[StBernard] President's Speech in New Orleans

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Thu Jan 12 22:12:41 EST 2006


Here are the comments by President Bush during his New Orleans visit today.
The remarks are forwarded by the office of Congressman Richard Baker who has
proposed the Baker Plan:

THE PRESIDENT: It´s good to be back in your city. I appreciate the
Lieutenant Governor and members of the United States Congress for being
here, as well. I particularly want to thank the small business owners of
New Orleans. I´m looking forward to hearing what you have to say about
your traditions and your hopes, your frustrations. We all share the same
goal, and that´s to have this great city rise again, to be a shining part
of the South.

I think this can be a better city, and to this end I´ve done a couple
of things. One, I appointed my friend, Don Powell, to be down here to help
implement the strategy developed by the Mayor and the Governor and
Lieutenant Governor. In other words, I believe the best strategy for the
rebuilding of New Orleans and the revitalization of the parishes around New
Orleans is for the local folks to design the strategy and to have the
federal government become a partner.

And I want to thank you for putting a committee together -- I know you
did, as well, Mitch. Powell´s job is to come down and help interface and
interact. I´ve told the people down here that the federal government has
got a major role to play. So far we´ve appropriated or made available $85
billion in relief along the Gulf Coast. About $25 billion of that has been
spent -- there´s $60 billion in the pipeline, thanks to the good work of
the members of the Congress and the United States Senate.


One issue I do want to touch on is the levees. Now, the Mayor made it
very clear to me that we need a federal policy, a strong federal policy on
the levees in order to encourage investors and investment in New Orleans.
In other words, if there´s any doubt about levees, people wouldn´t be
willing to reinvest in this city. If we couldn´t get people to reinvest
in this city, the recovery wouldn´t be as strong as we hope it to be.

Working with the Corps of Engineers we´ve put forth a plan that said
that the levee system will be stronger and better than the previous levee
system. And we put a request in for $3.1 billion, plus money to study how
possibly to make this system even better. Unfortunately, at the very last
minute in the appropriations process, some members of Congress moved $1.4
billion of that $3.1 billion to projects not directly related to New Orleans
and the surrounding area. And so, in order to make sure that this city gets
the money necessary to make sure that the levees are stronger and better,
Congress needs to restore that $1.4 billion directly into projects for New
Orleans and the surrounding parishes. I´m looking forward to working with
the members of the Congress to make sure that money is restored.

Secondly, I understand that one of the keys to success is going to be
private sector initiatives. That´s why we´ve got the small business
owners here and the Mayor -- (inaudible) -- responsible for making sure New
Orleans is well represented to the rest of the country, and that is Stephen,
who is a part of the Chamber. One way to make sure that the private sector
leads the recovery for New Orleans is to make sure the tax laws encourage
investment. And I want to thank the members of Congress for passing the GO
Zone legislation which encourages investment. And that will be helpful for
the folks here.

And finally, I know housing is a particularly difficult issue, an
important issue. You can´t have a revitalized New Orleans unless people
have a place to live. And we look forward to working with the Mayor and the
state on implementing the vision, but want to remind people that in the new
appropriations bill I signed is $11.5 billion of CDBG money. In
Mississippi, the Governor intends to use that money on uninsured housing --
to pay for the uninsured folks who didn´t have flood insurance. And the
law is written so that the state, in working in conjunction with the local
authorities, can spend that money in a way to help recovery.

We´re aware of the issues here. I´m looking forward to hearing more
from you all about how we can continue to work together. I will tell you,
the contrast between when I was last here and today, Stephen, is pretty
dramatic. It may be hard for you to see, but from when I first came here to
today, New Orleans is reminding me of the city I used to come to visit.
It´s a heck of a place to bring your family. It´s a great place to find
some of the greatest food in the world and some wonderful fun. And I´m
glad you got your infrastructure back on its feet. I know you´re beginning
to welcome citizens from all around the country here to New Orleans. And
for folks around the country who are looking for a great place to have a
convention, or a great place to visit, I´d suggest coming here to the great
-- New Orleans.

Anyway, thank you all very much.






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