Obama In Pensacola: We Are Responding To Spill

June 16, 2010

President Barack Obama defended his administration’s efforts in response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill during a visit to the Florida Panhandle Tuesday and said it will do whatever it takes as long it takes to put the region back to normal.

Obama also put in a plug for the region he saw this week, turning tourism pitchman to help out the businesses that have seen a drop off in visits.

“Here in Pensacola, the beautiful beaches are still open,” Obama said during a speech to military personnel at Naval Air Station Pensacola that followed a morning visit to Pensacola Beach with Gov. Charlie Crist and other state officials and a bite from the Fish Sandwich Snack Bar at the Pensacola Beach pier. “The sand is white and the water is blue. So folks who are looking for a good vacation, they can still come down to Pensacola. People need to know that Pensacola is still open for business.”

But Obama said that didn’t mean there wasn’t a problem – and he acknowledged the anguish felt by many in a region so reliant on its beaches, its clean water and the fish that come out of it.

“That doesn’t mean that people aren’t angry,” Obama said. “That doesn’t mean that people aren’t scared. That doesn’t mean that people don’t have concerns about the future — we all have those concerns. And people have every right to be angry.”

But the administration, contrary to some criticism, is responding, the president said.

“When I say this is the largest response of its kind in American history, I mean it,” Obama said. “We’ve got more than 5,000 vessels on site — skimmers, tugs, barges, dozens of aircraft. More than 27,000 personnel are on the scene, fighting this every day, putting out millions of feet of boom and cleaning the shores.

“All told, we’ve authorized the deployment of 17,500 National Guardsmen to respond to this crisis,” Obama continued. “So far, only about 1,600 have been activated. That leaves a lot of Guardsmen ready to help. And if our governors call on them, I know they’ll be ready, because they’re always ready.”

The White House has come under heavy criticism, particularly from Republican politicians but also from local residents, about a response that has seemed lacking to some.

While praising Obama for listening to concerns in the region, Republican U.S. Sen. George LeMieux of Florida said the state didn’t have everything it needs.

o“There are only 32 skimmers off the coast of Florida and that’s not enough,” said LeMieux, who met with Obama on Tuesday. “President Obama pledged to help with the issue of skimmers, as well as pressing BP to expedite compensation for those suffering economic damage. I commended the president for his effort calling on BP to set up a fund for claims and encouraged him to seek an increased frequency of payments to affected individuals.”

LeMieux also said there was still a communication problem between federal officials, BP, and local leaders.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has also criticized the government for not doing enough to help the state out. McCollum is a Republican candidate for governor.

The main Democrat in the governor’s race, state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who joined the president on Tuesday, has focused her criticism on BP, whose oil it is that continues to leak out of the underwater pipe a mile under the Gulf.

Obama said he was committed to a full recovery in the area.

“I want the people of this region to know that my administration is going to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to deal with this disaster,” Obama said. He also pledged that BP would pick up the tab.

“Here in Pensacola and the Panhandle, tourism is everything,” the president said. “And when the tourists stay home, it ripples out and hits folks across these communities — the charter boats, the hotels, the restaurants, the roadside stores, the shops, the suppliers, the dive shops. And if your inland waters are contaminated — if the bays and bayous are contaminated — it could be devastating, changing the way of life down here for years to come.

“But let me say to the people of Pensacola and the Gulf Coast: I am with you, my administration is with you for the long haul to make sure BP pays for the damage that it has done and to make sure that you are getting the help you need to protect this beautiful coast and to rehabilitate the damaged areas, to revitalize this region, and to make sure that nothing like this happens ever again,” Obama said. “That is a commitment I am making to the people of Florida and people all across this Gulf.”

Pictured top: President Barack Obama address the military Tuesday at Pensacola Naval Air Station. Pictured inset: Obama and Gov. Charlie Christ on Pensacola Beach. Pictured below: Obama and Crist meet with other federal, state and local officials at Pensacola Beach. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News