Katrina Coverage

Located here, summary here.
...The work of rescue is largely finished; the work of recovery is moving forward. In nearly all of Mississippi, electric power has been restored. Trade is starting to return to the Port of New Orleans, and agricultural shipments are moving down the Mississippi River. All major gasoline pipelines are now in operation, preventing the supply disruptions that many feared...
...As of today, more than 500 thousand evacuee families have gotten emergency help to pay for food, clothing, and other essentials...
...In addition, we are taking steps to ensure that evacuees don't have to travel great distances or navigate bureaucracies to get the benefits that are there for them. The Department of Health and Human Services has sent more than fifteen hundred health professionals, along with over 50 tons of medical supplies - including vaccines, antibiotics, and medicines for people with chronic conditions such as diabetes. The Social Security Administration is delivering checks. The Department of Labor is helping displaced persons apply for temporary jobs and unemployment benefits...
Our goal is to get people out of shelters by the middle of October. So we are providing direct assistance to evacuees that allows them to rent apartments, and many already are moving into places of their own. A number of states have taken in evacuees and shown them great compassion - admitting children to school, and providing health care. So I will work with Congress to ensure that states are reimbursed for these extra expenses...
...we are beginning to bring in mobile homes and trailers for temporary use...
Near New Orleans, Biloxi, and other cities, housing is urgently needed for police and firefighters, other service providers, and the many workers who are going to rebuild those cities. Right now, many are sleeping on ships we have brought to the Port of New Orleans - and more ships are on their way to the region. And we will provide mobile homes, and supply them with basic services, as close to the construction areas as possible, so the rebuilding process can go forward as quickly as possible...
...And the Federal government will undertake a close partnership with the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, the city of New Orleans, and other Gulf Coast cities, so they can rebuild in a sensible, well planned way... Our goal is to get the work done quickly. And taxpayers expect this work to be done honestly and wisely - so we will have a team of inspectors general reviewing all expenditures...
And in the work of rebuilding, as many jobs as possible should go to men and women who live in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. [no doubt including those illegal aliens who live there --KC]
...We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action. So let us restore all that we have cherished from yesterday, and let us rise above the legacy of inequality. When the streets are rebuilt, there should be many new businesses, including minority-owned businesses, along those streets. When the houses are rebuilt, more families should own, not rent, those houses. When the regional economy revives, local people should be prepared for the jobs being created. Americans want the Gulf Coast not just to survive, but to thrive … not just to cope, but to overcome. We want evacuees to come home...
...Tonight I propose the creation of a Gulf Opportunity Zone, encompassing the region of the disaster in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Within this zone, we should provide immediate incentives for job-creating investment … tax relief for small businesses … incentives to companies that create jobs … and loans and loan guarantees for small businesses, including minority-owned enterprises, to get them up and running again...
...I propose the creation of Worker Recovery Accounts to help those evacuees who need extra help finding work. Under this plan, the federal government would provide accounts of up to five thousand dollars, which these evacuees could draw upon for job training and education to help them get a good job … and for child care expenses during their job search...
...To help lower-income citizens in the hurricane region build new and better lives, I also propose that Congress pass an Urban Homesteading Act...
...It is the armies of compassion...
...I have asked USA Freedom Corps to create an information clearing house, available at usafreedomcorps.gov, so that families anywhere in the country can find opportunities to help families in the region … or a school can support a school. And I challenge existing organizations - churches, Scout troops, or labor union locals to get in touch with their counterparts in Mississippi, Louisiana, or Alabama, and learn what they can do to help...
...Our cities must have clear and up-to-date plans for responding to natural disasters, disease outbreaks, or terrorist attack...
...I have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to undertake an immediate review, in cooperation with local counterparts, of emergency plans in every major city in America...
Yet the system, at every level of government, was not well coordinated, and was overwhelmed in the first few days. It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces - the institution of our government most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice.
...The United States Congress also has an important oversight function to perform. Congress is preparing an investigation, and I will work with members of both parties to make sure this effort is thorough...