Senators promise to put recovery first

NEW ORLEANS -- Leading members of the US Senate promised yesterday to put recovery ahead of partisan politics, rallying behind President Bush's call to rebuild this city and other swaths of the Gulf Coast left in tatters by Hurricane Katrina.

The cost of recovery is estimated at $200 billion. But Bush and top advisers emphatically rejected the possibility of raising taxes to pay for rebuilding and instead said cuts would be made in other federal spending, although they did not identify the programs that will face reductions.

''You bet it's going to cost money. But I'm confident we can handle it and I'm confident we can handle our other priorities," Bush said during a news conference alongside President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

Senate majority leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, predicted that it will take years to pay for damage wrought in hours by Katrina.

It will also take years to make those repairs. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development estimated yesterday that nearly $2.3 billion and at least three years will be needed to mend roads and bridges ripped apart by the storm and ensuing levee ruptures.

The price tag for restoring traffic lights and stop signs is expected to amount to $35 million. And millions more will be needed to restore agriculture in Louisiana, a critical component of the state's economy. Bob Odom, the state's agriculture commissioner, said more than $1 billion in damage has been done to timber, sugar, citrus, and dairy businesses in the state.

A contingent of 14 senators visited New Orleans to examine firsthand the damage wrought by the storm and to pledge their support for a sweeping rebuilding campaign. The delegation was headed by Frist and Senate minority leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

They stood together at the foot of Canal Street, not far from the crescent of the Mississippi River that defines New Orleans.

''You can see the television coverage as millions have seen in past days, and you can read the stories, the heartbreaking stories, the stories of courage, that all of us have read in the last days," said Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts. ''But nothing, nothing, nothing compares with seeing for ourselves the devastation we've seen these last few hours."

Senator Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, declared the hurricane to be an unprecedented disaster requiring an unprecedented response. The state's other senator, Republican David Vitter, cautioned that recovery efforts will be severely hampered if leaders indulge in political squabbling.

''If we let this become a partisan or political football in any way," Vitter said, ''we'll only victimize the victims of Katrina all over again."

Only hours after Bush addressed the nation from Jackson Square in New Orleans, there remained serious questions about how the federal government would pay for the president's revitalization plan.

''It'll end up requiring years to pay for this," Frist said.

But just having the money is not enough, Reid warned. He said Democrats are concerned that the money is not getting to the right people -- the people on the ground -- and urged his Republican colleagues to help make that possible.

''Let us vote on the things that we think are important," he said. ''Medicare, housing, education."

Other senators raised concerns about making sure the money is spent wisely, free of waste and corruption, a staple of politics in Louisiana in the past.

Kennedy said he is troubled that most of the contracts to clean up the Gulf Coast have gone to people who do not live here.

''That doesn't make sense to me," he said.

Part of the cleanup effort is concentrating on removing spilled oil from two parishes east of New Orleans -- St. Bernard and Plaquemines.

Representatives of the US Coast Guard and other federal agencies reported yesterday that their latest estimates show that 50,000 barrels of oil, each containing 42 gallons, had been recovered so far. They estimate that as many as 160,000 barrels may have ruptured as a result of the hurricane, although a significant proportion of the oil was dispersed by the storm surge or later evaporated.

''But I think we're still going to collect a lot more oil," said Charles Henry, an environmental scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

More than 1,000 homes have been polluted by spilled oil, authorities said, although the extent of that contamination has not been determined.

For the first time in nearly three weeks, New Orleans will experience a promising repatriation today: Authorities are expecting several thousand business owners to return to dry patches of the city.

Those owners can reclaim their shops and offices in four neighborhoods -- the central business district, the French Quarter, Uptown, and Algiers -- starting at 8 a.m.

''Enter at your own risk," business owners will be told in a memo they will receive today at one of nine checkpoints entering the city. Officials have prepared 100,000 memos for distribution.

When those business owners return, they are likely to encounter some Katrina survivors who never left: dogs, cats, and other pets left behind by owners who never expected to be gone so long.

The president of the Humane Society of the United States lambasted state and federal authorities yesterday for not doing more to aid in retrieving stranded animals.

''We need a swift and decisive declaration to help these pets," Humane Society president Wayne Pacelle said. ''I really appeal to the state and federal leaders to take action today, not tomorrow."

The Humane Society, Pacelle said, has compiled a roster of 7,000 homes where animals were left behind. Pacelle suggested that military forces be enlisted to conduct house-to-house searches for pets.

Major Ed Bush of the Louisiana National Guard said no policy exists governing the role of security forces in aiding stranded animals, although he said there have been repeated instances when troops scooped up wandering pets. ''But our focus has always been to save human lives," he said.

Stephen Smith reported from Baton Rouge, La. Keith O'Brien reported from New Orleans. Globe wire services were also used in this report.