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Obama: 'New Orleans is coming back'
NEW ORLEANS, -- President Barack Obama, marking five years since Hurricane Katrina Sunday, told a crowd at Xavier University of Louisiana, "New Orleans is coming back."
"Today, New Orleans is one of the fastest growing cities in America, with a big surge in new small businesses," Obama said. "Five years ago, the Saints had to play every game on the road because of the damage to the Superdome. Well, two weeks ago, we welcomed the Saints to the White House as Super Bowl champions. We marked the occasion with a 30-foot po'boy made with shrimp and oysters from the Gulf. There were no leftovers."
In prepared remarks, the president conceded there "there are still too many vacant and overgrown lots (in New Orleans). There are still too many students attending classes in trailers. There are still too many people unable to find work. And there are still too many New Orleanians who have not been able to come home. ... My administration is going to stand with you -- and fight alongside you -- until the job is done."
Obama said he was trying to make sure "the federal government was a partner -- instead of an obstacle -- to the recovery of the Gulf Coast."
On another front, the president said he had pledged to "stay on BP, until the damage to the gulf and to the lives of the people in this region was reversed. And this, too, is a promise we will keep.
Since the April explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig began an oil spill that lasted nearly three months, Obama said, the administration has "launched the largest response to an environmental disaster in American history. This has included 47,000 people on the ground and 5,700 vessels on the water to contain and clean up the oil.
"When I heard that BP was not moving fast enough on claims, we told BP to set aside $20 billion in a fund -- managed by an independent third party -- to help all those whose lives have been turned upside down by the spill. And we will continue to rely on sound science -- carefully monitoring waters and coastlines as well as the health of people along the gulf -- to deal with any long-term effects of the oil spill."
NEW ORLEANS, -- President Barack Obama, marking five years since Hurricane Katrina Sunday, told a crowd at Xavier University of Louisiana, "New Orleans is coming back."
"Today, New Orleans is one of the fastest growing cities in America, with a big surge in new small businesses," Obama said. "Five years ago, the Saints had to play every game on the road because of the damage to the Superdome. Well, two weeks ago, we welcomed the Saints to the White House as Super Bowl champions. We marked the occasion with a 30-foot po'boy made with shrimp and oysters from the Gulf. There were no leftovers."
In prepared remarks, the president conceded there "there are still too many vacant and overgrown lots (in New Orleans). There are still too many students attending classes in trailers. There are still too many people unable to find work. And there are still too many New Orleanians who have not been able to come home. ... My administration is going to stand with you -- and fight alongside you -- until the job is done."
Obama said he was trying to make sure "the federal government was a partner -- instead of an obstacle -- to the recovery of the Gulf Coast."
On another front, the president said he had pledged to "stay on BP, until the damage to the gulf and to the lives of the people in this region was reversed. And this, too, is a promise we will keep.
Since the April explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig began an oil spill that lasted nearly three months, Obama said, the administration has "launched the largest response to an environmental disaster in American history. This has included 47,000 people on the ground and 5,700 vessels on the water to contain and clean up the oil.
"When I heard that BP was not moving fast enough on claims, we told BP to set aside $20 billion in a fund -- managed by an independent third party -- to help all those whose lives have been turned upside down by the spill. And we will continue to rely on sound science -- carefully monitoring waters and coastlines as well as the health of people along the gulf -- to deal with any long-term effects of the oil spill."
