June
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BP oil spill: Barack Obama and family swim in the Gulf of Mexico
By Calum Mcintyre Rogers and agencies Published: 8:51PM BST 14 Aug 2010
Barack Obama and his family have taken a holiday in Florida as the US President seeks to boost a tourism industry reeling after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Mr Obama was on holiday in Florida, accompanied on the brief 27-hour trip by First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughter Sasha. As well as holidaying, the President and First Lady met with small-business owners at a Coast Guard Station to hear accounts concerning the economic and environmental repercussions of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Obama said that his administration planned to make a long-term commitment to restoring and re-invigorating the Gulf Coast and repairing the damage from the spill: "We want to keep our focus here and not forget just because the well is capped," he said.
The President and First Lady were joined at the discussion by Charlie Crist, the Governor of Florida; Ray Mabus, the US Navy Secretary, a former Mississippi Governor appointed by Obama to develop a long-term Gulf restoration plan; the mayors of Panama City and Panama City Beach; the general manager of a three-hotel chain that has had 1,000 cancellations due to the spill, translating into more than $191,000 in lost room revenue alone; the owner of a charter boat company; and the co-owner of a restaurant and two fishing boats.
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If you were thinking of going to Florida for a holiday, would it convince you to go after seeing President Obama and Sasha in the water? Leave a comment.
. . . June
