Edwards Statement On Two-Year Anniversary Of Hurricane Katrina

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Senator John Edwards released the following statement on the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

"If George Bush's government were as good and decent and focused as the people of New Orleans, whole parts of the city would not still look like the storm just hit. This is a national disgrace. While President Bush continues to fail New Orleans, the American people and the residents of the city have not. Almost all of the progress that's been made has been the work of the proud residents of the city and generous Americans, working without and often in spite of the federal government. Our government needs to support their efforts and help get New Orleans back on its feet. And we need to do everything possible to make sure this never happens again.

"Hurricane Katrina brought poverty right into our living room and showed us the Two Americas that exist in our country. We all saw the images of people stranded on rooftops or at the Superdome because they were unable to escape simply because they didn't have a car or the cash to evacuate, didn't have the physical mobility or because they didn't want to leave behind the few possessions they had.

"Although those images have faded from our television screens, widespread poverty still persists. In fact, data released yesterday by the Census Bureau shows no statistical change in the number of people living in poverty from 2005 to 2006 - leaving nearly 37 million Americans struggling to survive. America is better than this. We need a national effort to end poverty in America, and we need every American to take action in our fight to build One America. And we need to make sure another Katrina never happens again, in New Orleans or anywhere in America."

Edwards has made rebuilding New Orleans a central part of his campaign for president. In the spring of 2006, he took 700 college students to the area to help with rebuilding efforts. Edwards launched both his presidential campaign and his "Road to One America" tour in New Orleans because he believes that the challenge of building One America starts in New Orleans.

Edwards has also laid out a comprehensive agenda to rebuild the city. Edwards will get New Orleans back on its feet by: (1) making it safe, (2) creating jobs to give people a reason to return, and (3) building an infrastructure that's built to last - housing, schools, hospitals - for them to return to.

For more details on Edwards' agenda to rebuild New Orleans, please click here for the fact sheet.