Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu thanked the audience for their presence at the Louisiana Recovery and Rebuilding Conference in New Orleans November 10-12 and began his speech by stressing the importance of historic tax credits. In the real world, he said, historic preservation tax credits are about future development as well as preserving our past. “South Louisiana is a gumbo of cultures,” he said. “Everything in our great culture comes from our people, and it is endangered. Louisiana is the soul of America.” He said he has been speaking about Louisiana for the past 74 days, and his message has been: “This was an American tragedy that requires an American response.”

This means, Landrieu acknowledged, that the state doesn’t have the responsibility or the capacity to rebuild on its own. He compared Louisiana’s current need for federal response to New York City after the terrorists and San Francisco after the 1989 earthquakes. “We are entering the third act of this tragedy—rebuilding,” he said. “History is watching.” He believes it is time for the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana to work their commissions into one. “We are all in this together,” he said.

Landrieu said that he wanted to leave the group with one simple driving idea: “We can create a new South—exemplifying the best of what we have, where diversity is our strength. In the new South, we value our heritage while looking forward to what can be. Our new South must lead, not follow. We have to find common higher ground,” he said. “Here’s a thought: New Orleans must become the first totally wireless city in the country!”

Landrieu presented five principles for consideration:

1. We must deal with race and poverty.
2. Diversity is strength; we must diversify our economy.
3. We have to think regionally so that we can compete globally. Mississippi is our partner and our friend.
4. We have to turn around what we do with our raw talent and intellectual capital. We have to market it from here.
5. We have to set standards for excellence in all that we do.

The lieutenant governor concluded, “We have to remember who we are working for . . . We may have been knocked down in Louisiana, but he have not been knocked out.”

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