    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
    [September 3, 2008]
    [Pages 1171-1173]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Briefing at the Emergency Operations Center in Baton
    Rouge, Louisiana
    September 3, 2008

        I'm going to make a quick statement, then I want to come around and
    say thank you in person to you.
        First of all, Governor, thanks
    for having me down here. Phase one of the response to Gustav went very
    well. A lot of it had to do with the people in this room. We're much
    better coordinated this time than we were with Katrina. The State
    government, the local government, and the Federal Government were able
    to work effectively together.
        There is still more work to be done. One of the key things that
    needs to happen is

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    they got to get electricity up here in Louisiana, get moving as fast as
    possible. The Governor understands
    it's a problem, his team understands it's a problem, and I understand
    it's a problem.
        There's a lot of folks from this State that are working hard to
    restring the lines. There are people from out of State coming into
    Louisiana to help as well, and of course all the citizens of this State
    want to thank the people from other States that are moving in here to
    help get the electricity up as soon as possible. And I would ask that if
    utilities in neighboring States have extra manpower, please coordinate
    with the State and send the folks in. Part of this recovery is going to
    require the electricity coming back as quickly as possible.
        We talked about the need to make sure that in parts of Louisiana
    that are getting flooded now--rural Louisiana--that MREs and water and
    ice get delivered to those communities as quickly as possible.
        As a Governor of a neighboring State, I remember often how people
    would say, ``All they care about is the big cities.'' And I understand
    there's a lot of focus on New Orleans, and there should be focus on New
    Orleans. But in the briefings today, it is clear that this State is
    focused as well as on people who live in rural Louisiana and in the
    smaller towns of Louisiana. And so the efforts will be aimed at helping
    people there.
        Bobby talked about the need
    for--to release energy or oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Last
    night we got a request from a company doing business here in Louisiana,
    and we met that request. And if--so oil was released from the Strategic
    Petroleum Reserve. And we will continue to do that upon requests by
    companies.
        All in all, the response has been excellent, but the people here
    understand that there is more work to be done. And that's why I came
    down here with members of the Federal Government to listen and to figure
    out how to help.
        I can't thank you all enough for working as hard as you are. Looking
    around, I can see that some people may not have had much sleep recently.
    [Laughter] The people of your State care a lot about the fact that you
    are working as hard as you are. And if this helps you keep going, I want
    to thank you, and I want to thank all the volunteers in the faith-based
    community that always rises up in a challenge like this. They listen to
    that universal call to love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved
    yourself. And that's happening here in Louisiana again. And I know the
    people that are--whose lives have been affected appreciate a total
    stranger coming in to help.
        And finally, the people in Louisiana must know that all across our
    country there's a lot of prayer, prayer for those whose lives have been
    turned upside down. And I'm one of them.
        It's good to come down here. Governor, I can't thank you enough for your leadership and
    your team's leadership, and we stand ready to help.
        And now I'm going to come around and thank every one of you for
    working. God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:08 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to
    Gov. Piyush ``Bobby'' Jindal of Louisiana. The Office of the Press
    Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.

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