[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 108 (Friday, September 2, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H7633-H7634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       DESPERATELY NEEDED SUPPORT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kirk) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, Thomas Payne wrote in 1776 that ``now is the 
time that try men's souls.'' This is also one of those times in the 
life of our country, as we witness the destruction of a major U.S. city 
and the pain of our fellow Americans on the Gulf Coast.
  In our Constitution, the Federal Government is charged with the 
mission to provide for the common defense. That defense is not just 
against threats coming from other countries, but also from natural 
disasters like Hurricane Katrina.
  I have heard recriminations against the mayor of New Orleans, against 
the governor of Louisiana, and against the President of the United 
States, but now is not the time to divide Americans in political 
fighting. The mayor, the governor and the President must pull together 
at this time for search and rescue, for humanitarian relief and for 
reconstruction of the Gulf Coast.
  Catastrophes like this illustrate the kindness and generosity of the 
American spirit. With hundreds of thousands unable to return to their 
homes, communities have opened their doors and welcomed victims. In my 
district we have seen five major high schools and scores of other 
schools begin fund raising drives for hurricane relief.
  Major Illinois employers have already donated $7.2 million in cash. 
Abbott Laboratories, Medline, Astella, and Cardinal Health all have 
donated major supplies, and thanks to their generosity, truckloads of 
baby formula and nutritional supplements and electrical generators are 
on their way from Illinois to the scene. To help police and emergency 
officials regain control of the situation, Motorola has sent 2,500 
portable radios to New Orleans.
  Today in Congress we approved a $10.5 billion supplemental emergency 
appropriation to ensure the continuation of the rescue and recovery 
effort. Today's bill, enacted by Congress in just 22 hours, is the 
third largest disaster supplemental in our history, and

[[Page H7634]]

no doubt there will be Katrina supplementals 2 and 3 to follow.
  We should do this, but we should also do more by encouraging 
Americans and corporate citizens to open their hearts and their 
wallets, and with this outpouring of support we will speed the 
recovery.
  Mr. Speaker, for the last 2 weeks I have been on active duty as a 
reservist in the United States Navy. Working as an intelligence officer 
in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I spent the first week on duty reporting 
on the usual topics: Developments in Afghanistan, the withdrawal of 
Israel from Gaza, et cetera, but all of that changed when Katrina 
loomed off the coast of the United States. Deep in the operations 
center of the Joint Staff, we formed a Katrina response cell to 
coordinate what is now becoming the largest U.S. military-civilian 
relief effort in history. We focused all of the vast resources of the 
Department of Defense on the defense of New Orleans. Within hours of 
the response cell's creation, dozens of ships, hundreds of planes, 
thousands of troops and millions of meals were on the way.
  Like the U.S. military's response to the tsunami, the current 
operation will save lives, repair infrastructure, and will speed the 
recovery. I want to particularly thank our new Chief of Naval 
Operations who took it on his own initiative to send ships towards the 
relief effort. Admiral Mullen's prompt action meant that the Navy 
relief helicopters arrived on the scene much sooner than planned.
  Today in the wake of this natural disaster, we are witnessing 
selfless dedication by Americans in uniform. There are over 21,000 
military personnel responding to the hurricane. The bulk of these 
forces are National Guard men and women called into service to assist 
in the rescue effort. They are truly citizen soldiers and their service 
is urgently needed and deeply appreciated.
  As more National Guard troops arrive on the scene, law and in order 
will be restored and communications and power reestablished. Today 
there are more than 154 helicopters rescuing trapped civilians, 
delivering food and water, and dropping sand bags to plug the breaches 
in the levee system. The Army Corps of Engineers is working to plug 
gaps in the levees and to begin pumping the water out of New Orleans.
  More help is on the way. The crew of the USS Bataan is on station off 
the coast with its helicopters delivering supplies and conducting 
search and rescue missions. USS Iwo Jima and the mighty aircraft 
carrier USS Harry Truman are also there to provide helicopter support. 
All told, there are over 10 Navy ships currently on station or on their 
way to provide support, and this includes the hospital ship USS Comfort 
with 2,000 hospital beds.
  The DLA has made more than 750,000 Meals-Ready-to-Eat available, and 
has access to 3 million more if needed. The response from the 
Department of Defense has been impressive and is accelerating, and I 
want to thank Admiral Keating at Northern Command, Lieutenant General 
Honore of Joint Task Force Katrina, and Lieutenant General Blum at the 
National Guard Bureau for their efforts.
  Mr. Speaker, there are countless acts of heroism taking place along 
the Gulf Coast. The military, Coast Guard and the FEMA are all 
spearheading this Federal response. Every day people are doing their 
part for the relief effort and we here in Congress should do that as 
well by directing additional resources to the effort.
  Mr. Speaker, today is just a first step in what is going to be a long 
and costly recovery, and we should stand united by our commitment to 
help rebuild those hurt by Katrina.

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