[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 108 (Friday, September 2, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H7635]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RESPONDING TO HURRICANE KATRINA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, today we have approved $10.5 billion in 
Federal funding to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. This is one 
of the largest natural disasters to ever hit the United States, and it 
is essential that Federal, State and local governments work together in 
a bipartisan fashion to provide the relief that is vitally needed.
  As a member of the Committee on Homeland Security, I recognize the 
important job that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has to 
coordinate disaster relief and life-saving efforts. The funding that we 
provide here today will go a long way to supporting that effort.
  The effort to recover the Gulf Coast is costing FEMA $750 million a 
day. At that rate, we anticipated we would run out of funding by next 
Tuesday, so it is critical that we deliver this help today, and we 
have.
  Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, but this is not just a Gulf Coast 
disaster. We are all in this together. We are all Americans. We all 
want to help our fellow citizens.
  Back home in my State of Connecticut, Governor Rell and Members of 
the delegation are taking action. We have activated 100 National Guard 
troops with experience as military police to try to help regain civil 
order in New Orleans. In addition, the governor has added four colleges 
in our State university system to offer free tuition and space to 
students from Connecticut who otherwise were studying at colleges that 
have been demolished by the storm.
  The governor has called upon Connecticut residents to do what they 
can to help, and they are responding. Around the State, civic groups, 
churches, businesses, and individuals are collecting bottled water, 
blankets, batteries and other essentials to ship into the region.
  Just this morning, my wife, Heidi, dropped off food and baby formula 
at the New London armory in an effort to help. Others are doing the 
same.
  Hurricane Katrina has given America a tremendous challenge. Family 
members cannot contact loved ones and are unaware of their condition 
and their fate. There are sanitation and health problems that must be 
addressed. People are homeless and need to be evacuated. Children are 
out of school and need to get back into school.
  The hurricane and the ensuing flood were deadly, disruptive and 
costly. We must respond as a people and stay united in that response. 
Just as we recovered from the man-made disaster of 9/11 a few years 
ago, so we will recover from this natural disaster as well, if we work 
together. If we are divided, we fail. We fail ourselves, we fail those 
who look to us and who need us and we fail the Nation.

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