01 September 2005
Bush Asks Former Presidents To Lead Fundraising Effort
Private donations will go to victims of Hurricane Katrina, president says
By Catherine E. Morris
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- President Bush has asked former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton to launch a nationwide fundraising effort to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
“In the days ahead, the former presidents will ask Americans to open their hearts and their wallets to help those in need,” Bush said at the White House September 1 after meeting with the two former presidents, who together led a successful relief effort in January to help the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami.
The contributions, Bush said, will supply relief organizations such as the American Red Cross with the tools they need to carry out “one of the largest relief efforts in our nation’s history.”
The federal government’s first priority is to save lives in the wake of the hurricane that devastated the southern states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has dispatched more than 80 search-and-rescue teams to the area, Bush said. In addition, members of the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy, Army, Air Force, and National Guard from all parts of the United States are helping to deliver needed supplies and trying to reach those in danger, particularly in the flooded city of New Orleans.
State and local government agencies are coordinating the delivery of food and water to stranded victims, said the president, who stressed the importance of evacuating hospital patients still in New Orleans and the 25,000 people gathered in the city's Superdome sports arena.
Engineers are working to repair breaches in the levees surrounding New Orleans, and “law enforcement, National Guardsmen and local leaders are working to restore public order,” Bush said.
“Finally, we're moving forward with a comprehensive recovery strategy,” he said, adding “we're working hard to restore electric power, repair transportation infrastructure, restart energy production, and of course, strategize as to how to provide housing for these folks.”
The president spoke with particular urgency of the “temporary disruption of gasoline products,” in the United States and urged Americans to be "prudent" in their use of energy during the course of the next few weeks.
“This recovery is going to be a long process … [that is] going to take a lot of hard work and patience and resolve," Bush said. “I'm also confident that when it's all said and done, the efforts to rebuild the great city of New Orleans and to rebuild those communities in Mississippi and to help the folks in Alabama will make this nation a stronger place.”
The U.S. government has launched one of the largest domestic response mobilizations in U.S. history in the wake of massive destruction, death and homelessness caused by Hurricane Katrina. (See related article.)
A transcript of the president remarks is available on the White House Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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