20th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

Floor Speech

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Mr. LATIMER. Mr. Speaker, 20 years ago Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The images of families stranded, neighborhoods submerged, and a city brought to its knees are seared into our national memory. That tragedy exposed serious failures in our disaster response, and we promised never to let it happen again.

This administration has broken that promise. They have hollowed out our national emergency response systems and are floating the idea of eliminating FEMA altogether. That is not leadership. That is negligence.

Disasters don't care about ideology. In the last year, we have seen natural disasters in California, Texas, North Carolina, and Florida. Whether it is a natural disaster or pandemic, Americans expect a Federal Government that shows up and is ready to respond. Costs and response capacity are too much for any one State to bear on their own.

Americans deserve competence and compassion, not political games and threats to withhold funds when lives are on the table.

We must remember the lessons of Katrina. Disaster will strike whether we are ready or not. It is the Federal Government's responsibility to be ready.

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