"This action today to fund brand new projects, most of which are unrelated to the hurricane, is going to have a lot of folks up here scratching their heads, ... It's not going to build confidence in what we're doing on the ground, and that confidence building is an absolutely necessary part of what we need to have success in Congress."

"I think the ultimate test of this concept is what concrete, positive, bold action this produces."

"Unfortunately, we're at the top of a really bad list, ... That is railway crossing accidents and fatalities. Although we're not a populous state, we rank in the Top 3 in railway accidents and the Top 5 in deaths related to railway accidents. We have as many dangerous railway crossing as just about any state, except maybe for California and Illinois."

"Ronald Reagan's vision of smaller government, less taxes, and a strong national defense has led to a prosperous America. As president, he rebuilt our military and reinvigorated our confidence in ourselves."

"When a disaster is as big as at least Katrina, and you have this full-scale mobilization — food and water and ice and rescue efforts — I believe the proper entity at the federal level is the uniformed services to be in the lead of that,"

"I think everyone did better after Rita because of the experience of Katrina,"

"There was absolutely no execution,"

"We do not need international help to stop corruption, we need strong Louisiana Leadership."

"[At one point, the conversation turned to the preoccupation of the day -- the Supreme Court. If there were to be an opening, one of the guests, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), told the president he should consider a New Orleans federal appeals judge, Edith Brown Clement. Bush seemed interested and asked Vitter about her.] The president already knew the name, ... She was already on some sort of short list."