Obama Response to the President's Speech about the Gulf Coast Rebuilding Effort
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Printable FormatFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511
Illinois Contact: Julian Green, (312) 886-3506
Date: September 15, 2005
Obama Response to the President's Speech about the Gulf Coast Rebuilding Effort
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today issued the following response to the President's speech about the Gulf Coast rebuilding effort:
"It was heartening tonight to hear the President acknowledge where our government failed in the rescue effort and affirm our nation's commitment to rebuilding the Gulf Coast and the lives of those who have endured this terrible tragedy. I also take it as a hopeful sign that President Bush recognized the need to do something about the persistent poverty and hopelessness that left the people of New Orleans behind long before Katrina hit.
"Tonight, Americans everywhere are looking for us to come together as we begin the rebuilding effort. We owe it to them to avoid ideological arguments and do what works - to make sure that every dime spent goes towards helping survivors rebuild their lives, and that when possible, they're spent on local businesses and local workers, rather than wasted or abused.
"And we must recommit ourselves to our most fundamental duty as a government - protecting the American people. If we could not cope with a crisis that had been predicted for decades - a crisis in which we were given four or five days notice - how can we ever hope to respond to a serious terrorist attack in a major American city where there is no notice, and where the death toll and panic and disruptions may be far greater? We must answer these questions as we move forward.
"Finally, I think that the last few weeks have awakened all Americans - white, black, rich, poor, Democrat, and Republican - to the great divide that continues to fester in our midst. That the poverty Katrina made visible in New Orleans exists in Chicago and New York, in rural Mississippi and Appalachia, on our streets and in our neighborhoods. I know that Americans yearn to work together to move beyond the false choices that have paralyzed this debate in the past - so that we invest more in our communities and insist on more responsibility from the people who live in them.
"But now comes the hard part.
"In the months to come, as the waters recede and the cameras turn away, will we have the courage to follow through on the convictions that were voiced tonight? Will we hold on to some of that shame we all felt during those first few days, when the scenes of helplessness and neglect reflected an image of America that we knew wasn't us?
"I hope that we will - and I will be working to ensure that we make real the promise, 'never again.' Never again will we leave any American behind. Never again will we forget that we rise or fall together as one American family."