We all know that our businesses and industries need far more than a shot of adrenaline to rebound and put our people back to work, |
We all know that there were failures at every level of government: state, federal and local, ... The buck stops here, and as your governor, I take full responsibility. |
We all wanted more, faster, ... We needed more, faster. We were limited by our own capacity. We were limited by the speed at which organization could be mustered. There isn't any person who is not sorrowful about wanting to do more in a quicker amount of time. We knew lives were being threatened minute-by-minute. Everything is now stabilized. We know there are still people to be rescued. Loved ones need to be buried. |
We also know that our revenue stream is probably going to have a $750 million to perhaps $1 billion deficit because the southeast region produced an extraordinary amount of our revenue stream and that is in hard state dollars, |
We are looking forward, not backward, |
We are one people, united in our resolve to rebuild, restore and recover from this tragedy. At this time of great uncertainty and despair, our people must know that all our leaders are united and dedicated to this important work. |
We are praying that the hurricane dissipates or that it weakens. This state can barely stand what happened to it. |
We are prepared to work as partners, ... Some issues reach beyond party. In the face of the human tragedy, which lies behind us, and the task that lies ahead of us, there is no room for partisan politics. |
We are seeing a show of force. It's putting confidence back in our hearts and in the minds of our people, ... We're going to make it through. |
We beg the people to get out, |
We began the process of debriefing each other, sharing what our unique experiences were, ... I know the mayor felt very desperate in his hour of need. |
We can use the Astrodome for a place for our folks to begin to normalize their lives, ... This will help us immensely. |
We can't replace the hopes and dreams of our people, but we can help them to build new ones, |
We cannot simply re-create what those storms destroyed, ... We must make the new Louisiana, smarter, safer and stronger. |
We didn't lose as many lives as had been predicted although we're still in the process of finding those we lost. |