[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 7, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H7719-H7720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          COMING TOGETHER FOR THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I hope that as my colleagues 
have spoken now for almost an hour, the American people will understand 
the depth of passion and concern that we are now experiencing as 
Members of the United States Congress.
  In particular, I want to acknowledge the gentleman from Louisiana 
(Mr. Jefferson) and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis) and the 
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) for the devastation that they 
have experienced in their districts and simply suggest that this is not 
a question of ``I's'' and ``me's,'' but it is a time now for ``me's'' 
and, if you will, ``us's,'' a time for America to come together, and a 
time for us to stand steadfast and to be able to be the wind beneath 
the wings of those survivors.
  I will also say, Mr. Speaker, that it is not a time to shy away from 
the critical questions that need to be asked and answered.
  There are many people now today that had homes and had a sense of 
comfort and might now be sitting with their family around a television 
set, just finishing dinner, going out, coming back in. But, Mr. 
Speaker, the bottom line is, they had a home. And unfortunately 
tonight, as we stand in this wonderful testament to democracy, we have 
Americans who have experienced a brutal and unending disaster in their 
lives.

                              {time}  2100

  And so I come today most of all to offer my deepest sympathy for the 
ones who lost their lives, and my deepest expression of concern to the 
survivors. And they are survivors. For those of us who watched in utter 
shock the events of the last week, what an opportunity to come face to 
face in my own city of Houston with the survivors. What an opportunity 
to be able to see the greatest expression of charitable output, if you 
will, by the city of Houston and Harris County, as people worked day in 
and day out, first working with no road map, no structure on how to 
receive hundreds and hundreds of buses and thousands of people, almost 
1,700 in one night, coming, individuals with the same clothing that 
they had on, suffering from overexposure, water, fear, trauma, 
individuals who had come from the Superdome and ultimately the 
Convention Center who thought they had been abandoned with no food, no 
water and no clothing and disaster amongst them.
  These individuals survived, and they came with a resilient spirit, 
and they buoyed the volunteers, and they buoyed the leadership of our 
city and Harris County. They worked to improve the conditions of the 
Dome, albeit as I walked and saw the throngs of people and sometimes 
the despair in senior citizens begging to go home, as they sat by the 
wheelchair of an elderly person, sitting with no clothing, people 
looking for their loved ones, holding up signs, where is my daughter, 
where is my son, my grandmother, my mother, my husband, my wife; 
doctors coming in in throngs from the medical center and all around the 
community; clothing being brought time after time. It was an amazing 
outpouring, but yet there was despair.
  But still, the volunteers in Houston kept meeting and meeting and 
meeting, recognizing that they could not give up as well. And now the 
George R. Brown Convention Center, opening its doors with people and 
wonderful sites for the children and libraries and the medical MASH 
unit.
  And we have gotten better, Mr. Speaker. We know how to do it now. And 
these are, in fact, our brothers and sisters. And, yes, there is 
something to the story of the Good Samaritan. We are, in fact, not 
doers of the deed, but we do it; and we understand what it means.
  But at the same time we rejoice that there are survivors, we must 
recognize that there must be an inquiry. And as we speak, I am writing 
legislation entitled the Katrina Inquiry Commission, because we 
remember the 9/11 Commission, and we are grateful for it.
  I am also associated with writing legislation that will drop tomorrow 
that provides relief for the survivors, so that if they are in 
bankruptcy, none of the benefits from the Federal Government can be 
used to discharge debts.
  We are also looking to provide more technology and working with FEMA

[[Page H7720]]

right now for the technology to help speed up the reunification of 
families. We are asking for more personnel on the ground and more 
resources so that we can put FEMA personnel in units like the Prince 
Center on Jensen Drive, doing an excellent job, just open their doors 
and allow people in; the Thurgood Marshall Center is a school in the 
North Forest Independent School District; and St. Peter Clavier.
  Mr. Speaker, I know that we can do better for the children. We can do 
better for our community. But certainly America knows that we can do 
better in the future. But right now, as we work toward this, we must 
draw together. We must insist, as we work together in the Congressional 
Black Caucus, that the people know that we have not abandoned them.
  I rise tonight with my colleagues eight days after Hurricane Katrina 
devastated parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. I want to 
especially thank Congressmen Jefferson and Thompson who have displayed 
great courage and resolve to help their constituents through the 
aftermath of this natural disaster. In my Congressional District in 
Houston tens of thousands of evacuees are being sheltered and fed. In 
fact, Americans throughout this country are stepping up to help those 
affected by this disaster. It demonstrates that once again in our 
darkest hour that we have united as a nation to help our brothers and 
sisters who now seek to rebuild their lives.
  As we stand here tonight in Congress we must find steps to move 
forward to help those affected by this disaster and to try to prevent 
such an ineffective response from taking place again. I plan to 
introduce a number of legislative measures that will seek to alleviate 
the suffering of the survivors of the most devastating natural disaster 
in modern American history. I along with my Judiciary colleagues led by 
Ranking Member Conyers will introduce legislation to protect the 
hundreds of thousands of families and small businesses financially 
devastated by Hurricane Katrina from being penalized by debtor 
provisions contained in the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer 
Protection Act of 2005, scheduled to take effect on October 17, 2005. 
This legislation is based in part on an amendment I offered at the 
markup of the Bankruptcy bill. We expect a Senate counterpart to be 
introduced this week as well.
  We are concerned that just as survivors of Hurricane Katrina are 
beginning to rebuild their lives, the new bankruptcy law will result in 
a further and unintended financial whammy. Unfortunately, the new law 
is likely to have the consequence of preventing devastated families 
from being able to obtain relief from massive and unexpected new 
financial obligations they are incurring by forcing them to repay their 
debt with income they no longer have, but which is counted by the law.
  Our bill makes several important adjustments. First, it would specify 
that individuals who are victims of natural disasters, and who incurred 
a substantial portion of their debt as a result of that disaster, are 
not subject to the ``means test'' and therefore cannot be forced into 
burdensome repayment plans. Although the current law includes an 
exception to the means test if the debtor can demonstrate ``special 
circumstances,'' qualifying for such an exemption will be quite costly 
and burdensome, and require numerous detailed filings and legal 
certifications. This is the last thing a hurricane victim should need 
to worry about. Since the current bankruptcy law counts all income 
earned in the six months prior to the bankruptcy as part of future 
income, this means that hurricane victims who have lost their jobs will 
be considered high income debtors who are presumed to be abusing the 
bankruptcy system. This is obviously absurd; so our bill gives the 
hurricane victims an automatic carve out, as we already do for certain 
categories of veterans.
  Second, it would specify that disaster relief payments are not 
counted as part of income for purposes of calculating repayment plans. 
These are one time, limited payments, and should not result in a 
hurricane victim being treated as a high income debtor. Just as we 
excluded Social Security, compensation for victims of war crimes, and 
terrorism payments from current monthly income, we also should exclude 
these payments as part of the calculation of relevant income.
  Third, our bill would give the court the discretion to extend certain 
deadlines for businesses devastated by Hurricane Katrina, to insure 
that a business is not inadvertently forced to liquidate--and lay off 
workers--as a result of an arbitrary deadline. Other key provisions of 
our bill would:
  Exempt from the requirement of completing credit counseling and 
credit education in order to get a discharge debtors who cannot 
complete those requirements because of a natural disaster (a similar 
exemption is provided under the bankruptcy law for individuals serving 
in military combat zones and people who are disabled or incompetent);
  Exempt victims of natural disasters from the provisions of the new 
law that make it easier for landlords to lift the automatic stay and 
evict their tenants who are in bankruptcy;
  Exempt victims of natural disasters whose records are likely lost or 
destroyed from the more onerous paperwork and documentation 
requirements of the new law; and
  Provide additional filing options for debtors who have relocated or 
are otherwise unable due to a natural disaster to file in the venue 
designated by law.
  The legislation we plan to introduce will prevent new bankruptcy 
provisions from having adverse and unintended consequences for the 
hundreds of thousands of individuals now facing financial ruin by 
providing needed flexibility for victims of natural disasters in 
bankruptcy proceedings.
  I also plan to introduce a bill that will provide tax breaks for 
individuals who take in evacuees into their home. These people are 
stepping up to provide shelter and relief to their fellow Americans and 
I believe it is certainly proper to encourage this behavior through the 
implementation of tax breaks.
  In addition, I propose legislation that will grant a minimum of 
20,000 two-year tenant-based housing assistance vouchers for Katrina's 
victims, together with transportation and relocation assistance to be 
used where necessary. These vouchers should be administered by local 
housing agencies presently administering HUD-funded Section 8 Housing 
Choice Voucher assistance, which are located in or near the areas 
hardest hit by Katrina. These agencies are already position to provide 
housing assistance and can play an extremely helpful role meeting the 
immediate housing needs of Katrina's victims. This legislation would 
also allow the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to issue a 
wide range of statutory and regulatory waivers in order to most 
effectively and flexibly utilize HUD resources to meet the needs of 
victims.
  Finally, I am calling for the establishment of a Commission to study 
the genesis of the devastation caused by the hurricane. We need a 9/11 
style commission to know everything that took place. In addition, I am 
calling for the establishment of a position of an ombudsman for FEMA in 
order to provide proper oversight. Without a proper investigation we 
can not get all the answers and without the answers we can not provide 
the necessary legislation and oversight needed to try to prevent this 
kind of human suffering from happening again in the future.

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