Obama vows to ensure Gulf Coast residents 'made whole'

GRAND ISLE, La. - President Barack Obama promised yesterday to stand with the people of the Gulf Coast "until they are made whole" from the oil spill catastrophe.

Obama recorded his weekly radio and Internet address from this barrier island town he visited Friday on his third trip to the Gulf since the April 20 drilling rig explosion unleashed a gusher of crude.

Speaking of the people he'd met - an oyster fisherman named Floyd whose oyster beds have been destroyed by oil, and Terry, a shrimper who is losing income because shrimp fishing has been shut down, Obama said: "These folks work hard. They meet their responsibilities. But now because of a man-made catastrophe - one that's not their fault and that's beyond their control - their lives have been thrown into turmoil.

"It's brutally unfair. It's wrong. And what I told these men and women - and what I have said since the beginning of this disaster - is that I'm going to stand with the people of the Gulf Coast until they are made whole," the president said.

Obama reiterated some of the steps the administration has taken to respond to the spill, including mobilizing National Guard troops, and in the increasingly forceful tone he has been directing at BP, the British oil giant that was drilling the well that blew up, he said: "We will make sure they pay every single dime owed to the people along the Gulf coast."

"We are prepared for the worst, even as we hope that BP's efforts bring better news than we've received before," Obama said, noting that regardless of the outcome, there will continue to be spillage until relief wells can be completed to permanently control the leak. That won't happen until August at the earliest.

"And there will continue to be a massive cleanup ahead of us," the president said, praising the people of the Gulf for their grit.