[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

[[Page 1441]]

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

[[Page 1442]]

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.

[[Page 1443]]

    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.

[[Page 1444]]

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.