The White House
President George W. Bush
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For Immediate Release
February 10, 2006

Setting the Record Straight: The New York Times Story On Hurricane Preparations

      Setting the Record Straight

"[I]t is sad and irresponsible that The New York Times is rewriting history to fit an inaccurate storyline and conveniently ignoring key facts."

- Scott McClellan, White House Press Secretary, Press Gaggle, 2/10/06

Setting The Record Straight On The Administration's Preparations For Hurricane Katrina.

The New York Times Claims That The President Was "On Vacation In Texas" And "Feeling Relieved". "But the alert did not seem to register. Even the next morning, President Bush, on vacation in Texas, was feeling relieved that New Orleans had 'dodged the bullet,' he later recalled. Mr. Chertoff, similarly confident, flew Tuesday to Atlanta for a briefing on avian flu." (Eric Lipton, "White House Knew Of Levee's Failure On Night Of Storm," The New York Times, 2/10/06)

But The President Was Closely Monitoring The Situation And Not "On Vacation."

The Administration Prepared The Federal Government To Support Relief Operations.

The Administration Knew Flooding Was Occurring And Focused On Saving Lives.

The New York Times Took Completely Out Of Context The President's Reference To Media Reports And Assessments On The Ground That New Orleans Had "Dodged A Bullet."

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