    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
    [August 21, 2007]
    [Pages 1097-1098]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Briefing on the Interstate 35W Bridge Damage and
    Minnesota Floods in Minneapolis, Minnesota
    August 21, 2007

        I want to thank the Senators, the Congresspersons, the Governor, and the mayor for joining me and
    Secretary Peters and others in my
    administration. We're here to talk about two disasters. First, we talked
    about the bridge that collapsed. I was here earlier, saw the collapse
    firsthand. I was impressed by the magnitude of the problem. It was--my
    heart was touched by the fact that people lost their lives.
        Coming back here, I'm impressed by the spirit of cooperation that is
    taking place to solve the problem. The Federal Government, the State
    government, and the local government have worked very closely, on the
    one hand, to rescue the remains in a compassionate way. I appreciate our
    military divers who are so skilled, skilled at not only finding the
    bodies but skilled at helping a loved one deal with grief.
        The question now is, how fast can we get the bridge built? Members
    of the Minnesota senatorial and congressional delegation did really good
    work at the end of the session, passed authorization for a significant
    chunk of money that would go to get this bridge up and running.
        And so our job now is to cut through the bureaucracy, as best as
    possible, and get the people down here a new bridge. And that's what
    we've been discussing. The recovery is not complete, but pretty close to
    complete. The investigation as to why is ongoing. What the people of
    Minneapolis want to know is how fast can we get them a new bridge, and
    can it be modern, and can it accommodate future forms of transportation?
    I believe the answer to that question is yes. The spirit that caused the
    recovery to be well-coordinated is the very

    [[Page 1098]]

    same spirit that's going to cause this bridge to get rebuilt.
        The Governor and others have briefed
    me on the floods in Congressman Walz's district.
        These floods come suddenly. People wake up and find their lives
    turned upside down. Water comes charging through their communities and
    really kind of wrecks the infrastructure. But what I have found, and the
    Congressmen and Senators have found the same thing, you can't wreck the spirit of
    people.
        The job of the Federal Government is to get help moving as quickly
    as possible. I just talked to the Governor, who has processed the final and the necessary paperwork so
    that a flood of help can come down, Tim, to get these people realizing
    somebody cares about them.
        I understand rural America pretty well. Sometimes people in rural
    America wonder whether or not the people in the cities think about them.
    I appreciate you coming to brief us, because I want those folks to
    understand, the President thinks about it; the Senators and the
    Governor have heard about it, and they
    care about it. There's help that's available. We'd love to get the small
    businesses up and running, maybe help to get some shelter down there for
    people. I'm looking forward to making sure that the right people show up
    here on the ground. Secretary Peters has been
    the right person to coordinate this effort for the bridge, and we'll get
    somebody down here in charge to give your people in your district some
    hope.
        There's no doubt in my mind that when I come back to see the bridge
    open that these communities will be up and running too, and that State
    football championship team you were talking about--[laughter]--will be
    winning games again.
        Thank you all for coming.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:53 p.m. in the Base Operations--Blue Room
    at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Air Reserve Station. In his remarks, he
    referred to Gov. Timothy J. Pawlenty of Minnesota; and Mayor R.T. Rybak
    of Minneapolis, MN. He also referred to Public Law 110-56, approved
    August 6.