Replies

Press Releases

Date: 9/3/2005

Contact: Denise Bottcher or Roderick Hawkins at 225-342-9037

Governor Blanco's Remarks from Noon Media Briefing

Governor Kathleen Blanco

Remarks from 12:00 p.m. media briefing

Sept. 3, 2005

Our National Guard troops continue to save lives throughout Louisiana today. We continue to make good progress.

Right now, there are more than 12,000 National Guard troops - soldiers and airmen -- working in Louisiana as part of what is now known as "Task Force Pelican."

Those include 5000 from Louisiana. Seven thousand from 29 other states. By Monday, we will have 4000 additional reinforcements.

Federal law prohibits active duty troops from conducting law enforcement activities. Therefore, I have directed my senior military officer, Major General Bennett Landreneau, to focus the National Guard efforts on continuing to create and maintain a secure environment. A secure environment is critical to continuing search and rescue operations and restoration of critical infrastructure.

These men and women are doing heroic work saving people and restoring order.

Yesterday, I personally briefed President Bush on our requirement for additional federal assistance. In response to this request, this morning President Bush announced more than 7,000 additional troops are on the way to help with hurricane recovery.

These troops are from the 82nd Airborne, the 1st cavalry and the 1st and 2nd marine expeditionary forces.

These federal troops will operate under the direct command of Gen. Russ Honore, a Louisiana native, who is the commander of Joint Task Force Katrina.

This is welcome news. And I phoned the White House this morning to express my appreciation to the President.

The combined forces of Task Force Pelican and Joint Task Force Katrina gives the manpower and equipment that are necessary to address our most pressing needs.

My goal is to complete life-saving operations, safely evacuate all affected areas, and transition our displaced citizens to begin restoring some semblance of normalcy to their lives.

To reach that goal, we are using every resource available . one of those resources is standing with me today.

I want to introduce you to James Lee Witt. Mr. Witt ran the Federal Emergency Management Agency for eight years from 1993 to 2001. He has more than 25 years of disaster management experience.

I have asked Mr. Witt to advise and assist me and Gen. Landreneau on the recovery effort.

As FEMA director, Mr. Witt turned was credited with turning that agency around.

His leadership is proven, his experience is extensive and he is an asset to this recovery effort.