Kathleen Blanco State Quotations

I have called for this special meeting to begin immediately the work of rebuilding our state and restoring our people,

I have charged these two distinguished leaders to harness the energy of the entire board and put forth strong, aggressive initiatives, ... The Louisiana Recovery Authority will help me bring the entire state together in the effort to rebuild Louisiana. It will be a unified voice with the single focus on rebuilding. It will show the nation that we can work across all of the old boundaries that once kept us apart.

State government must work leaner but smarter than ever before,

It is a record for any state to see that kind of growth.

We have to restore the state and its people. This is important work you're about.

We are praying that the hurricane dissipates or that it weakens. This state can barely stand what happened to it.

beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments.

seemed uncertain and sluggish, hesitant to declare martial law or a state of emergency, which would have opened the door to more Pentagon help.

We also know that our revenue stream is probably going to have a $750 million to perhaps $1 billion deficit because the southeast region produced an extraordinary amount of our revenue stream and that is in hard state dollars,

This is a substantial package of initiatives that will help our families, our business and our state recover from Katrina and Rita,

I know the people of this state have been through a lot. We ask for God's blessings on them and their families.

The effort to restore our state requires a daring, yet realistic plan. A plan based on input from people in all walks of life. A plan created from the ground up. A plan driven by local needs. A plan inspired by innovation, ... We cannot simply re-create what the storms destroyed. We must make the new Louisiana smarter, safer and stronger.

It's no secret that Louisiana is facing historic challenges. How we meet those challenges in the weeks ahead will determine the future of our state for generations to come,