Gulf Coast Missing in State of the Union Address
About 2,000 of the nearly 60,000 temporary homes needed by the city have been delivered to date, Nagin said.
"I was hoping to hear him talk about the people," Nagin said.
The White House issued a response this morning to the gro! wing anger regarding the speech.
"I think it is important to look at what we are doing, not just what is being said," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "Our commitment is unprecedented."
Nagin says the $85 billion that has been allocated for Katrina has gone "primarily to debris removal and levee upgrades."
"There's a tremendous amount to do," he said. Electricity, however, has been restored to most of the city.
"The city is pretty much powered," Nagin said. "Only one area we're still struggling with, the Lower Ninth Ward, which was hit by Rita also."
Congress' first study into the aftermath of Katrina found that a poor federal chain of command undermined efforts to cope with the hurricane. Released Wednesday, the report singled out former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for not taking control of the relief effort.
"I definitely agree there was a lack of clear chain of command," Nagin said, "so no one was re! ally in charge."
Nagin attracted attention for a speech he made on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at a Bring New Orleans Back Commission meeting.
"This city will be chocolate at the end of the day," Nagin said in his speech. "This city will be a majority African-American city; it's the way God wants it to be."
Nagin said he had "regrets abut certain aspects" of that speech, which he said he made because he was "trying to give them a message of hope in a state of hopelessness."
"The references to God and to uptown were completely inappropriate," Nagin said.
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