President Obama visited the Crescent City Thursday for the first time since taking office. After a stop at Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School in the lower 9th ward, the President traveled to the University of New Orleans for a town hall meeting.
While some of the questions dealt directly with the recovery of New Orleans and the rebuilding of the levee protection system, many of the questions posed concerned violence in the city, immigration and the on-going health care debate. Very little time was devoted to discussing the restoration of coastal lands. Due to the impacts of both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, over 200 square miles of coastal Louisiana disappeared. The Louisiana Governor's Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration and Conservation had requested, prior to the visit, that the President take part in a fly over of the coast examining the extensive damage and on-going loss of coastal marshes and swamps. The President’s schedule did not allow time for a fly over.
The brevity of the visit was a disappointment to some people and an irritation to others. In a prepared statement U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Metairie, criticized the shortness of the trip. “The people of New Orleans deserve more than a drive-through daiquiri summit,” he said. Senator Landrieu also hoped for a longer stay, but noted that numerous members of the Cabinet accompanied the President attending their own events, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Nancy Sutley, the chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
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