WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2007
On New Orleans, Not A Word From Bush
No Mention Of Hurricane Katrina Rebuilding Effort In State Of Union Address
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Play CBS Video Video Bush Omitted Katrina Survivors President Bush did not mention New Orleans in his State of the Union address. Armen Keteyian talks with angry Katrina survivors who feel the administration has forgotten about them.
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President Bush talks to workers of Betsy's Pancake House during his last visit to New Orleans, Aug. 29, 2006, to mark the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. (AP)
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Interactive After The Storm The road to recovery for the people and places along the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast.
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Special Report Gulf Coast Disaster Complete coverage of the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, including anniversary coverage.
In the president's State of the Union speech last year, delivered just five months after the disaster, the devastation merited only 156 words out of more than 5,400.
On Tuesday night, the president spoke for almost exactly as long before a joint session of Congress. But Katrina received not a single mention.
"At this time I almost broke my TV, knocked it off the stand," Chris Davis, told CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian. Davis, a Vietnam veteran, is one of the displaced residents from New Orleans now living near Baton Rouge, La.
"People were already feeling forgotten. I think this may potentially reinforce that," Toni Bankston, a mental health caseworker, told CBS News.
Officials in Louisiana were also disappointed by the oversight.
"The governor is supremely disappointed," said a spokeswoman for Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco. "The president's speech was promoted as focusing on his domestic priorities, yet we see where hurricane recovery is on his list. It's not even on the radar."
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said, "With nearly 6,000 words about the nation's priorities, not one single word was devoted to the rebuilding and protection of affected areas of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. It was a glaring omission."
Republican Sen. David Vitter's criticism was more muted.
"I was disappointed somewhat," Vitter said, "but I didn't necessarily expect a significant mention primarily because the federal government has provided a great deal of funding and aid and because most of the hurdles we face are at the state level."
By contrast, in the days ahead of the president's address, Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia compared the U.S. money being spent on Iraqi reconstruction with the fraction committed to the Gulf Coast rebuilding. And, chosen to give the Democratic response to Mr. Bush on Tuesday, Webb brought up the continuing struggle of Katrina victims right away, listing "restoring the vitality of New Orleans" just behind education and health care among his party's most pressing priorities, according to the text of his speech distributed in advance.
The disaster did rate one representative with a good seat for Mr. Bush's speech.
Craig Cuccia, co-founder of Reconcile New Orleans, was one of two dozen guests seated in first lady Laura Bush's box above the House chamber. Cuccia's nonprofit youth organization helps get kids off the streets and into the hospitality industry by giving them jobs and training at its Café Reconcile located in Central City, one of New Orleans' toughest neighborhoods.
Spared Katrina's widespread flooding, the restaurant was among the city's first businesses to reopen its doors and served emergency workers, first responders, construction crews and returning residents.
But Cuccia's presence at the State of the Union address had as much or more to do with Mrs. Bush's drive to help at-risk youth, particularly boys, stay out of gangs and other trouble. The first lady extended the invitation after meeting Cuccia on a visit to the cafe earlier this month.
Katrina's relative absence from the president's public radar screen is not new.
Seeking to recover from criticism of his initial reaction to the storm, the president focused intensively on the Gulf Coast in the weeks and months after Katrina hit. But that attention level quickly dropped off, and he hardly mentions the region now. His only visit there in the last eight months was to mark one year since the storm's strike in August.
"This anniversary is not an end. And so I come back to say that we will stand with the people of southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi until the job is done," he pledged then.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 52 CommentsWhen President Bush gave that dramatic prime time speech on the square in New Orleans I sincerely hoped that it was more that just another photo op with a lot of promises. Mr. President, where is that grand plan? If these are the actions of a god fearing compassionate conservative, I don't think you will be hearing the words "Well done my good and faithful servant" from our heavenly father.
Today Rockey Vaccarella was on Fox News Network with Neil Cavuto to discuss the current situation in the New Orleans region in respect to the progress of the rebuilding effort. Rocky's interview was live on FOX NEWS across America today at 3:30pm CST from the WVUE Television studios in New Orleans, Louisiana. Rockey told Cavuto that he is concerned that the rebuilding is moving slowly and that his mission is to continue to remind America that the job is not finished and not to forget the people of the New Orleans area and Gulf Coast region.
Rockey also told the FOX News Anchor that President Bush and him discussed the 110 billion dollars that was sent to help the people in need during their August meeting in the Oval Office. The President told Rockey that the money sent to the region was the largest sum of money ever spent on American soil to help people affected by a natural disaster.
Rockey's new documentary film FORGOTTEN ON THE BAYOU: Rockey's Mission to the White House is complete and takes the audience behind the scenes of his struggle to survive Katrina and his personal mission to deliver his message of hope to the President of the United States and the American people. The film's producers are now seeking distribution. The film is represented by David Garber of Lantern Lane Entertainment in Calabasas, California.
I think I know.When the leader of the "free world" forgets his Christianity, that just lets every other fake christain off the hook.They're probably thinking,"if the most power Christian in the world doesnt care about the poor and our troops lives,why should I?"
Well, I do beleive in Jesus and I read the Bible.There is a passage in it that says that when false christains come before God to be judged many will say "but God, did I not perform great acts in your name?and dispell many evils in your name?And God will turn to them and say,"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU WORKERS OF LAWLESSNESS".
The people of New Orleans weren't hung out to dry. They were welcomed into hundreds of communities all across the country. Programs were set up to assist them with every possible need. Thousands upon thousands of people voluntarily went through red cross disaster relief training. Clothes and food were donated. Shelters were set up. Job opportunities were created specifically for Katrina victims.
The government did respond, but as an immense machine, it can be anticipated that some people fall through the cracks. No one wants this to happen, but it does. Katrina victims, from New Orleans or anywhere else, are as worthy of help as anyone else. And those that looked for help got it.
Then count yourself lucky.
Tornados destroy whole towns, and people help each other--but the government does a lot, too. And if the government tried to withhold help because my state senator is a Dem, or if I still had a neighborhood of debris 18 months later, I'd "whine" a lot.
http://www.snopes.com/katrina/katrina.asp#katrina
And besides, what about the situation leads you to believe that we should only be compassionate to those we feel are "worthy"? Did Jesus help only the "worthy"? Did Jesus tell us to love one another...as long as they aren't poor?
Well, no. Because they are being helped.
But, seriously, I live in the "tuff" middle part of the country, and if my city were destroyed by a blizzard and I had no heat or shelter, I'd raise the frickin' roof.
Or, another way to look at it would be the near total destruction of a major American city. And we wouldn't be talking about it a year and a half later if the Administration would stop dragging their feet and get SOMETHING DONE.
Furthermore, a senator has little important enough going on in her life to call the lack of mention of hurricane relief a year and a half after the hurricane a "glaring omission"?!? Please!
"It was then that I decided I would not go."
Right... because you were anxious to help these folks before you heard this stuff. Certainly before Katrina you didn't have these kinds of views. My family is from Baton Rouge. My brother-in-law joined a group who helped pull people out of their houses (against FEMA orders). My sister and him took in a Katrina family for several months and believe the experience was one of the most rewardiing of their lives. There were a lot of innocent people who died and this blaming the victim carp turns my stomach.
I'll bet the righties wouldn't be so tired of hearing about Katrina if if had happened in GOPer territory.
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