been on the move.
    Q. Our understanding is that he has resigned; he's put out a 
statement. Would that be appropriate----
    The President. I haven't talked to Mike Chertoff yet, and that's what I intend to do when I get on the 
plane. You know, I--you probably--maybe you know something I don't know, 
but as you know, we've been working, and I haven't had a chance to get 
on the phone.
    I just came from an extraordinary event. When I say I've been 
working, what I've been doing is thanking people. We just came from a 
church that's feeding people in need, that need help, and there were 
people from all over the country there. It was unbelievable. And so I 
was spending time thanking them and lifting their spirits.
    So I can't comment on something that you may know more about than I 
do. So don't ask me again about a subject that----
    Q. Can you say--have you been disappointed in the job that he did? 
Were you disappointed in the job he did?
    The President. We went through this this morning, as you know, and 
I've said this--so I haven't changed my mind since you asked that 
question--or somebody asked the question about it----
    Q. It was a little bit different. It wasn't specifically about him, 
sir.
    The President. It's the same spirit, and that is, is that there will 
be plenty of time to figure out what went right and what went wrong. And 
the reason why it's important for us to figure that out at a national 
level is that, if a major event were to come--another major event--we 
want to make sure that there's appropriate relationship between the 
State and the local government. And so it's appropriate that we step 
back and take a look.
    Here in Mississippi and in Louisiana, people want to move forward. 
They understand there's time to try to blame somebody. But they want to 
get their lives back together. And that's the spirit I see, and that's 
what----

Reconstruction After Hurricane Katrina

    Q. On rebuilding, when you say it's up to--the vision of it is up to 
those on the ground, the local decisions, does that mean the Federal 
Government doesn't want to help rebuild things exactly as vulnerable as 
they were?
    The President. Well, you see, I think that nobody wants to build a 
fragile society. Everybody wants to, when you rebuild, rebuild better. 
And we want to work with the local folks to achieve that.
    The Congressman brought up an 
interesting issue. He said that he's waiting to find out what height--in 
order for Federal money to come, the houses have to be built

[[Page 1420]]

to a certain height. He's not trying to figure out the height; he just 
wants an answer.
    Representative Gene Taylor. And 
the same thing with the highways, for example. We can't--a highway 
commission can't put out contracts for bridges until the Coast Guard 
tells us how the vertical clearance has got to be.
    The President. So, obviously, there's a collaborative effort. And 
what the Congressman's basic point 
was and the Governor's point is, how about 
getting us the answers--for one reason: They want to get going, which is 
exciting news. And it's--so that's the kind of relationship I'm talking 
about.

Insurance Issues

    Q. Mr. President, a lot of local people asking about insurance----
    The President. Yes----
    Q. ----the flood versus wind. What can you----
    The President. I can't give an answer to that right now. But I am 
taking back the message, again, of the Congressman and the Governor, and 
particularly a lady I met at the church. She said she'd lived here for a 
long period of time, and she said, ``I want to ask you something, 
President.'' She said, ``How would you like it if your insurance company 
said, `Ma'am, this is a flood event, and therefore, I'm not going to 
cover it, cover your house?' '' I said, ``I wouldn't like it a bit.'' 
She said, ``Well, that's just what happened to me today.'' She had come 
back from where she had evacuated to, to hear that message. And she 
asked my opinion, and I said, ``I'll find out the process that 
determines whether or not it's a wind or water event.''

President's Focus on Domestic and Foreign Policy

    Q. One more question. With all your focus on foreign policy over the 
next couple of days, what structures have you put in place to keep your 
attention also focused on the hurricane?
    The President. I can do more than one thing at one time. That's 
what--I hope you--by the time I'm finished President, I hope you'll 
realize that the Government can do more than one thing at one time, and 
individuals in the Government can. And so I'll be in constant touch 
with--I have a hurricane recovery briefing every morning, for example. 
And I'll be in touch with Mike Chertoff. 
Andy Card, on my staff, will be in touch 
with the appropriate people. And so whether--if I'm focusing on the 
hurricane, I've got the capacity to focus on foreign policy, and vice 
versa. But I thank you for asking that question.
    Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 2:06 p.m. at Twenty-Eighth Street 
Elementary School. In his remarks, he referred to Glen East, 
superintendent, Gulfport School District. Participating in the exchange 
were Phyllis A. Bourn, principal, Twenty-Eighth Street Elementary 
School; Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi; Representative Gene Taylor of 
Mississippi; and Mayor Gregory Brent Warr of Gulfport, MS.