New Orleans will ‘rise again,’ Bush says

updated 12:36 a.m. ET Sept. 16, 2005

NEW ORLEANS - President Bush promised Thursday night the government will pay most of the costs of rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast in one of the largest reconstruction projects the world has ever seen. “There is no way to imagine America without New Orleans, and this great city will rise again,” the president said.

Standing in Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter, Bush acknowledged his administration had failed to respond adequately to Hurricane Katrina, which killed hundreds of people across five states. The government’s costs for rebuilding could reach $200 billion or beyond.

“Four years after the frightening experience of Sept. 11, Americans have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency,” the president said. He said when the federal government fails to meet such an obligation, “I as president am responsible for the problem, and for the solution.”

Greater role for armed forces
Bush ordered all Cabinet secretaries to join in a comprehensive review of the government’s faulty response. In addition, he ordered the Department of Homeland Security to undertake an immediate review of emergency plans in every major city in America.

He also said a disaster on the scale of Katrina requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces.

Bush proposed establishment of worker recovery accounts providing up to $5,000 for job training, education and child care during victims’ search for employment.

In his speech, which lasted a bit over 20 minutes, he also said he would ask Congress to approve an Urban Homesteading Act in which surplus federal property would be turned over to low-income citizens by means of a lottery to build homes, with mortgages or assistance from charitable organizations.

Other proposals, according to congressional officials briefed by the White House, include:

• A 100 percent reimbursement to states to cover their costs of health care for treating many evacuees through the end of next year.
• $1.9 billion to reimburse states for educating displaced students, including some money that could go to religious schools.
• Six-month forgiveness on student loan interest for affected areas, at an estimated cost of $100 million.

Bush described the hurricane’s aftermath as “days of sorrow and outrage,” and he said the nation had “witnessed the kind of desperation no citizen of this great and generous nation should ever have to know.” He deplored scenes of victims calling out for food and water, criminals who had no mercy, and bodies of the dead lying uncovered in the street.

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