[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 7, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H7709]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HURRICANE KATRINA

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, hurricanes may be natural 
disasters, but Hurricane Katrina has made it clear to anyone in the 
world with a television that who lives and who dies, who is left to 
suffer, who is left without the most basic necessities of life, who is 
left without medical care as a result of that disaster is very much 
related to who you are.
  We have watched with horror and rapidly growing anger as Katrina came 
and went and left behind many, overwhelmingly poor, black, old, sick, 
to drown, to be stranded, to be herded into shelters under filthy, 
inhuman conditions, to be left in sweltering heat without water and 
food and to be cut off from health care. Why did it take aid and 
security so long to arrive?

                              {time}  1930

  We have received no answer.
  Why were we so unprepared? We have received no answer.
  What kind of shelters are planned without stockpiles of water and 
food as well as basic sanitation, medical personnel, and emergency 
power? We have received no answer.
  Why did we not immediately press into service every able-bodied 
National Guard member? Why did we not immediately bring into service 
emergency teams from cities across the country? We have received no 
answer.
  Why have we not moved to use unoccupied military barracks to house 
families left homeless by the storm? We have received no answer.
  Where are the plans and the resources to stabilize the lives of 
hundreds of thousands with no homes, no jobs, no schools? We have 
received no answers.
  Where are the plans and the resources to rebuild all that has been 
destroyed and to heal the families and communities left so devastated? 
We have received no answers.
  When will we act to rein in the profiteering by big oil? We have 
received no answer.
  How much can we do to lessen the impact of big storms by restoring 
natural buffers like wetlands, ending our disinvestment in 
infrastructure such as levees and acting to halt global warming? We 
have received no answer.
  Ordinary Americans have responded without reservation. They have 
opened their hearts and their wallets. They have already given hundreds 
of millions of dollars. They have given of their time and their 
material possessions. Many have opened their homes.
  We thank all of those who have contributed and we urge every 
household to find some way to join this great patriotic effort. Despite 
the sometimes heroic efforts of many frontline first responders, 
America's response to Katrina has been every bit as big a disaster as 
the storm itself.
  It is government, especially the Federal Government, that has failed. 
``Unacceptable'' is much too weak a term to describe that response to 
this disaster. It is time, it is past time, to put America's priorities 
straight and get them straight today.
  I call upon the President to immediately mobilize adequate resources, 
medical supplies, personnel, security, transportation, and move those 
who are still in harm's way to safety. We call on the administration to 
present to Congress an emergency plan and a budget to address the needs 
of all those left homeless and jobless while their homes and 
communities are being rebuilt.
  I call on the President to initiate an emergency public works program 
to rebuild America, to restore infrastructure, roads, bridges, water 
and sewers; and to mesh with private-sector insurance to rebuild every 
home, every small business.
  We have a clear choice. We can use this as an opportunity to offer 
thousands, especially our young people, a chance to work to learn new 
skills from construction to nursing, or we can abandon tens, perhaps 
hundreds of thousands who have been uprooted and displaced, who have 
lost their material possessions, but each of whom is still a unique and 
irreplaceable person with untapped resources.
  The President indicated that there is no limit to what we will spend 
in Iraq. I ask, how much will we spend in America?
  I thank all of those in my immediate community, from the governor to 
the mayor to the president of our county board, all elected officials, 
churches, members of organizations and groups. I am proud to live in 
Chicago and in Illinois where we have opened our hearts and our 
wallets, and I simply ask that our Federal Government do the same.

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