[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 36 (Monday, September 12, 2005)]
[Pages 1356-1358]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters

September 6, 2005

    The President. Thank you all for coming. My message to the Cabinet 
this morning is this: This administration is not going to rest until 
every life can be saved, until families are reconnected, until this 
recovery is complete. Our goals--our immediate goals are these: We want 
to complete the search-and-recovery; we want to restore essential 
services; we want to drain the water in the affected areas and begin 
removing debris; we want to--and are assessing public health and safety 
matters.
    I've asked the Vice President to go down to the affected region on 
Thursday. He will go down to assess our recovery efforts. He will help 
me determine whether or not we're meeting these goals. He'll work with 
Secretary Chertoff and others to make sure that we remove any obstacles, 
bureaucratic obstacles that may be preventing us from achieving our 
goals. In other words, bureaucracy is not going to stand in the way of 
getting the job done for the people.
    I was briefed on plans to immediately help our folks, plans to 
reconnect families, plans to make sure health care is available. And 
Secretary Leavitt gave me a good brief--plans on housing, both immediate 
and long-term housing. Most importantly, I was briefed by members of my 
Cabinet about how we're going to make sure that people who are owed a 
Social Security check, get their Social Security check. At the center in 
Baton Rouge I went to yesterday, I remember clearly a person saying, 
``When am I going to get my Social Security check?'' And it's important 
to note, people understand we have a strategy to make sure the benefits 
that are due are going to get to them.
    Now, we understand people are scattered out across the country, but 
we have an obligation to make sure that whether a veteran's benefit or 
an unemployment benefit or a Social Security benefit gets to these 
people. And so we have a strategy in place, and we're going to implement 
that strategy--to find people who are in those shelters or in

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churches or in private homes--and get them the benefit.
    A lot of people are doing good work. We've got a heck of a lot more 
work to do, and that's exactly what this Government is going to do.

Hurricane Katrina Recovery Efforts

    Q. Mr. President.
    The President. Yes, Bob [Bob Franken, CNN].
    Q. Do you intend to replace any from your administration who are 
leading this recovery effort, who were part of the effort last week that 
has been so widely criticized?
    The President. What I intend to do is lead a--to lead an 
investigation to find out what went right and what went wrong. And I'll 
tell you why. It's very important for us to understand the relationship 
between the Federal Government, the State government, and the local 
government when it comes to a major catastrophe. And the reason it's 
important is, is that we still live in an unsettled world. We want to 
make sure that we can respond properly if there's a WMD attack or 
another major storm. And so I'm going to find out, over time, what went 
right and what went wrong.
    Q. Sir.
    The President. Yes, Jennifer [Jennifer Loven, Associated Press].
    Q. Secretary Chertoff has talked about being disturbed at the 
information--or lack of information to the State from the region. Just 
from what you know initially, do you think that more went wrong at the 
local or State level or the Federal level? And do you think there should 
be a commission to sort it out?
    The President. I think one of the things that people want us to do 
here is to play a blame game. We've got to solve problems. We're 
problem-solvers. There will be ample time for people to figure out what 
went right and what went wrong. What I'm interested in is helping save 
lives. That's what I want to do. And I want to make sure those poor 
folks who have been taken out of their communities and who live in a--
whose world has been shattered, get the help they need. And then we want 
to help New Orleans rebuild, and we want to see Biloxi rise again.
    And, you know, I was with the mayor of Waveland the other day, from 
Mississippi. His town was completely destroyed. What I'm interested in 
is helping that man and that community get back on their feet. That's 
where my focus is. There will be ample time to assess--and we need to 
assess. And this administration will be part of the assessment as to 
what went wrong, because, I repeat, we've got to have as good a 
relationship as possible with all levels of government to be able to 
respond to major problems. And if things went wrong, we'll correct them. 
And when things went right, we'll duplicate them.
    Patsy [Patricia Wilson, Reuters].

Upcoming Supreme Court Nomination

    Q. Mr. President, on the Supreme Court, do you have a candidate in 
mind? And now that you have a second opportunity, are you more inclined 
to follow the First Lady's advice and choose a woman?
    The President. First of all, I'm proud of my nominee to be the 
Chief. And the goal is to get this good person confirmed by the time the 
Court convenes this fall. See, they're going to need their Chief. And, 
therefore, the Senate needs to have a--obviously, a thorough debate 
about Judge Roberts and get him confirmed quickly so that when the Court 
convenes, there is a Chief Justice. And I was deliberate in my process 
last time. I'll be deliberative this time. I obviously interviewed a lot 
of good candidates last time. I still will continue to reach out and 
make sure every good candidate is considered.
    Q. Are the same ones on the list, sir? Some of the same ones that 
you interviewed last time, are they----
    The President. The list is wide open, which should create some good 
speculation here in Washington. [Laughter] And make sure you notice, 
when I said that, I looked right at Al Gonzales, who can really create 
speculation. [Laughter]
    Assistant Press Secretary Josh Deckart. Thank you all.
    The President. I'm not through yet. But this is important for people 
to understand: I want the Senate to focus not on who the next nominee is 
going to be, but the nominee I've got up there now. And it's important 
for the country that they complete the work. And

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in the meantime, the country can be assured that I'll take a good, long 
look at who should replace Justice O'Connor. I called her from Air Force 
One yesterday and told her of my decision to name John Roberts to be the 
Chief. And her first reaction was that she better get back to doing her 
homework, and she said so somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but she's right, 
she'll be there when the Court is seated with a new Chief Justice. And 
then we'll move deliberately to replace Justice O'Connor.
    Thank you all for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 11:08 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Chief Justice-Designate John G. 
Roberts, Jr.; and Mayor Tommy Longo of Waveland, MS. The Office of the 
Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these 
remarks.