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Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act To Meet Immediate Needs Arising from the Consequences of Hurricane Katrina, 2005

Date: Sept. 6, 2005
Location: Washington DC
Issues: National Security


EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT TO MEET IMMEDIATE NEEDS ARISING FROM THE CONSEQUENCES OF HURRICANE KATRINA, 2005 -- (Extensions of Remarks - September 06, 2005)

SPEECH OF
HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO
OF CONNECTICUT
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2005

Ms. DELAURO. Mr. Speaker, today our thoughts and prayers are with the thousands of citizens in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who have lost everything to Hurricane Katrina--their homes, their livelihoods, their families. Assisting people as they rebuild their lives after this unprecedented natural disaster is a moral responsibility of government. Like my colleagues, my top concern remains the search and rescue efforts underway on the ground in this affected region, and I am grateful for the heroic efforts of the relief workers who have joined in this effort.

I am encouraged that the battered Gulf Coast region will receive $10.5 billion in emergency funding from Congress, funding that will aid critical evacuation and recovery efforts as well as allow this area to begin to recover.

However, the issue is less whether we have the money for this--we will--than whether it will be used efficiently. Despite early warnings regarding the damage a hurricane could cause to this region, it appears the President's budget underfunded countless flood control and prevention projects.

At the same time, there are serious questions regarding the administration's competence in responding to this tragedy. In particular, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's incoherent response in the days following this disaster has been, in a word, unacceptable. The American people, writing and calling our offices here in Congress, are demanding accountability from their government.

In the coming days, they will begin to get answers. But today, I want to urge the President to take responsibility and move the Federal Government to action. That must be our continuing goal.

And so, Mr. Speaker, this emergency funding is a necessary first step on what will surely be a long road to recovery, and I urge my colleagues to support it. In the coming days, I will be working with my colleagues to ensure that it is used expeditiously and appropriately. The American people and the victims of this unprecedented natural disaster deserve no less.

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