[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 111 (Thursday, September 8, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H7791]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      PROVIDING FAMILY ASSISTANCE IN THE WAKE OF HURRICANE KATRINA

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as we offer our sympathy and 
reflection today to the victims of 9/11, we stand here again looking at 
another horrific and unspeakable tragedy, Hurricane Katrina.
  The numbers are clear that the greatest victims will be children. 
Some 400 children are homeless, and we know that between one-third and 
a quarter of them will have a traumatic experience after the end of 
their journey through Hurricane Katrina. We know that 35 percent of 
them that experienced this terrible tragedy will have a severe mental 
illness, and we also know that there are 800 missing children that are 
now lost or presumed dead through Hurricane Katrina.
  I think it is important as we look toward more legislation bills and 
moving quickly to address the horribleness of this tragedy that we 
provide for a one-time grant assistance for the children who have been 
impacted by this hurricane and that legislation be drafted and passed 
by both bodies to secure their protection and that we provide a 
structure that will monitor these children through adulthood, through 
reaching the age of majority.
  We have heard from psychiatrists that say that the most vulnerable 
victims of this tragedy who will suffer a horrific experience will be 
our children. We must rally around them. It is imperative that this 
Congress work together to provide them with the financial, social, 
psychiatric, and, of course, family assistance that is necessary.

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