Bush sends more than 7,000 troops to Gulf
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-04 09:53

WASHINGTON - President Bush ordered more than 7,000 active duty forces to the Gulf Coast on Saturday as his administration intensified efforts to rescue survivors and send aid to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast in the face of criticism it did not act quickly enough.

President Bush delivers his weekly radio address from the Rose Garden of the White House, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005 in Washington. [AP]

"In America, we do not abandon our fellow citizens in their hour of need," Bush said.

In addition to the active duty forces, 10,000 additional National Guard troops were being sent to the Gulf Coast. That raises the number of Guard personnel in the stricken states to about 40,000.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told a news conference that more than 100,000 people already had received humanitarian aid and the Coast Guard has rescued 9,500 people.

The federal government, he said, will "break the mold" on emergency assistance. He said he was heading back to New Orleans to oversee the next phase of relief efforts.

In addition, the Pentagon said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will fly to Louisiana and Mississippi on Sunday, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned a trip to Mobile, Ala.

Bush planned to return to the region Monday.

In his Saturday radio address, delivered from the White House Rose Garden, Bush said, "Many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need, especially in New Orleans, and that is unacceptable."

The president recounted his Friday tour of the devastated region. "When you talk to the proud folks in the area, you see a spirit that cannot be broken," he said.

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