This is about telling the story. The full story. |
This is all just so surreal, |
This unprecedented national disaster requires an unprecedented national response, |
This was welcome news of a change of course. |
Those buses were under water. Those buses . . . |
Though the storm may have passed, it is still not safe for all of us to return to home. We must wait for the emergency operations to be completed and we must also allow time for experts to assess any potential public safety concerns. We may return home only once these situations are resolved and local leaders have determined it is safe for us to do so. |
Thousands are dead and only God knows how many, ... I've seen more in the last two weeks than I've seen in my entire lifetime, and I hope to never witness it again. |
Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment. The good and decent people of southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast - black and white, rich and poor, young and old - deserve far better from their national government, |
we do have a democracy and a citizenship that has elected mayors, county commissioners and governors, particularly. I'm not sure the governors association or all the mayors in America would be willing to sort of step aside. |
We don't have numbers. It could be in the hundreds, or the thousands. I think it's going to be shocking. |
We don't need to be laying off people. We need to be hiring people. |
We know how people like to have their houses built and where they want to stay, ... While we appreciate the help in rebuilding and expect attention and support unprecedented in the nation, it will be led by the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. |
We recognize that it's a very high number, ... But I guess part of introducing this package and doing it unified in our delegation is to say this is an unprecedented natural disaster, a national tragedy. And it's going to take an unprecedented response. |
We should not be going home until people of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast have some idea of when they will be getting back to their homes, |
We were getting very strong vibes that this was the way they were leaning, |