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AP - Democrats Fault Bush's Katrina Response

Date: Sept. 2, 2006
Location: Washintgon, D.C.
Issues: National Security


Democrats Fault Bush's Katrina Response
Democrats: Bush administration has been slow in helping areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina

WASHINGTON, Sep. 2, 2006

(AP) In the year since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast, the Bush administration has been sluggish in helping devastated areas recover, a prominent Mississippi Democrat said in his party's Saturday radio address.

"Unfortunately, though there has been progress to remedy the problems caused by Hurricane Katrina, here we are one year later and many residents still remain displaced and homes and communities still need to be rebuilt," said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. "In my own home state, thousands of people are still homeless. And throughout the Gulf Coast, 80 percent of businesses with approved federal disaster loans are still waiting for their money."

Thompson said Democratic efforts to jump-start reconstruction efforts were undermined by Republicans, who "let partisanship get in the way of doing the right thing."

Nationally, two-thirds of Americans disapprove of President Bush's handling of the Katrina disaster, according to an AP-Ipsos poll last month. Democrats hope to capitalize on that dissatisfaction in this fall's midterm elections.

Thompson, the senior Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, also noted the upcoming fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"Despite multiple warnings of future and possible man-made or natural disasters, the Bush administration and the rubber-stamp Republican Congress have failed to adequately prepare our nation, leaving us vulnerable to large-scale disasters," Thompson said.

"There are remarkably troubling gaps that exist in our homeland security," Thompson said, accusing the administration of ignoring the recommendations of the Sept. 11 Commission. "Time and time again, Republicans have blocked Democratic efforts to implement and fund these recommendations to ensure our safety."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/02/ap/politics/mainD8JSR0P00.shtml

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