[The ice storm was] even worse than some of the tornadoes we've had where you have a very defined area of damage, ... The damage is so widespread, 42 of our 75 counties are under disaster declaration because of the ice. |
A lot of folks are under an extreme amount of stress, ... Tempers are frayed, and people are angry after going without electricity for a week. |
A lot of the information has been sketchy, ... Mostly, the answers are, 'Let us work on that and get back to you.' |
Almost every hour, there's some new request that's coming and we're immediately filling every one of them. We will not hesitate to send any and every resource. |
Are we talking the Peabody in downtown Little Rock, or the Motel 6? And who makes that choice? |
As tragic as it is to have seven fatalities, it is an extraordinary miracle that we didn't have 10 times that number, ... We have to give credit to God. |
Do you realize that if we could increase just by 50 percent the number of adults who have a college degree, it would add $5 billion to the economy and it would result in a net income to the state of Arkansas of $340 million a year? |
Given the flooding, especially in the New Orleans area, many of these evacuees will be here for weeks, maybe even months, ... We want to do everything in our power to make life easier for these people. |
Great things are rarely easy things. They are most often risky things, with just as great a chance for failure as for success. |
How could I get up there and say, 'People, we've got to do better,' when I was the poster child for everything that was wrong? I've always believed leaders don't ask others to do what they're unwilling to do. |
I ask people, 'Have you been to New Orleans? ... These are people who drove your carriage down Canal Street. They carried your bags to your hotel room and picked up the dishes when you finished eating. By golly, we're going to be there to take care of them now. |
I called the folks at the White House and said, 'This is insane,' ... 'You guys sent tens of thousands of people here, airlifted them out of New Orleans to Arkansas.' . . . I knew then we were pretty much on our own. |
I don't know that there's anything, quite honestly, that we can absolutely do to guarantee |
I don't think any of us anticipated the level of devastation, the number of evacuees or the length of time we'd be looking at, ... Right now we're truly blessed to be able to extend friendship and warmth and hospitality to them. |
I know that some people have thought this whole thing [covenant marriage] is cynical, that it's some sort of marriage-plus or high-octane marriage. |