So
for example, efforts to rebuild schools and hospitals, to repair damaged roads and bridges, to get people back to their homes -- they were tied up for years in a tangle of disagreements and byzantine（拜占庭式的） rules. So when I took office, working with your outstanding delegation, particularly Senator Mary Landrieu, we put in place a new way of resolving disputes. (Applause.) We put in place a new way of resolving disputes so that funds set aside for rebuilding efforts actually went toward rebuilding efforts. And as a result, more than 170 projects are getting underway -- work on firehouses, and police stations, and roads, and sewer systems（污水管道系统） , and health clinics, and libraries, and universities.We’re
tackling the corruption and inefficiency that has long plagued（困扰，折磨） the New Orleans Housing Authority. We’re helping homeowners rebuild and making it easier for renters to find affordable options. And we’re helping people to move out of temporary homes. You know, when I took office, more than three years after the storm, tens of thousands of families were still stuck in disaster housing -- many still living in small trailers that had been provided by FEMA. We were spending huge sums of money on temporary shelters when we knew it would be better for families, and less costly for taxpayers, to help people get into affordable, stable, and more permanent housing. So we’ve helped make it possible for people to find those homes, and we’ve dramatically reduced the number of families in emergency housing.On
the health care front, as a candidate for President, I pledged to make sure we were helping New Orleans recruit doctors and nurses, and rebuild medical facilities -- including a new veterans hospital. (Applause.) Well, we have resolved a long-standing dispute -- one that had tied up hundreds of millions of dollars -- to fund the replacement for Charity Hospital. And in June, Veterans Secretary Ric Shinseki came to New Orleans for the groundbreaking of that new VA hospital.
In education, we’ve made strides as well. As you know, schools in New Orleans were falling behind long before Katrina. But in the years since the storm, a lot of public schools opened themselves up to innovation and to reform. And as a result, we’re actually seeing rising achievement, and New Orleans is becoming a model of innovation for the nation. This is yet another sign that you’re not just rebuilding -- you’re rebuilding stronger than before. Just this Friday, my administration announced a final agreement on $1.8 billion dollars for Orleans Parish schools. (Applause.) This is money that had been locked up for years, but now it’s freed up so folks here can determine best how to restore the school system.
And in a city that’s known too much violence, that’s seen too many young people lost to drugs and criminal activity, we’ve got a Justice Department that's committed to working with New Orleans to fight the scourge of violent crime, and to weed out corruption in the police force, and to ensure the criminal justice system works for everyone in this city. (Applause.) And I want everybody to hear -- to know and to hear me thank Mitch Landrieu, your new mayor, for his commitment to that partnership. (Applause.)
Now, even as we continue our recovery efforts, we’re also focusing on preparing for future threats so that there is never another disaster like Katrina. The largest civil works project in American history is underway to build a fortified levee system. And as I -- just as I pledged as a candidate, we’re going to finish this system by next year so that this city is protected against a 100-year storm. We should not be playing Russian roulette（轮盘） every hurricane season. (Applause.) And we’re also working to restore protective wetlands and natural barriers that were not only damaged by Katrina -- were not just damaged by Katrina but had been rapidly disappearing for decades.
In Washington, we are restoring competence and accountability. I am proud that my FEMA Director, Craig Fugate, has 25 years of experience in disaster management in Florida. (Applause.) He came from Florida, a state that has known its share of hurricanes. We’ve put together a group led by Secretary Donovan and Secretary Napolitano to look at disaster recovery across the country. We’re improving coordination on the ground, and modernizing emergency communications, helping families plan for a crisis. And we’re putting in place reforms so that never again in America is somebody left behind in a disaster because they’re living with a disability or because they’re elderly or because they’re infirmed（虚弱的，体弱的）#p#分页标题#e# . That will not happen again. (Applause.)
Finally, even as you’ve been buffeted（猛击，殴打） by Katrina and Rita, even as you’ve been impacted by the broader recession that has devastated communities across the country, in recent months the Gulf Coast has seen new hardship as a result of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. And just as we’ve sought to ensure that we are doing what it takes to recover from Katrina, my administration has worked hard to match our efforts on the spill to what you need on the ground. And we’ve been in close consultation with your governor, your mayors, your parish（教区） presidents, your local government officials.
And from the start, I promised you two things. One is that we would see to it that the leak was stopped. And it has been. The second promise I made was that we would stick with our efforts, and 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 that we will keep. We are not going to forget. We’re going to stay on it until this area is fully recovered. (Applause.)
That’s why we rapidly launched the largest response to an environmental disaster in American history -- 47,000 people on the ground, 5,700 vessels on the water -- to contain and clean up the oil. When 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 the people along the Gulf, to deal with any long-term effects of the oil spill. We are going to stand with you until the oil is cleaned up, until the environment is restored, until polluters are held accountable, until communities are made whole, and until this region is all the way back on its feet. (Applause.)
So that’s how we’re helping this city, and this state, and this region to recover from the worst natural disaster in our nation’s history. We’re cutting through the red tape that has impeded rebuilding efforts for years. We’re making government work better and smarter, in coordination（协调，同等） with one of the most expansive non-profit efforts in American history. We’re helping state and local leaders to address serious problems that had been neglected for decades -- problems that existed before the storm came, and have continued after the waters receded（后退，减弱） -- from the levee system to the justice system, from the health care system to the education system.
And together, we are helping to make New Orleans a place that stands for what we can do in America -- not just for what we can’t do. Ultimately, that must be the legacy of Katrina: not one of neglect, but of action; not one of indifference, but of empathy; not of abandonment（抛弃，放纵） , but of a community working together to meet shared challenges. (Applause.)
The truth is, there are some wounds that have not yet healed. And there are some losses that can’t be repaid. And for many who lived through those harrowing days five years ago, there’s searing memories that time may not erase. But even amid so much tragedy, we saw stirrings of a brighter day. Five years ago we saw men and women risking their own safety to save strangers. We saw nurses staying behind to care for the sick and the injured. We saw families coming home to clean up and rebuild -- not just their own homes, but their neighbors’ homes, as well. And we saw music and Mardi Gras and the vibrancy, the fun of this town undiminished. And we’ve seen many return to their beloved city with a newfound sense of appreciation and obligation to this community.
And when I came here four years ago, one thing I found striking was all the greenery（绿色植物，温室） that had begun to come back. And I was reminded of a passage from the book of Job. “There is hope for a tree if it be cut down that it will sprout（发芽，萌芽） again, and that its tender branch will not cease.” The work ahead will not be easy, and there will be setbacks. There will be challenges along the way. But thanks to you, thanks to the great people of this great city, New Orleans is blossoming again.
Thank you, everybody. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
END 2:16 P.M. CDT
