WASHINGTON – President Bush reported seeing “progress” yesterday as he made his fifth visit to the area battered by Hurricane Katrina.
Bush – taking a more hands-on approach after taking heavy flak over Katrina – also got a briefing on Hurricane Rita and sent a Coast Guard vice admiral to Texas in advance so he can take charge in case Rita pounds the area.
New Orleans was hit by chaos and looting after Katrina until military officials took charge.
“I want the people to know that there’s progress being made in this part of the world,” Bush said.
In Gulfport, Miss., Bush acknowledged there was “a level of frustration, as there should have been” about slow debris removal – and said he called in help for “concrete results.”
Meanwhile, Bush’s dad – working with Bill Clinton to raise Katrina relief money – was asked about Clinton’s attacks on the White House and quipped: “Let me put it this way – if Hillary runs, he might get a little back.”