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WASHINGTON -- President Bush dispatched more than 7,000 additional active duty troops to the urricane-ravaged Gulf Coast on Saturday as he vowed that more would be done to maintain order and bring relief in the aftermath of one of the nation's worst natural disasters.
''In America, we do not abandon our fellow citizens in their hour of need,'' a somber Bush said in a live radio broadcast from the Rose Garden. ''And the federal government will do its part. Where our response is not working, we'll make it right.''
Faced with stinging criticism that the government1s efforts were initially weak and limited, Bush again acknowledged the response was ''unnacceptable'' and promised more resources will be available. The $10.5 billion in emergency funding passed by Congress is only a ''down payment,'' he added, pledging that towns and cities decimated by the hurricane would be rebuilt.
''And we'll once again show the world that the worst adversities bring out the best in America,'' the president said.
Some 21,000 National Guard troops already are on the ground in the affected region along with 4,000 active duty soldiers, but residents in a partially submerged and nearly lawless New Orleans remain in need.
Television images of desperate residents, many of whom are black, sparked concerns of bias from some African American congressional members this week. And rapper Kanye West blasted the government and news media during a fund-raising telethon on NBC Friday night.
''George Bush doesn't care about black people,'' West said before the network cut him off. NBC edited the comment out of the show, which aired later on the West Coast.
In more subdued comments, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., called on Bush Saturday to use his authority to deliver more relief immediately.
''We are concerned that rescue and recovery efforts appear to remain chaotic and that many victims remain hungry and without adequate shelter nearly a week after the hurricane struck,'' the two Democrats said in a letter. ''Clearly, strong personal leadership from you is essential if we are to get this effort on track.''
With the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Defense spending an estimated $500 million a day on the relief efforts, the emergency funding passed by Congress last week could run out by Sept. 21.
Another request for funds is expected later this month.
Bush said during the weekly radio address -- his third live one since taking office -- that he would work with Congress to ensure a ''sustained federal commitment'' to the Gulf Coast. He said that the ''human costs are incalculable,'' and that America has ''a responsibility to our brothers and sisters all along the Gulf Coast, and we will not rest until we get this right and the job is done.''
Bush spokesman Scott McClellen also announced Saturday that an historic trip by Chinese President Hu Jintao to the White House next week would be rescheduled while Bush focuses on the hurricane disaster.
Meanwhile, facing a shortage of doctors and nurses, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, Utah1s former governor, asked for help from health care professionals to volunteer to assist in the relief effort.
"The desire of America's health care professionals to use their skills to help hurricane Katrina's victims has been inspiring, " Leavitt said in a statement, announcing a Web site and phone number for volunteers to join ''this network of goodness.''
Volunteers, from security officers to veteranarians to dentists, were asked to sign up on the Web site, http://volunteer.hhs.gov or by calling the toll-free number 1-866-KAT-MEDI.