Pascagoula, Mississippi Remarks Following an Inspection Tour of Areas Damaged by Hurricane Frederic.

THE PRESIDENT. I'd like to say one other thing just for the benefit of the people of Mississippi. I think that it is indeed a catastrophe here, about which the whole Nation is concerned, and I come on behalf of all the other people in the Nation, who feel that you have done admirably. Governor Cliff Finch and all of the officials here, the Members of Congress and others have prepared well, and had we not prepared, we could very well have several hundred people's lives having been lost in Mississippi.

And I believe that the degree of cooperation between the Federal Government and the local and State governments and also the people at large has been remarkable. It's difficult to induce people to leave their homes, even when you tell them there's a danger coming. And I think that the strong leadership that has been shown here has helped us to minimize the damage.

And the other thing that I'd like to say is that we will be here on a long-term basis, because the repair that's got to be done to the community structure is not going to be quickly resolved. And I hope that the people who are farmers will know that we've got assistance available for them; businesses, large and small, that have been shut down, we've got unemployment compensation, and we'll have extra people that have been here from the Labor Department to process those claims. And if anything should arise in the future that's a problem for you, or is delayed in being delivered, in delivery of services, if you'll let Bill Simpson know, or .lack Watson, or me directly in the White House, we'll take care of it without delay.

BYSTANDER. Mr. President, may I say, if I may: You've been concerned about unemployment. Here in this country, we're one of the largest employers in the Southeast United States; right here in the shipyard alone, 16,000 people, and they're not all from Mississippi. They come from other States in the Union. So, we make a real contribution to the total economy, and we need to get our people back to work as fast we can.

We have 40 other industries of national prominence. And with your help, that you just mentioned, it's just like a Godsend to us, and we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what you're doing for us.

THE PRESIDENT. It's a very difficult thing for a President or for anyone who lives in Washington to forget about Pascagoula Shipyards with Senator Stennis present. [Laughter]

SENATOR STENNIS. We all work together.

BYSTANDER. We are proud of what you have done. Thank you for coming, sir.

GOVERNOR FINCH. One thing, Mr. President, we're going to set up a Governor's office here on the coast where Defense and the State and local people will all be working together. So, my office will be here, and we'll be in touch with Jack, I know, somewhere along the line. But we want to, firsthand, move into the location like you have, to come here and see it. But we're going to set up our office here and use it, Senator, for the benefit of all the people here at Gulf Coast Marine Research Center, that is also funded by the Feds and State, thanks to our leadership in Washington.

THE PRESIDENT. Good luck to you.