President Barack Obama met for more than an hour with Mississippi and Louisiana’s governors, as well as state and local officials at the Coast Guard Station in the Gulfport harbor this morning in the first stop on a two-day visit to the Gulf Coast region.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal were among the group who heard Obama say that more skimmers, fighting oil further offshore and better communications were needed.
He said he is gathering information while on the Gulf Coast before being with BP officials and he plans to “make sure people in Mississippi and elsewhere are adequately compensated for their damages and losses.”
Obama also made a pitch for Gulf Coast tourism.
“Here in Mississippi and in Florida, Alabama and parts of Louisiana there’s still a lot of opportunity for visitors to come down here,” he said. “There’s a lot of beaches not affected and that may not be affected.
“People wanting to know how to help, one of the best ways to help is to come down here and enjoy the hospitality.”
By Geoff Pender
Sun Herald–Pool Report
