[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 111 (Thursday, September 8, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   STATEMENT ON THE SECOND EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR 
                       HURRICANE KATRINA RESPONSE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. KENDRICK B. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 8, 2005

  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, in this time of national tragedy, 
the merits of this bill are obvious. The American people are generous 
and insist that we offer aid and assistance to Hurricane Katrina's 
survivors.
  The confidence of our nation was shaken by the slowness and 
shortcomings of the federal government's response to this massive human 
tragedy.
  While this Second Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Hurricane 
Katrina Response provides an additional $51.8 billion for hurricane 
relief, much more will need to be done.
  Congress must ensure that the victims, and the state, local, federal 
and private agencies that are trying to care for them, have the 
resources they need.
  However, it is not enough to just vote for large funding bills. 
Americans also want accountability on the over $60 billion we have 
appropriated so far for Hurricane Katrina relief.
  We have to make sure that the relief money we are appropriating today 
and in the future actually gets to the victims, and is not used on 
unscrupulous contractors or spent on projects that boost the profits of 
companies seeking to profit at the expense of the hurricane victims and 
the taxpayers. This was the case in Iraq, where hundreds of millions of 
dollars were either ``lost'' or improperly paid to contractors like 
Halliburton.
  To make sure that the $2 billion that FEMA is now spending every day 
is properly used, I believe that, even as we appropriate billions for 
hurricane relief, we also provide additional resources to the Office of 
the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security to help 
ensure that the additional tens of billions of dollars that will be 
necessary to care for our fellow Americans and rebuild the South are 
not wasted through fraud, abuse, overpayments or ineffective government 
management.
  We have many good reasons for concern about wasteful spending. In the 
3 years since the Department of Homeland Security, the umbrella 
department that houses FEMA, was created, numerous reports by the 
Congress, the Department's Inspector General and the Government 
Accountability Office have detailed instance after instance of 
contracting deficiencies, fraud, wasteful or lavish spending, lax 
oversight and management, procurement shortcomings, blurred lines of 
responsibility and lack of accountability.
  I believe that this Congress must make sure, to the greatest extent 
possible, that the funds that we are appropriating today and in the 
coming months to help the Hurricane Katrina victims are directed 
squarely at helping the victims and not those who seek to profit at the 
expense of the victims who desperately need the help. This is more than 
just a business opportunity for the Administration's friends. It is an 
opportunity to do the right thing and help those who are suffering, and 
it is our obligation.
  I also want to express my disappointment in the bicameral review 
committee created by the Republican Majority to examine the federal 
government's response to Hurricane Katrina. This committee, simply put, 
will be toothless.

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