Bush Vows to Act on National Rescue Plan

President Bush on Sunday wrapped up a three-day trip designed to convey hands-on leadership during the Gulf Coast hurricanes, promising to act on military leaders' request for a national search-and-rescue strategy.

"It's precisely the kind of information that I'll take back to Washington to help all of us understand how we can do a better job in coordinating federal, state and local response," Bush told commanders.

Between his departure from the White House on Friday and his return Sunday afternoon, the president attended more than seven hours of briefings in four cities about Hurricane Rita. On Monday, Bush is going to the Energy Department to attend a briefing on energy issues related to the hurricanes.

The White House says the president plans to return to the region but gave no details about his travel plans. So far, the president has avoided direct contact with areas affected by the storm, making sure not to interfere with rescue efforts.

"Certainly, in the areas that were hit the hardest, they're still doing the damage assessment, there's still some search-and-rescue operations going on," White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One on its return to Washington. "The last thing we want to do is get in the way."

The best chance for a look came during his Air Force One flight from San Antonio to Baton Rouge. The plane went over Port Arthur, Texas, and Lake Charles, La., but flew most of the time above significant cloud cover.

Over the weekend, the president spent almost a day at the headquarters of the U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colo. The command, set up after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is in charge of homeland security for the military.

Bush spent Saturday night and early Sunday in San Antonio, never leaving Randolph Air Force Base. Upon his arrival, he thanked the mayor for San Antonio's generosity in taking in hundreds of thousands of Katrina evacuees. On Sunday, he went to church on the base.

Bush skipped a visit to nearby Fort Sam Houston, a main federal staging area for supplies and personnel used in Rita.

He stopped in the capitals of the two states most affected by Rita. Bush spent a little more than an hour at an emergency operations center in Austin, Texas, on Saturday. He took about the same amount of time at a FEMA joint field office in Baton Rouge on Sunday afternoon.

"I know the people of this state have been through a lot. We ask for God's blessings on them and their families," Bush said at an abandoned department store that FEMA has turned into its hub of operations in twice-struck Louisiana.

Bush urged people who left homes and businesses because of the storm to be careful about returning. He also he wanted to see federal-state coordination up close.

He got a boost from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who was critical of Katrina response efforts. She told Bush that things went more smoothly with Rita, which slammed ashore early Saturday with top winds of 120 mph.

"I do want to tell you how much we appreciated watching all of the integrated forces at work as one," Blanco told Bush.

Bush also heard military leaders plead for a national plan to coordinate search-and-rescue efforts. Maj. Gen. John White, a member of the military's joint task force on Rita, said that the current plans were so scattered that five helicopters might show up at once to rescue the same person.

Rita was different, he said, but he warned that a different type of natural disaster or even a terrorist attack might leave much less time for planning. "We may not have that time in an earthquake scenario or similar incident," White said.

Maj. Gen. M. Scott Mayes, speaking to Bush via videoconference from Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, agreed. "With a national plan, we'll have a quick jump-start and an opportunity to save more people."

Bush indicated that he wants more authority for the armed forces in natural disasters. The military is barred by law from performing any domestic law enforcement functions

Bush first broached that idea in a speech to the nation from New Orleans last week.

The president said he wants to examine whether the Defense Department should take the lead in a natural disaster "of a certain size" as it would after any terrorist attack. "That's going to be a very important consideration for Congress to think about," he said.

I don't see Nagin getting thrown out on his worthless ass.

I am expecting Nagin to appear, somewhere, in the Bush Administration as part of "Compassionate Conservatism". Perhaps as head of Homeland Security.

"Blanco is not qualified to make logistical decisions about when to ask for other guard help from other states, or what help she wants. Leave that to the military."

If Blanko isn't qualified to make decisions, the voters should have considered that before they put her in office. Just because she's incompetent doesn't and shouldn't automatically defer authority to the federal government.

As for logistics, moving people and supplies, how it is done, is logistics. Yes, the military is good at it. Deciding when and if the guard from other states enters is a decision of authority, not logistics.

The marines should have that same right.

Apparently, you've never heard of the 3rd Amendment.

It's illegal for the Federal Government to take over a State without getting permission first.

Unless SCOTUS finds the power for the feds in the Commerce Clause. (/sarcasm)

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