WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, in trouble for his choice of words, says he really does not want to see New Orleans bulldozed.
"It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed," the Illinois Republican said in an interview in reference to the storm-wracked city.
Asked whether he would support spending billions to rebuild it, he said, "I don't know. That doesn't make sense to me."
Hastert later issued a statement saying he was not "advocating that the city be abandoned or relocated." But Louisiana Democrats were incensed.
Former President Bill Clinton, asked about the interview, said if he had been there, "I'm afraid I would have assaulted him."
The speaker also had to defend his absence from the Capitol when Congress approved a $10.5 billion hurricane aid package.
