    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [June 19, 2008]
    [Pages 855-856]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to Reporters in Iowa City, Iowa
    June 19, 2008

        The President. Let me thank the mayor,
    thank the Governor. Mr.
    Congressman, thanks for flying down from
    Washington

    [[Page 856]]

    with us. And Senator Harkin, thanks for
    being here.
        Senator Thomas R. Harkin. Thank you,
    Mr. President.
        The President. You know, these are tough times for the people of
    Iowa City and Cedar Rapids and a lot of other communities in Iowa. Some
    of them are, you know, real tiny communities. And this--obviously, as
    you can see here, they're still going through a recovery phase. The
    mayor was telling me that she had the--part
    of the city evacuated and now some folks are able to come back in.
        I brought a lot of Federal officials with me because it's really
    important that as the rebuilding phase begins, there's a coordinated
    effort between the Federal Government and the State and the local
    governments. And Michael Chertoff is going
    to be handling the coordinating effort with the Governor. And the Governor will make sure that the affected
    communities are represented as well.
        We passed a--or the Congress is contemplating passing a
    supplemental, and a big chunk of that supplemental will be disaster
    relief money. And I want to thank the Members of Congress--hope we can
    get that done quickly.
        Representative David W. Loebsack. It
    will get done.
        The President. The--one of the things that happens in a disaster
    such as this is that citizens from around the country want to know how
    they can help. They see the picture of this kind of flooding on TV and
    they know that people are hurting and they want to know how they can
    participate in helping the rebuilding. Well, one way that the people can
    do is they can go on their computers and dial up volunteer.org
    [volunteer.gov]. *
        And you know, if you want to try to figure out how to send
    something, you can--there will be ways to--ways to direct your
    compassion. If you want to give money, there are organizations that
    could use your contributions; organizations such as the Red Cross. And
    I'm--again, I'll repeat to you: volunteer.gov; I think I might have said
    ``org,'' I meant ``gov.''
        And I really again want to congratulate the local folks here for
    really showing great compassion and working hard and hugging people and
    giving people hope. And, Governor, you've
    been out front. You and your first lady are
    working hard, and the mayor has been very
    much engaged in helping people deal with the initial response. And now
    we all got to come together and help people deal with the rebuilding of
    Iowa.
        Anyway, thank you for your hospitality. I'm sorry we're going
    through this. I tell people that oftentimes you get dealt a hand you
    didn't expect to have to play, and the question is not whether you're
    going to get dealt the hand; the question is, how do you play it? And
    I'm confident the people of Iowa will play it really well.
        Anyway, thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 2 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor
    Regenia Bailey of Iowa City, IA; and Gov. Chester J. Culver of Iowa and
    his wife Mari.