The White House, President George W. Bush Click to print this document

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 2, 2006

Setting the Record Straight: The August 28th Hurricane Katrina Videoconference

     Fact sheet In Focus: Gulf Coast
     Fact sheet In Focus: Hurricane Recovery
     Fact sheet Setting the Record Straight

"The President's participation in the August 28 videoconference was open to the press, and the full transcript of this videoconference was released to Congress and the public in the fall of 2005. President Bush participated in briefings, phone calls and conversations throughout this process, and his Administration was focused on making sure that the Federal assets were in place to help the people of New Orleans. The President has made clear - as recently as this Tuesday - that he was not satisfied with the Federal response. That is why he ordered a comprehensive 'lessons learned' report and plans to work aggressively to implement improvements to our disaster response plans by the start of hurricane season."

--Trent Duffy, White House Deputy Press Secretary, 3/2/06

Setting The Record Straight On August 28th Hurricane Katrina Videoconference.

Democrats Use August 28th Videoconference To Falsely Attack The White House's Hurricane Katrina Response. "Democrats said the tape shows Bush being warned in urgent terms of the potential magnitude of the storm, making it less defensible that the administration did not act with more dispatch to be ready." (Spencer S. Hsu and Linton Weeks, "Video Shows Bush Being Warned On Katrina," The Washington Post, 3/2/06)

But The White House Understood The Hurricane Katrina Crisis And Response Magnitude.

In August 29th Videoconference, The White House Was Told The Levees Were Not Breached But Knew Of Flooding And Focused On Saving Lives.

The President Was Engaged In The Katrina Response And Mobilized Federal Resources.

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