Facing renewed criticism of his administration's response to Hurricane Katrina, US President George W. Bush came to this still storm-ravaged city on Thursday promising to make federal rebuilding efforts "as efficient as possible" while signaling that his administration was listening to its critics.
"All of us in positions of responsibility appreciate those who are working to help us to understand how to do our jobs better," Bush said on a visit to the heavily damaged Ninth Ward.
Bush's trip was planned to highlight the progress of the rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast and, this being national volunteer week, the role that volunteers have played in it.
But it came on a day that a bipartisan panel of senators called the Federal Emergency Management Administration the living "symbol of a bumbling bureaucracy" that should be eliminated.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to New Orleans, Fran Townsend, Bush's homeland security adviser, said that with hurricane season approaching again, "now is not the time to really look at moving organizational boxes" when it comes to emergency management.
But Townsend sidestepped questions about whether the agency should be dismantled, saying she had not had time to review the Senate report.
Bush praised progress toward recovery here at the home of Ethel Williams, whose bungalow is one of many being restored with help from Operation Helping Hand of Catholic Charities.
The White House seemed to get the sort of image it was seeking, that of the president with his arm around Williams, who told him, "I'm proud that you're here, Mr. President, and I won't ever forget you."
Williams promised to one day have the president over for a home-cooked meal as two of the best known local officials, Governor Kathleen Blanco and Mayor Ray Nagin, both Democrats, stood behind them.
The appointment of the Fox News commentator Tony Snow as White House press secretary this week seemed to have created new tension on Thursday with reporters who cover the president.
On Air Force One, the outgoing press secretary, Scott McClellan, was questioned about why the televisions on the plane and in the White House were so often tuned to Fox News Channel -- with one questioner asking if there was a general White House edict requiring it.
McClellan said there was no such edict.
However, after a few minutes he returned to say of the television channel, "They're going to be changing it, at your all's request, to the channel that you requested, which is CNN -- from the press corps."
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