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Sen. Landrieu: Bush brought rescue resources for staged photo op, and then removed it.

by Open-Publishing - Sunday 4 September 2005
12 comments

Governments Catastrophes USA

U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., issued the following statement this afternoon regarding her call yesterday for President Bush to appoint a cabinet-level official to oversee Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery efforts within 24 hours.

Sen. Landrieu said:

“Yesterday, I was hoping President Bush would come away from his tour of the regional devastation triggered by Hurricane Katrina with a new understanding for the magnitude of the suffering and for the abject failures of the current Federal Emergency Management Agency. 24 hours later, the President has yet to answer my call for a cabinet-level official to lead our efforts. Meanwhile, FEMA, now a shell of what it once was, continues to be overwhelmed by the task at hand.

“I understand that the U.S. Forest Service had water-tanker aircraft available to help douse the fires raging on our riverfront, but FEMA has yet to accept the aid. When Amtrak offered trains to evacuate significant numbers of victims - far more efficiently than buses - FEMA again dragged its feet. Offers of medicine, communications equipment and other desperately needed items continue to flow in, only to be ignored by the agency.

“But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. 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.

“Mr. President, I’m imploring you once again to get a cabinet-level official stood up as soon as possible to get this entire operation moving forward regionwide with all the resources - military and otherwise - necessary to relieve the unmitigated suffering and economic damage that is unfolding.”

Today’s aerial tour of the 17th Street levee will be featured tomorrow on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Later, Sen. Landrieu will also appear on CBS’s 60 Minutes.

http://www.fromtheroots.org/story/2005/9/3/19542/97952

Forum posts

  • Can you say "dog and pony show"?

    • What about the possibility that it wasn’t for Bush’s benefit but for the agency to look good in front of him. Pretend like they have things under control so they don’t all lose their jobs.

  • They are trying to eliminate the City of New Orleans and create another Miami Beach for the RICH

    • So they(who is they?) have been waiting over 100 years for a hurricane to be large enough to wipe out the city to create a New Miami Beach? Get real.

    • That is a good question. Who are they that want to turn New Orleans into Miami? As with most democrats they use a wide brush instead of a fine line pen to get their facts straight. Why hasn’t the fraud been brought out with all the free money that has been given out. For instance using the money to go gambling, saying you have kids that you don’t have, who is to be trusted the givers or the takers? About time that Sen Landrieu picks her state up by the boot straps and moves forward and gets self reliant. But what she says is good entertainment and I truly doubt that she even knows where Bagdad is located. Quit your whinning and become a leader .

    • No my friend,you most certainly are the entertainment here.Sen Landrieu is a woman who obviously has more guts than the entire bush admm.Democrats use a wide brush because it is needed to cover, the ever growing size of the bull,coming out of D.C.Also Please correct me if I am wrong, but did anyone say that the entire population of louisiana, was perfect? What a lame distraction from the real proplem at hand, you gotta be a republican!!!

    • The much publicized missuse of aid money by a few should not distract us from the terrible suffering of the many. Also, finding it hard to believe that our president wouldn’t stage a photo op is very naive given the string of lies attached to his tenure thus far. Furthermore, why do Sen. Landrieu and the state of Louisiana have to pull themselves up by the bootstraps? Who says they have to go this devastation alone? Very easy to talk about self-reliance when you’re not the one with no home , no job, and — as evidenced by the glaring neglect of the federal government—no hope of any help any time soon!

    • Landrieu’s constant political bias and bitching is sickening! It never ends.

    • Senator Landrieu you rock!!!!!!
      Muah!!!!!!
      CajunDelyte
      http://sharonisdelighted.blogspot.com/2005/10/save-wetlands.html

    • My Senator rocks!!!!!

      http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-YmQwAnkyeqwP63QRvZ5Me_fppQ--?cq=1&p=817

    • It was a defining moment....Senator Landrieu has a work to do in Congress....

      http://www.sharonisdelighted.blogspot.com/2006/12/defining-moments.html

  • 1 word "Racists"