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MEET THE PRESS INTERVIEWS JEFFERSON PARISH PRESIDENT AARON BROUSSARD -- TRANSCRIPT |
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by Meet the Press
September 4, 2005 (Transcribed from the video by Tara Carreon, american-buddha.com) RUSSERT: Vice-President Broussard, let me start with you, we just heard the director of homeland security's explanation of what has happened this last week. What is your reaction? BROUSSARD: We have been abandoned by our own country. Hurricane Katrina will go down in history as one of the worst storms ever to hit an American coast. But the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will go down as one of the worst abandonments of Americans on American soil ever in U.S. history. I am personally asking a bipartisan Congressional delegation here in Louisiana to immediately begin Congressional hearings to find out just what happened here. Why did it happen? Who needs to be fired? And believe me, they need to be fired right away. Because we still have weeks to go in this tragedy. We have months to go. We have years to go. And whoever is at the top of this totem pole, that totem pole needs to be chainsawed off and we've got to start with some new leadership. It's not just Katrina that caused all these deaths in New Orleans here. Bureaucracy has committed murder here in the greater New Orleans area, and bureaucracy has to stand trial before Congress now. It's so obvious. FEMA needs more congressional funding. It needs more presidential support. It needs to be a cabinet level director. It needs to be an independent agency that will be able to fulfill its mission to work in partnership with state and local governments around America. FEMA needs to be empowered to do the things it was created to do. It needs to come somewhere like New Orleans with all of its force immediately, without red tape, without bureaucracy. Act immediately with common sense and leadership. And save lives. Forget about the property. We can rebuild the property. It's gotta be able to come in and save lives. We need strong leadership at the top of America right now in order to accomplish this and to reconstructing FEMA. RUSSERT: Uh, Mr. Broussard, let me ask, let me ask, should, hold on, hold on sir. Shouldn't the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of New Orleans bear some responsibility? Couldn't they have been much more forceful, much more effective, and much more organized in evacuating the area? BROUSSARD: Sir, they were told, like me, every single day, the calvary's coming on a federal level. The calvary's coming. The calvary's coming. The calvary's coming. I have just begun to hear the hooves of the calvary. The calvary is still not here yet. But I've begun to hear the hooves, and we're almost a week out. Let me just give you just three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. FEMA, we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said come get the fuel right away. When we got there with our trucks, they got a word, FEMA says don't give you the fuel. Yesterday, yesterday, FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards on our line and says no one is getting near these lines." Sheriff Harry Lee said that if America, if American government, would have responded like Walmart has responded, we wouldn't be in this crisis. But I want to thank Governor Blanco for all she's done, and all the leadership, she sent in the National Guard. I just repaired a breach on my side of the 17th Street Canal that the Secretary didn't foresee, a 300 foot breach, I just completed it yesterday with convoys of National Guard and local parish workers and levy board people. It took us 2-1/2 days working 24/7. I just closed it. I'm telling you, most importantly I want to thank my public employees that have worked 24/7. They're burned out, the doctors, the nurses, and I want to give you one last story and then I'll shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me. The guy who runs this building I'm in, Emergency Management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard Nursing Home, and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "Yeah, mama, somebody's coming to get you ... Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday ... Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday ... Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday ... Somebody's coming to get you on Friday," and she drowned Friday night. She drowned on Friday night. Nobody's coming to get us. Nobody's coming to get us. The Secretary has promised. Everybody has promised. They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For God's sake, shut up and send us somebody. RUSSERT: Just take a pause Mr. President while you gather yourself. These are emotional times, I understand. |
