"Where it's not working right, we're going to make it right. Where it is working right, we're going to duplicate it elsewhere." — President Bush, after walking through a devastated neighborhood of Mobile, Ala.

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"Lord, I thank you for getting us out of here!" — Leschia Radford, outside the New Orleans Convention Center

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"The people of our city are holding on by a thread. Time has run out. Can we survive another night? And who can we depend on? Only God knows." — New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, in a statement to CNN

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"If you see the devastation, you wonder why it didn't kill a million people." — Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour

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"I share Utahns' feelings of sadness and sympathy for the tragedy that has struck the people of the Gulf region. The scenes are heart-wrenching." — Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah

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"We've opened the door, and we're just waiting to see if anybody will come in." — Lt. Doug McCleve, Utah Department of Public Safety, on the state's preparations to take in refugees

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"I'm ashamed of America. I'm ashamed of our government. I'm outraged by the lack of response by our federal government." — Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick, D-Mich.

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"I was able to get a shower last night. I am grateful for what the people here in Houston have given us." — Janetta Arnold at the Astrodome in Houston

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"This emergency funding (by Congress) is not optional. We may well be witnessing the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. . . ." — Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah

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"When we pledge our assistance, we pledge all the assistance we can possibly muster." — Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah

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"Worse things have happened to America. We're going to overcome this, too. It's not our fault. The storm came and flooded the city." — Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore

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"You could call it a mini-diaspora. The people in New Orleans, the people along the Gulf really had a culture. In many ways, they have been thrown out of the Garden of Eden, if you will. It's a diaspora brought on for people with no resources." — Joanne Nigg, a sociology professor at the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware.

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"That Americans would somehow, in a color-affected way, decide who to help and who not to help, I just don't believe it. Americans are generous to each other." —Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, responding to criticism from black members of Congress.

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"We have to ask ourselves ... how could things have been different? What could have been done to prevent the magnitude of this tragedy? These are questions that Congress should legitimately ask." — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

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"Like steak and potatoes! I didn't think I was going to make it through that." — Angela Jones, 24, after getting cool water at the New Orleans Convention Center.