Bush Sees 'Bright Dawn' Emerging in Gulf

WASHINGTON - Appealing to God for help with "the difficult work that lies ahead," President Bush on Saturday painted a picture of a hopeful and vibrant future for the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast and the people there who lost family, jobs, communities and everything they own in the storm.



"In the life of our nation, we have seen that wondrous things are possible when we act with God's grace," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "From the rubble of destroyed homes we can see the beginnings of vibrant new neighborhoods. From the despair of lives torn asunder we can see the hope of rebirth. And from the depth of darkness we can see a bright dawn emerging over the Gulf Coast and the great city of New Orleans."

With Thursday night's speech from the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter and while marking Friday's national day of prayer for Hurricane Katrina's victims, the president has begun turning more frequently to religious language as he seeks to comfort suffering evacuees and guide the nation forward.

He often speaks easily of the strength that his faith provides him and talks humbly of his place before God. When big moments require big rhetoric, the famously plainspoken Bush seems the most comfortable with soaring language that is tinged with religious overtones.

So on Saturday, as in Friday's brief remarks at a national prayer service at the National Cathedral, Bush asked on behalf of the nation for God's healing and help.

"We ask God's comfort for the men and women who have suffered so much," he said. "We pray that the missing find safe return, and those who were lost find holy rest. And we sought the strength of the Almighty for the difficult work that lies ahead."

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco also invoked God in the Democrats' weekly broadcast.

"I speak for a grateful state to thank people across our nation who have lifted Louisiana in our time of need," she said. "Your generosity and support renews our faith in God and in the human spirit."

Blanco noted the many people who stepped into the devastation to help, from National Guard troops to wildlife agents to firefighters to nurses to those who opened their homes and churches and hospitals to the displaced. She made clear that the hospitality of other states to displaced storm victims need not be permanent.

"We need and we want our people back," the governor said. "We look forward to returning your hospitality in a safer and more secure Louisiana, vibrant, just and diverse, her cultural wealth restored to the world."

Blanco also offered words of reconciliation, after periods in which the federal government and state and local officials have traded accusations of blame for a sluggish response that left many without help for days. She singled out Bush — whom she has criticized in the past — for thanks.

"We are prepared to work as partners," Blanco said. "Some issues reach beyond party. In the face of the human tragedy, which lies behind us, and the task that lies ahead of us, there is no room for partisan politics."

The bulk of Bush's radio address was a repeat of his Thursday speech, in which he predicted one of the largest reconstruction projects ever and announced a costly package of storm relief proposals.

He was spending the weekend at Camp David, Md. — the first extended down time since Katrina struck nearly three weeks ago. He set his fifth trip to the region — with stops in unspecified towns in Mississippi and Louisiana — for Tuesday. But otherwise his public schedule for next week is largely bare of Katrina-related events, a departure from the past two weeks.

On Friday, Bush ruled out raising taxes to pay the massive costs of Gulf Coast reconstruction, saying other government spending — which neither he nor his aides identified — must be cut to pay for a recovery effort expected to swell the budget deficit by $200 billion or more.

"You bet it's going to cost money. But I'm confident we can handle it," he said at a White House news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Congress already has approved $62 billion for the disaster, but that is expected to run out next month and require another budget-busting installment. The federal deficit was projected at $333 billion for the current year before the storm slammed into the Gulf Coast more than two weeks ago. Some fiscal conservatives are expressing alarm at the prospect of massive additional federal outlays without talk of what other spending to cut.

At the National Cathedral, Bush vowed to rebuild the region with an eye toward wiping out the persistent poverty and racial injustice the storm exposed.

"As we clear away the debris of a hurricane, let us also clear away the legacy of inequality," he said at a prayer service in memory of Katrina's victims.