"On this anniversary, Americans come together to remember all those who lost their lives, suffered or were affected by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. We must now use the lessons learned to ensure we are better prepared in the future. By building on the courage and skills of all our citizens, America will become a stronger, more resilient nation."
One of the most devastating aspects of Hurricane Katrina is that most of the stranded victims were society's most vulnerable members, including Americans with disabilities. Too many states and cities do not have adequate plans in place to care for special-needs populations. Obama passed legislation to require states to properly plan the evacuation of special-needs individuals.
Obama understands that children with special needs require meaningful resources to succeed both inside and outside the classroom. Obama is a strong supporter of increased funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
In June of 2006, Obama delivered what a Washington Post columnist called perhaps the most important speech on religion and politics in 40 years. Speaking before an evangelical audience, Senator Obama candidly discussed his own Christian faith and the need for a deeper, more substantive conversation about the role of faith in American life.
In December of 2006, Obama joined Pastor Rick Warren to discuss moral leadership and Global AIDS. And in June of 2007, Obama challenged Americans to come together around a `Politics of Conscience' to move our nation forward.
A: I don't pretend to understand the wisdom and the power of God. I do believe in prayer. And I have relied on prayer consistently throughout my life. I like to say that, if I had not been a praying person before I got to the White House, after having been there for just a few days I would've become one. So I am very dependent on my faith, & prayer is a big part of that
A: This is the Katrina of the mortgage-lending industry. The answer is yes, there has to be more liquidity, more funds in the market. What we need is more transparency. And what we also need to do is to not appoint officials that are in the industry to regulate that specific industry. The mortgage industry, a lot of them have become a bunch of loan sharks.
A: I come from a spiritual insight which says that we have to have faith but also have good works. The founders meant to have separation of church & state, but they never meant America to be separate from spiritual values. I'll bring strong spiritual values to the White House, and I'll bring values that value peace, social & economic justice, values that remember where I came from.
A: I have prayed most of my life; pray daily now. But the answer to the question is: No, I don't--I prayed before my 16-year-old son died; I prayed before Elizabeth was diagnosed with cancer. I think there are some things that are beyond our control. It is important to look to God for guidance & for wisdom. But I don't think you can prevent bad things from happening through prayer.
A: I pray. I'm a Roman Catholic. My sense of social justice comes from being a Roman Catholic. But, in my judgment, prayer is personal. How I pray and how any American prays, for what reason, is their own decision. And it should be respected. It's important that we have faith, that we have values, but if I'm president, I'm not going to wear my religion on my sleeve & impose it on anybody.
A: My mom has an expression. She says that, "God sends no cross you're unable to bear." The time to pray is when you're told, as I was, that my wife and daughter are dead, to have the courage to be able to bear the cross. Pray that God can give you the strength to deal with what everyone is faced with in their life, serious crosses to bear. The answer to the question is, no, all the prayer in the world will not stop a hurricane. But prayer will give you the courage to be able to respond to the devastation that's caused in your life and with others to deal with the devastation.
A: What I believe in is love. And love implements courage. And courage permits us all to apply the virtues that are important in life. I was always struck by the fact that many people who pray are the ones who want to go to war, who want to kill fellow human beings. That disturbs me. I think what we need is more love between one human being and another human being.
A: I believe in the power of prayer. And part of what I believe in is that, through prayer, not only can we strengthen ourselves in adversity, but that we can also find the empathy and the compassion and the will to deal with the problems that we do control. Most of the issues that we're debating here today are ones that we have the power to change. We may not have the power to prevent a hurricane, but we do have the power to make sure that the levees are properly reinforced and we've got a sound emergency plan. And so, part of what I pray for is the strength and the wisdom to be able to act on those things that I can control. And that's what I think has been lacking sometimes in our government. We've got to express those values through our government, not just through our religious institutions.
A: Well, the first thing I would do is put somebody in charge who actually cared about the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and was willing to really do what it took. I outlined a 10-point plan--I can't say it in 30 seconds--but briefly it is put somebody in charge, make sure that the White House has a system where that person reports to the president, which is what I would expect every single day. And my questions [to the person in charge] would be: What have you done to get the hospitals open? What have you done to get people to move back? What have you done to make sure the levees are strong enough to withstand whatever might come next? We've got to recognize rebuilding New Orleans is an American problem, not a New Orleans or Louisiana problem alone.
A: Well, there was politics. All of a sudden, other states that had the similar devastation got better treatment, like Mississippi. This is what I would do. The response of our government to Katrina, before, during and after, was inexcusable. We have got to eliminate in the future any red tape that helps the devastation. Secondly, we have to let those that live there to come back first, instead of big moneyed interests. We have to stop the predatory lending of insurance companies, housing and many others that are ripping off the people. And then, finally, we have to make sure that a president cares--and doesn't just pose for photo ops, but makes a difference and a commitment to rebuild that city and that region.
The question points to one of the most dark and shameful moments in recent past history in our country-- the fact that a major American city went through a natural disaster, and the president had almost no response whatsoever. In fact, today still, the problem persists, to make sure the people of New Orleans can get back in their homes. I believe that had this occurred in a place with mainly a white population, we would have seen a much more rapid response and a consistent response to that issue. We can never, ever allow again a major population center in our country go through what the Gulf states did as a result of neglect from an American president. In fact, it should have been [prevented] ahead of time, to have a FEMA operation that was prepared to respond to these predictable disasters. So it's a mark of shame on our country. It ought to be reversed.
KUCINICH: Absolutely. The aftermath underscores everything that's wrong in this country about race.
GRAVEL: Yes. And just keep in mind, if we weren't squandering our treasure on this terrible war that we didn't have to start, we would have 4 million housing units available, & a good portion of them could go to Katrina residents.
DODD: I would as well. New Orleans and Katrina have become a symbol of everything that went wrong with this administration's failure to respond to a people in need.
CLINTON: I have proposed a 10-point Gulf Coast Recovery Agenda, because even if we were to give people a right, there is nothing to return to.
BIDEN: It's an American problem. We should guarantee the reconstruction.
RICHARDSON: Yes, I would support that. I would also support the Katrina Recovery Act.
EDWARDS: This is an issue I care about personally and deeply.
KUCINICH: Absolutely. The aftermath underscores everything that's wrong in this country about race.
GRAVEL: Yes.
DODD: I would as well. New Orleans and Katrina have become a symbol of everything that went wrong with this administration's failure to respond to a people in need.
CLINTON: I have proposed a 10-point Gulf Coast Recovery Agenda, because even if we were to give people a right, there is nothing to return to.
BIDEN: We got to step up and pay to rebuild those firehouses, pay to bring those cops back, pay to rebuild those hospitals. It is a nation's problem, it is not the problem merely of the people of Louisiana or New Orleans. This is an American city incapable on its own of doing this. It's an American problem. We should guarantee the reconstruction.
RICHARDSON: Yes, I would support that. I would also support the Katrina Recovery Act.
GRAVEL: Yes.
CLINTON: I have proposed a 10-point Gulf Coast Recovery Agenda, because even if we were to give people a right, there is nothing to return to.
BIDEN: It's an American problem. We should guarantee the reconstruction.
RICHARDSON: Yes, I would support that. I would also support the Katrina Recovery Act.
EDWARDS: This is an issue I care about personally and deeply. As president, I would make one person responsible for reporting to me every day on what he did in New Orleans yesterday. And what we should do is allow the people of New Orleans to rebuild their own city. We ought to pay them a decent wage, give them health care coverage, instead of having big multinationals corporations get billion-dollar contracts with the government.
KUCINICH: Absolutely. The aftermath underscores everything that's wrong in this country about race.
GRAVEL: Yes.
CLINTON: I have proposed a 10-point Gulf Coast Recovery Agenda, because it's sort of as a chicken and an egg issue. First, we've got to get the hospitals back up, [then] the law enforcement and the fire departments. This administration has basically neglected with almost criminal indifference the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, in particular New Orleans and the parishes. Even if we were to give people a right, there is nothing to return to. We have got to rebuild New Orleans, and it's not only the protection from the levees, it is all the infrastructure.
EDWARDS: This is an issue I care about personally and deeply.
OBAMA: Halliburton or Bechtel getting the contracts to rebuild is a further compounding of the outrage.
KUCINICH: Absolutely. The aftermath underscores everything that's wrong in this country about race. New Orleans wouldn't have happened if the government had been more sensitive to make sure that those levees had been repaired when they were told they were supposed to be repaired. They should also be guaranteed jobs. People in New Orleans aren't getting jobs. They're hiring people from outside.
CLINTON: I have proposed a 10-point Gulf Coast Recovery Agenda, because even if we were to give people a right, there is nothing to return to.
EDWARDS: This is an issue I care about personally and deeply.
OBAMA: Halliburton or Bechtel getting the contracts to rebuild instead of giving the people in New Orleans the opportunity to rebuild and get jobs and training is a further compounding of the outrage.
KUCINICH: Absolutely. The aftermath underscores everything that's wrong in this country about race.
GRAVEL: Yes.
DODD: I would as well. New Orleans and Katrina have become a symbol of everything that went wrong with this administration's failure to respond to a people in need. I could think of no better way to have New Orleans and Katrina become a symbol of what we can do right in this country, by giving people the opportunity to come back and the support they will need to regain their lives. This is an American city. Anywhere else in America, we'd want to step up and see to it that people would get that help; this is the least we ought to be able to do to see to it they get their lives back together.
CLINTON: I have proposed a 10-point Gulf Coast Recovery Agenda, because even if we were to give people a right, there is nothing to return to.
GRAVEL: Yes.
DODD: I would as well. New Orleans and Katrina have become a symbol of everything that went wrong with this administration's failure to respond to a people in need.
CLINTON: I have proposed a 10-point Gulf Coast Recovery Agenda, because even if we were to give people a right, there is nothing to return to.
RICHARDSON: Yes, I would support that. I would also support the Katrina Recovery Act. This has been the most disgraceful episode in an American response to help our own people. What we need to do in this country is not just atone for a miserable performance before, during and after Katrina, but for the future [by reforming FEMA & federal emergency loan rules]. We also need to say to the insurance companies: You have to insure these people and rebuild homes in Louisiana.
EDWARDS: This is an issue I care about personally & deeply.
KUCINICH: Absolutely. The aftermath underscores everything that's wrong in this country about race.
GRAVEL: Yes.
DODD: I would as well. New Orleans and Katrina have become a symbol of everything that went wrong with this administration's failure to respond to a people in need.
CLINTON: I have proposed a 10-point Gulf Coast Recovery Agenda, because even if we were to give people a right, there is nothing to return to.
BIDEN: It's an American problem. We should guarantee the reconstruction.
RICHARDSON: Yes, I would support that. I would also support the Katrina Recovery Act.
EDWARDS: This is an issue I care about personally and deeply.
OBAMA: Halliburton or Bechtel getting the contracts to rebuild instead of giving the people in New Orleans the opportunity to rebuild and get jobs and training is a further compounding of the outrage.
A: DHS is a monstrous type of bureaucracy. It was supposed to be streamlining our security and it's unmanageable. I mean, just think of the efficiency of FEMA in its efforts to take care of the floods and the hurricanes.
Q: You would eliminate DHS in the midst of a war?
A: We should not go to more bureaucracy. It didn't work. We were spending $40 billion on security prior to 9/11, and they had all the information they needed there to deal with the threat, and it was inefficiency. So what do we do? We add a gigantic bureaucracy, which they're still working on trying to put it together, and a tremendous amount of increase in f
The task before us is to harness that awakened will to conquer this plague once and for all. The sad truth is that Katrina exposed only the smallest fraction of poverty's victims. They live across the country in circumstances as varied as they are terrible. Many of them are jobless, but many are working. Many are homeless, but many are packed into failed housing projects far from available work. Many live in inner cities, but many live in forgotten rural communities. Many lack a good education, and many are children who desperately need good schools they do not have.
After Hurricane Katrina I went down to Houston to see the people who had been evacuated, most in them from the convention center. The elderly, the frail. People who were very dependent upon health care, their records were gone. Those 15 pieces of paper were destroyed. And a lot of doctors told me their biggest problem was trying to figure out what prescriptions to give to people. The only people they could help were the people who had shopped at chain drug stores because they had electronic medical records. If we had that for all of our health records, we'd get costs down & we'd have higher quality health care.
As the oceans get warmer, storms get stronger. In 2004, Florida was hit by 4 unusually powerful hurricanes. That same year, Japan set an all-time record for typhoons. The previous record was 7. In 2004, 10 typhoons hit Japan.
The emerging consensus links global warming to increasingly destructive power of hurricanes, increasing the strength of the average hurricane a full half-step on the well-known 5-step scale. As water temperatures go up, wind velocity goes up. One major study came out less than a month before Hurricane Katrina hit.
When Katrina first hit, it was only a category 1 storm. Then, it passed over the unusually warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico [and became category 5].
Clad in blue jeans, an open-necked shirt and with his sleeves rolled up, Edwards chose the backyard of a victim of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans' devastated Ninth Ward for his unorthodox announcement. "We want people in this campaign to actually take action now, not later, not after the next election," the former North Carolina senator said, sounding as much like a recruiter as a presidential campaigner.
Edwards, 53, is calling for an increase in community service and cuts in poverty, global warming and troops in Iraq. He also said the country should provide universal health care for all and end its dependence on foreign oil. He said he would tax oil company profits and eliminate President Bush's tax cuts to pay for his priorities.
America's healthcare system is nearing the edge of its own perfect storm. The system is broken.
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