[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 10 (Monday, March 13, 2006)]
[Pages 414-416]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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 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

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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 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 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.

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