[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.