[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 111 (Thursday, September 8, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1800]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               SECOND KATRINA SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS

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                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 8, 2005

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, as we speak, rescue personnel from across 
the country are continuing the relief effort while ordinary citizens in 
cities throughout America are volunteering and giving. They are taking 
in those who have lost everything. Heroism is winning out. And the 
funding in this underlying bill will help ensure that it continues to.
  But as we work to get this relief effort right, Congress should 
recognize how we got to this point. That starts with understanding what 
this Administration has done to FEMA.
  Last year, former director of FEMA James Lee Witt told us, and I 
quote--``Scientists tell us that we are going to be seeing more 
catastrophic natural disaster events in the 21st Century then we've 
ever seen. . . And yet we have destroyed the one agency that not only 
responds to those events, but also works with state and local 
governments to do pre-disaster mitigation prevention before that risk 
could ever happen, to minimize that risk.''
  As long as our nation gazes upon the devastation in this once-vibrant 
city of New Orleans, it will remain a symbol of this Administration's 
misplaced priorities--its misplaced values. The Obey Amendment would 
have gone a long way toward restoring FEMA to the efficient, non-
political agency it was during emergencies like the Oklahoma City 
bombings in the 1990's. In doing so, we would ensure that never again 
in the face of a national disaster will the Federal government and the 
agency responsible for emergency relief fail to act or fail to lead. We 
owe the victims of Katrina and the heroes of this rescue effort nothing 
less.

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