[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 109 (Tuesday, September 6, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT TO MEET IMMEDIATE NEEDS 
        ARISING FROM THE CONSEQUENCES OF HURRICANE KATRINA, 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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