President Obama and Local Residents Discuss Rebuilding and Recovery in New Orleans

Senior Administration Officials Joined President to See Recovery Progress Firsthand

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On his sixth trip to New Orleans since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, President Barack Obama today visited the Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School and held a town hall event to hear directly from the people of Louisiana.   President Obama discussed both the progress made in the region and the challenges that remain.  In his first public event in New Orleans, President Obama also spent time answering questions from everyday people.  

Underscoring his strong commitment to Gulf Coast rebuilding and recovery, members of President Obama’s Administration including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley each participated in events throughout the community to review recovery progress.
 
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was joined by Congressman Joseph Cao for a discussion with high school seniors at John McDonogh High while Department of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano visited the Vessel Traffic Center, a U.S. Coast Guard-operated interagency facility responsible for managing 20 miles of complex waterways on the Lower Mississippi River.

Additionally, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan joined city leaders, housing officials and others for the groundbreaking of the first phase of redevelopment at the B.W. Cooper Housing Development.  Plans for the $142 million first phase of redevelopment include the construction of 410 rental-housing units and a management office with a business center. The rental units will include 294 affordable rentals and 116 market-rate rentals.

Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality visited the Cypress Marsh Restoration of the Bayou Bienvenue Central Wetland Unit and surveyed coastal restoration efforts in the region.  The wetlands restoration project integrates sustainability with mitigation measures and will restore approximately 10,000 acres of critical cypress wetlands using wetland assimilation of wastewater effluent.  

Click here to view a fact sheet on Gulf Coast Recovery: http://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/assets/images/Katrina_Rita_Fact_Sheet_101509.pdf