    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [March 8, 2006]
    [Pages 416-419]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Tour of Recovery Efforts in the Areas Damaged by
    Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in New Orleans, Louisiana
     March 8, 2006

        I want to thank you all for coming. I want to thank Colonel
    Setliff for the tour that he just gave
    the Governor and the mayor and myself, along with Laura
    and part of our party. I want to thank Colonel Wagenaar for the aerial tour. We just flew over affected
    parts of Orleans Parish and Jefferson Parish and St. Bernard Parish, and
    getting a view of the progress that is being made.
        I particularly want to thank my friend Don Powell for his hard work in coordinating Federal efforts with the
    Governor and the mayor. Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin have been
    by my side when

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    I've come down here, and I really appreciate them being a part of the
    recovery efforts. I want to thank Walter Isaacson and David Voelker, the
    members of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. They were on Air Force One
    today to make sure I fully understood--understand the strategies that
    the local folks are putting in place to help the good people of this
    part of the world recover from the devastating storm.
        You know, we just came from a neighborhood where people are fixing
    to--are in the process of cleaning up debris. We went there because the
    mayor and the Governor thought it was important for me to see firsthand
    the devastation of the storm in certain neighborhoods and the progress
    that is being made for cleaning up the debris. There's still a lot of
    work to be done, no question about it. And obviously, as the plan gets
    laid out and as the housing plan I'm fixing to discuss comes to
    fruition, people will feel more comfortable in granting the local
    authorities the right to remove debris from their homes to be cleaned
    up.
        But I want to share a story about a fellow, Romalice Harris, I met. He was there--was part of the construction
    crew. I asked him, I said, ``Where were you during the storm?'' He said
    he felt like he could ride it out. He heard the evacuation orders but
    thought it would be all right to ride out the storm. He lived on the
    third floor of an apartment complex. And he described to me and the
    Governor and the mayor what it was like to see the water start to rise up to the
    second floor of the building. He and his three children and his wife and
    another relative were finally rescued by a boat.
        I said, ``What happened to you?'' He
    said, ``Well, I went to Salt Lake City, Utah.'' In other words, his is
    an example of what happened to the good folks in this part of the world.
    He watched the rising waters, and then he just had to abandon the part
    of the world he loves.
        From there, the Federal Government helped fly him to Chicago, where he had some relatives--or a
    relative. He now has come back to work in the city he loves, New
    Orleans, with the hopes of rebuilding his life. His wife and children
    are still in Chicago; they're going to school there. But as he told us,
    he says he looks forward to bringing them home, bringing them back to
    Louisiana, to have his children educated right here. And I'm convinced
    he'll succeed. And our job at all levels of government is to provide the
    confidence and the help necessary so that people like Romalice Harris
    come home.
        I appreciate the determination by the folks down here to rebuild. I
    fully understand, and I hope our country understands, the pain and agony
    that the people of New Orleans and Louisiana and the parishes
    surrounding New Orleans went through. But I think people would be
    impressed by the desire of the people in this part of the country to
    pick up and move on and rebuild. And that's why I'm so pleased that the
    Governor and the mayor have joined me, so we can discuss the importance of
    implementing a strategy that will help this part of the world rise
    again.
        The first part of the strategy is to make sure these levees are
    strong. And we fully understand that if the people don't have confidence
    in the levee system, they're not going to want to come back. People
    aren't going to want to spend money or invest. I just got a briefing
    from the Army Corps of Engineers that said we're on schedule to repair
    the damage by the June 1st deadline. They're identifying and correcting
    design and construction deficiencies; so as we go into the start of the
    hurricane season, the levees will be equal or better than what they were
    before Katrina.
        The corps is identifying areas that weren't damaged but that need
    additional attention. Over here you can see the--or one of the walls
    that are being built. I mean, there's a lot of concrete and a lot of
    steel being put in the ground to protect

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    the levee system. By September of next year, additional improvements
    will be completed, bringing the entire levee system up to the full
    authorized design height, making it better and stronger than before.
        Congress heard our message about improving the levees, but they
    shortchanged the process by about $1.5 billion. And so in order to help
    fulfill our promise on the levees, Congress needs to restore the $1.5
    billion, to make this a real commitment, to inspire the good folks down
    here that they have a levee system that will encourage development and
    reconstruction.
        As I mentioned, we went by the Ninth Ward to see the debris removal
    that was taking place. The vast majority of debris on public property
    has been removed. About 80 percent of the debris not related to
    demolition has been cleared. Most of the remaining debris is on private
    property, in yards or inside houses that need to be gutted or
    demolished. To get the debris, the residents need to give permission, in
    most cases, to the local authorities. And so they need to get back to
    their houses so they can decide what to keep and what to remove.
         The problem is, obviously, many homeowners are still displaced. And
    that's why we're working at all levels of government to encourage
    evacuees to inspect their properties and to salvage what they can and to
    make decisions about the future.
        Of course, the decisionmaking for the individual homeowners is going
    to be made easier when Congress funds the $4.2 billion that I asked them
    to fund for the State of Louisiana for housing purposes. Now, this $4.2
    billion is in conjunction with the $6.2 billion of CDBG money for
    housing grants. The $4.2 billion request was done in a coordinated
    effort with State and local authorities.
        The reason I thought this number made sense is because the number
    fits into a well-thought-out plan that has been put together by the
    local folks. The housing plan has been coordinated by State authorities
    with local authorities as well as with HUD authorities. In other words,
    we've all been working together to figure out how to come up with a
    housing plan that will restore the confidence of the people of this
    important part of our country. And in order to make sure that housing
    plan meets its goals, Congress should make sure that the $4.2 billion I
    requested goes to the State of Louisiana.
        I'm also confident that this plan is solid right now. It's well-
    thought-out, and when it's submitted to HUD, because there's been close
    coordination, it should be approved on a timely basis.
        And so again, I want to thank you all for inviting me to come back.
    I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Louisiana. Some of you might
    recall, I grew up across the line, over there in Texas, and really
    enjoyed my stay here when I came. I was pleased to see that the Mardi
    Gras parades went well, Mr. Mayor. As the mayor
    and the Governor described to me,
    it was as much of a homecoming as anything else. A lot of folks came
    back, came home. And that's what we want. We want people coming home.
    And the Federal Government will do our part, in conjunction with our
    State and local partners.
        I ask for God's blessings on the people of this part of the world
    and thank the hard-working folks here for working around the clock to
    get this part of the country up and running again. Thank you.
        Now, Laura is traveling with me. She's got a
    very important announcement she'd like to make as well.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:33 a.m. at the Industrial Levee Canal.
    In his remarks, he referred to Col. Lewis F. Setliff III, USA, St. Louis
    district engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Gov. Kathleen Babineaux
    Blanco of Louisiana; Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans, LA; Col. Richard
    P. Wagenaar, USA, New Orleans district engineer, U.S. Army Corps of
    Engineers; and Walter Isaacson, vice chairman of the board, and

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    David Voelker, board member, Louisiana Recovery Authority. The
    transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary also included
    the remarks of the First Lady. The Office of the Press Secretary also
    released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.