[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 111 (Thursday, September 8, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9771-S9774]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HURRICANE KATRINA
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today as the senior from
Louisiana. But I was not born a Senator. I was born a Louisianian. I am
a daughter of the Crescent City, raised by a family of places whose
names may seem strange and exotic to people in Washington, DC, and
around the Nation places like Plaquemines, Cocodrie, Kenner, Slidell,
St. Tammany, St. Bernard and Bogalusa.
Most people refer to this region of the country--Mississippi,
Louisiana and Alabama--as the energy coast the maritime coast, the gulf
coast. The largest city in this area is the city of New Orleans, almost
500,000 people, my hometown. At one time or another every Member of
this body has told me their own story about what they love about New
Orleans and south Louisiana. For some, it is our music. For others it
is Mardi Gras. And yet others, it is that special magic. Each one of
you has come away from our State with a special memory, a singular
moment that reflects the vibrant culture and personality of our State.
And what all of my colleagues have mentioned to me over many years is
the special, special spirit of the people.
Today, I stand before my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, to
report to the Senate that our people are hurting. Some are despairing
and many are still crying. But our spirit is strong and it will be this
spirit, along with the best work the Senate has ever done, that we will
lift this region and rebuild it.
Thousands are dead, and only God knows how many. Hundreds and
thousands are homeless, jobless, and without their businesses, large
and small. But amidst water, death, destruction, anguish and anger, our
spirit is strong.
And today, there are thousands of heroes. Those heroes may not be
anybody in this Chamber, but I will tell you who the heroes are. They
are the leaders of Plaquemines Parish and St. Bernard and Orleans and
Jefferson and counties in Mississippi that kept their government
functioning even as much of their parish laid under water. In St.
Bernard and Plaquemines Parish, that water was 8 to 20 feet high in
places. And in New Orleans, the water still stands 6 to 10 feet in some
places on the east bank. The only thing out of the water the last time
I left was Jackson Square, the Cathedral and the French Quarter.
Because the people who settled the city were smart enough to put it on
the highest ground they could find, and that high ground has been
serving this Nation so well and so magnificently for over 300 years.
And it is still there.
The heroes are the New Orleans sheriffs who secured and evacuated the
city jail, not because they were trying to coddle the prisoners, but
because there was a threatened jail break when the system failed and
the electricity went off. So the deputies who had lost their own homes
and had lost maybe members of their own family, swam through water to
get the prisoners out of the prison, not to give them a warm meal but
to secure them, so hardened rapists and murderers would not plague the
city at its time of greatest distress.
Our local leaders never once flinched from their duty to protect
their residents and save every man, woman or child, regardless of race
or income.
It was so desperate that the law enforcement didn't have to triage.
The people were triaging themselves. In other words, when the boat
drove up, they would put the old people first in the boat. Then they
would put the babies in the boat. And all the young, ``healthy'' people
would just stay on the roof until the boat could come back. Sometimes
it did and in some cases it was too late.
I flew back here after one plane that I got on had no fuel. I had to
come back with the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and he told me
himself yesterday the Coast Guard rescued 32,000 people either by boat
or by helicopter. And that is not counting what Wildlife and Fisheries
agents did in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama. That is not counting
what regular boat owners, once they could wade through water and turn
their boats on went down and did themselves, of which the news media
did not cover. Because the only thing the news media could focus on was
the Convention Center and the Superdome because it made the best
picture. We understand that as politicians. They need visuals. I am
sorry I couldn't provide any more visuals for them, but there was a lot
more going on than just at the Superdome and the Convention Center.
Across the State, perhaps the greatest heroes are those we don't know
about the concerned and courageous friends who took care of elderly
neighbors and ensured their safe evacuation. One brief story: An
elderly African-American woman in a shelter came up to me. She was a
retired teacher. Her feet were wrapped because she had cut up her feet
in this episode. She said, ``Ms. Landrieu, please go back and tell
those people in Washington we were fine after the hurricane hit. It
wasn't the hurricane that put us under. It was that water that came up
from the levee. Don't they know anything up there about the 17th Street
Canal? Don't they know anything about the Florida Street Canal?''
I said, ``No, Ma'am, but we're going to tell them more about that.''
She said, ``I stood on my ladder for 2 days. I've never seen water
like that. That water kept going up 6 inches and going down 6 inches.''
Do you know what she was experiencing with the water rising and
receding? She was feeling the tide of Lake Ponchartrain. She said, ``It
kept going up to my nose and going down to my chest.''
The Louisiana State flag depicts a pelican. The pelican takes from
herself, her own breast to feed her young. Thousands of Louisianians
this week brought that state symbol to life.
As brave and bold as my fellow Louisianians have been--and our heart
goes out to the people in Mississippi and Alabama--we have been moved
beyond measure by the generosity and selflessness of our fellow
Americans. New York City itself sent 600 of its finest and bravest
police officers and firefighters who were willing to run into a
collapsing tower on September 11 knowing what we didn't know, knowing
that the radios on their hips were not going to work. But they ran in
the building anyway. Those police officers are on their way right now
to help the city of New Orleans. And I want to thank the Senators from
New York, the delegation from New York, for sending them.
Cities, suburbs, and States across the Nation have welcomed our
citizens as their own. Senator Lincoln told me yesterday on the phone,
``Mary, send them north. As soon as they cross the borders, I've got
them in my arms.'' I thank Senator Lincoln and thank all the Senators
that have called.
And so, if it is possible that my heart is a little heavy today, I've
seen more in the last 2 weeks than in my entire life, and I hope never
to witness it again. But while my heart is heavy, my heart today is
also lifted with gratitude for my fellow Americans.
Of course, already some in Washington are pointing fingers at State
and local officials--officials who had little more than just the good
sense that God gave them while trying to save everyone that they could,
all amidst criticism that they have had to bear from other government
officials.
In this Chamber alone, every one of you voted the other night to send
billions of dollars of aid and assistance. As Harry Reid said earlier
today, it will probably cost us a lot more. I am sorry I could not even
report to you an accurate estimate of what that might be, but I predict
it will be over $200 billion.
As I stand here today, Senator Vitter, my partner, remains in the
State to continue assessing damage. He has been a steady voice through
this, and I want to acknowledge him.
This unprecedented catastrophe will require unprecedented support. I
am concerned today because our Nation, our national government failed
in its greatest responsibility, and that is protecting the lives of
Americans. I am not saying the military failed, or the Coast Guard
failed and most certainly not the National Guard that was there before
the storm hit and is still there.
Let me talk a minute about my National Guard. Eight thousand of them
have already been to Iraq and back, not once but twice. Three thousand
of them are scheduled to come home in September. The Governor and I and
Senator Vitter were planning a homecoming for them. They are going to
get quite a homecoming because many of them are from south Louisiana,
and they don't have houses to come home to. I am here to tell you, that
while
[[Page S9772]]
they may not have houses, they do have a home. We will do the best we
can, and General Landreneau is well aware of the situation with his men
and women on their way back from Iraq to hold their families tight.
We must learn from this experience. If we do not, we will fail again.
I have learned more in 2 weeks than I could ever have hoped to learn.
I am going to continue to learn, and I ask the Senators to open their
hearts and minds and learn. We don't ever want this to happen to any
other city or any other place in this country for as long as we are on
this Earth.
It is not true that Louisiana was not prepared. Surely we could have
done a better job in every case, but our evacuation plan--and I want to
give credit to the Governor of Mississippi and the Governor of
Louisiana--Haley Barbour and Kathleen Blanco, who have been planning
since Hurricane Ivan struck a year ago where everyone got stuck on the
interstates and the back roads, those two Governors worked out a plan
because we share a highway. We don't have a Louisiana highway that goes
north and a Mississippi highway. We share our highways, and those
Governors made a plan to get everybody out, and it worked as well as
something like that can work. We had 2 million people approximately to
evacuate in about 2 days. We got a lot of people out.
But when the storm hit and the levees broke, our calls went
unanswered. In years past, our bills have languished here on the
calendar. Money we requested before has been postponed year after year,
year after year. I don't even want to talk to my colleagues about
coastal erosion. They have heard it from me so many times and from
everybody in the Louisiana delegation. They can give that speech better
than I can.
But I will tell you one thing about our Federal Government. Our
Federal Government, whether it was FEMA or this administrator or former
administration or us, gambled that the predictions that countless
experts voiced time and time again were mere rhetoric. They gambled
that no one would notice if Louisiana's critical and vital role in our
national economy was threatened.
And Washington rolled the dice and Louisiana lost.
I cannot stand here today and tell you that if all the money we had
asked for, if it would have kept the levees up, but I can tell you that
it would have given us more protection than we had.
Nor can I say with certainty that full funding for restoring our
coasts would have protected those who perished in St. Bernard or in
Jefferson or Washington parish or the counties in Mississippi and
Alabama. But I can assure you that we would have had at least had a
fighting chance. And I intend to find out just how much of a fighting
chance we would have had.
And I intend to find out why the Federal response, particularly the
response of FEMA, was so incompetent and insulting to the people of our
States.
Already some in Washington are pointing fingers that something is
wrong with my state and local officials, and if they would have been a
little smarter, a little tougher, a little braver maybe this could have
been avoided. This hurricane was a category four. It was one of the
worst storms we have seen in this century. The eye of the storm went
right over Slidell, LA. Waveland, MS, I understand from Senators
Cochran and Lott, is gone. Biloxi is quite damaged, and that is where
the storm came.
I am sorry we couldn't do anything about that, but I want you to know
the people of our States have survived storms before. That was not what
put us under. It was the levee systems that broke in New Orleans, a
city that invented the gravity pump, a city that helped the Dutch
secure the Netherlands and sent our engineering to Venice to keep that
city floating. We invented those pumps in south Louisiana. We know
about pumps. Harry Reid's seen them himself.
We know that the head of the National Hurricane Center said that he
briefed the President of the United States on the threat of Katrina in
a video conference call the day before she hit land.
We know the President said, quote, I don't think anybody anticipated
the breach of the levees. Everybody anticipated the breach of the
levee, including computer simulations in which this administration
participated. Even the clay figurine, Mr. Bill, from ``Saturday Night
Live'' anticipated the breach. His creator, a friend of mine, has used
him in public service announcements for over 2 years, saying this will
be the effect if this happens. How can it be that Mr. Bill was better
informed than Mr. Bush?
We know the Secretary of Homeland Security pronounced himself, quote,
extremely pleased with the response of every element of the Federal
Government, even as the cable news networks were broadcasting images
telling how he was so tragically wrong.
We know that FEMA was unaware that 20,000 Americans were stranded at
the Convention Center without food, without water, without security,
without clothes, without buses, without toilets and with no way out,
and I had to stand there and listen to the news media say these people
were lawless. These were mothers and fathers trying to find water for
their kids. I might have been a little upset under the circumstances
myself.
We know that someone has to be accountable. Let me be the first to
take any blame that is to be assigned.
I will not allow my local officials to be made into scapegoats for
others. I will not allow carping from those who were not there to
diminish my Governor, my Lieutenant Governor, who happens to be my
brother, who spent 3 days in a rescue boat, despite the pleas of his
own wife, his sister, his mother and father not to go. He went anyway,
and he lifted both the living and the dead out with his own hands.
Within 24 hours of the storm hitting the Gulf Coast, Senator Frist
called and Senator Reid called. I appreciate so much that they were
right there. I tried to reach Thad Cochran; he tried to reach me. I
tried to reach Trent Lott. And David Vitter and I were together the
whole time, but we couldn't get through on our cell phones. I know they
called, and I thank them very much.
The record for rebuilding costs will be staggering, but it will pale
in comparison to the staggering incompetence of this national
government which is responsible.
Black people suffered, White people suffered, poor people suffered,
and rich people suffered. The whole city is under water on the east
bank. The wealthy neighborhoods have 10 feet of water, and the poor
neighborhoods have 10 feet of water. Water does not know boundaries. It
doesn't know demographics. It doesn't know Democrat or Republican. It
doesn't know to stop at rich neighborhoods. It doesn't know just to go
to poor neighborhoods. It goes everywhere. And there are wealthy people
who are desperate. They don't know how to restart their businesses and
keep their employees paid. They have no idea where to put their
businesses. Do they leave the state? Do they go to Atlanta? Do they
come back? What do they do with their wife and children? Do they take
them and put them to school in Atlanta, or do they set their businesses
up on the highest ground they can find?
The poor people are very disoriented. They have a hard time normally
and they are having a real hard time now.
I want to say a special word of thanks personally to Ted Koppel for
the beautiful piece he did last night, because I haven't been able to
watch much television myself, but I got to see his piece. And we need
journalists like that. I kept thinking, where's Walter Cronkite, and
all I had was Geraldo Rivera.
I want to personally thank my family, my parents, my children, who
evacuated with me that morning.
And the final word is this to the President: Mr. President, we need
you. We need your help. The last time I shook the President's hand he
looked at me and he said, ``Senator, I appreciate your passion.''
And I said, ``Thank you, Mr. President, because passion is what we
need.''
He said, ``I'm sorry you lost your childhood home. I know that's
upsetting to you.'' I want to be clear for the record in that piece
that you all saw with me with George Stephanopoulos. I was not crying
in anguish because the home that I walked out of with my children was
gone. I knew it would be gone when I left. It was an anguished cry, a
plea to the only one that I thought could hear, and that was God
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himself, and I know he has heard, because the people of my state have
cried out to him for now over a week and a half. But as he gives us the
grace and the wisdom to do our job, I hope we can do it well because
there are hundreds of thousands of families who are depending on us to
do our best work.
Today we are going to rebuild New Orleans and the coasts of
Mississippi and Alabama because America needs New Orleans right where
it is, as well as the parishes of St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Orleans,
Jefferson, and Plaquemines, and Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties
in Mississippi; and Baldwin and Mobile counties in Alabama.
The gulf coast region of our Nation is simply too important to be
left for dead. One of the founding geniuses of our freedom, Thomas
Jefferson, understood that. Two hundred years ago he purchased
Louisiana--then it stretched from the Mississippi to the Rocky
Mountains. And that purchase put us on the road to greatness, from sea
to shining sea.
It is an energy coast. It was put there for a reason. We did not go
there to sunbathe. We went there to set up the Mississippi River, to
tame that river, to create channels for this country to grow and
prosper. The Higgins boats that saved us from World War II were built
in New Orleans. Forty-three thousand people built those boats and
headed them out to Normandy. We are going to rebuild our shipping
industry, we are going to rebuild our maritime industry, and we are
going to rebuild this great gulf coast of the United States.
I ask unanimous consent have printed in the Record a letter dated
September 7, 2005.
There being no objection, the material was orderd to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC, September 7, 2005.
Hon. Bill Frist,
U.S. Senate Majority Leader,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Harry Reid,
U.S. Senate Minority Leader,
Washington, DC.
Dear Leaders: As the U.S. Senate begins work on further
Hurricane Katrina relief and rebuilding legislation, we write
to implore both of you to do everything in your power to
ensure it is done in a spirit and through a process that is
fully bipartisan.
Now, just nine days after this devastating storm hit, we
have already detected some troubling signs in Washington and
in the Senate. There are signs that some might try to
maneuver in the debate on relief legislation specifically for
partisan gain. We view any such attempt as abhorrent and
injurious to the already suffering victims of the hurricane.
We implore both of you to lead in a completely different
direction. This must be done not only through words and
symbols but by developing all relief legislation in a fully
bipartisan way.
The Senate has always acted this way in the past in
developing disaster relief legislation, whether to address 9/
11, Hurricane Andrew, or a myriad of other challenges. The
need for this method of action and leadership is even greater
now.
There is no question that there were mistakes made and
lessons learned from this tragic experience. The Senate will
have ample time to thoroughly investigate this event, and we
plan to play a major role in these investigations. Now, all
of our resources and efforts should be dedicated to the
rescuing of victims, providing food, shelter, employment,
education and healthcare to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
We must also begin laying the groundwork for the long-term
recovery and re-building of our great state. Please do not
make the citizens of Louisiana a victim once again by
allowing our immediate needs to be delayed by partisanship.
In these past situations, committee chairmen and ranking
members always developed legislation together and it passed
with near unanimity.
Thank you for your leadership and your attention to this
vital plea.
Sincerely,
Mary Landrieu.
U.S. Senate.
David Vitter.
U.S. Senate.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, as ranking member of the Subcommittee on
Research, Nutrition, and General Legislation of the Agriculture,
Nutrition and Forestry Committee I am today introducing a bill with
Senator Harkin, the ranking member on that committee, to provide
additional emergency food assistance in response to the devastation
caused by Hurricane Katrina, and the flooding in the aftermath of that
massive storm. It is very similar to the efforts of Senator Landrieu
and Leader Reid but it just focuses on food assistance.
This legislation will provide USDA with additional funding and
authorities to provide a strong and continuous response to the food
needs of thousands of families adversely affected by Hurricane Katrina.
While thousands may have perished in America's largest natural
disaster, we must turn to the living to do what we can to help. I am
especially troubled by the horror stories I have heard about the
treatment of the elderly. It was almost impossible to watch the images
on television.
Another terrifying image was of children separated from their
parents, trying to survive on their own. The most gruesome was the
bodies floating in black water.
In the Federal response to this national catastrophe there is a
bright spot.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has done a good job. FEMA gets an
``F,'' in contrast. In fact, I heard today on NPR that the Navy was not
given the go-ahead by FEMA to send ships with hospital facilities down
to New Orleans and that senior naval officers were very frustrated that
they could not help earlier.
In contrast, USDA has quietly and efficiently assisted thousands of
displaced persons. Secretary Johanns, Deputy Secretary Conner and Under
Secretary Bost have done a great job within the limitations of their
authority. They responded immediately.
I also appreciate the work of the Food and Nutrition Service within
USDA. I thank them.
This bill provides USDA with additional funding to continue its
efforts and gives USDA some additional authorities regarding the food
stamp program and child nutrition programs. Our effort on this
legislation should be taken as a supplement to what they are already
doing, and an enhancement of their authority.
USDA is not only helping in areas which will need to be rebuilt, but
they are helping those families who have been displaced and been forced
to move.
There has been a huge outpouring of sympathy from every corner of
every county in my home State of Vermont. In addition to the assistance
already provided, Vermont stands ready to help the displaced families,
the unemployed workers, the distraught children, and the destroyed
communities.
This bill was written to be referred to the Agriculture, Nutrition
and Forestry Committee where nutrition bills have always been handled
in a bipartisan fashion.
I look forward to working with all the Senators on that committee.
Chairman Chambliss has tackled every issue the committee has faced
this year in a direct and effective fashion and I look forward to
working with him, and all members of the committee, on an emergency
food assistance package that goes to the White House for signature.
I know that he and his staff have been coordinating with USDA and
that Senators on the Committee will, of course, work with Senators from
all of the affected States on any advice or changes that are
appropriate. Some of the provisions in the bill are modeled after ideas
that worked well in responding to Hurricane Andrew where, once again,
USDA was commended for handling the emergency very well.
This bill is a starting point, not an end point. I know that, but I
wanted to get the ball rolling to have language to run by my colleagues
who represent areas demolished in this disaster. I want to thank
Senator Reid and Senator Landrieu for coordinating with Senator Harkin
and me on this matter.
All the Senators in the affected areas have been working day and
night on trying to get aid to those in need, whether from local, State,
charitable, non-profit or Federal Government sources. I will continue
to work with all of them.
I ask unanimous consent that a summary of Hurricane response to food
stamps and food assistance be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Summary of Hurricane Response/Food Stamp and Food Assistance Response
The Food Stamp Program
This proposal would provide USDA with additional funding
and authorities to provide
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a strong and continuous response to the food needs of
thousands of families adversely affected by Hurricane
Katrina. It would improve the Food Stamp Program's response
to Hurricane Katrina. It generally would expire no later than
the end of federal fiscal year 2006. The President would have
the authority to terminate its provisions earlier if
conditions improved. The proposal would target three groups
of low-income households: those living in areas Katrina hit,
those that lost jobs in the disaster area, and those
relocated from the disaster area to other parts of the
country.
The proposal would incorporate the terms of USDA's
Hurricane Katrina disaster relief policy for the period
specified above:
States must act within seven days on all food stamp
applications from affected households.
Households doubled up with friends or relatives could apply
for food stamps on their own.
Work requirements and the three-month time limit on
childless adults regarding finding a job would be suspended
for disaster victims.
The legislation would expand food stamp assistance to
disaster victims:
To account for higher food costs for people in disaster
areas and people displaced by Hurricane Katrina, the maximum
benefit provided through the food Stamp Program is increased
by 10 percent.
The gross income limit for disaster victims would increase
from 130 percent of the poverty line to 150 percent. This
would help disaster survivors that suddenly incur high
shelter costs when, for example, they temporarily live in a
motel. (The net income limit would remain at 100 percent of
the poverty line to ensure that only low-income people
receive food stamps.)
All vehicles of disaster survivors, both those that they
have with them and those they left behind, would be excluded
from determining the household's resources.
For one year, all vehicles and bank accounts would be
exempt from the $2,000 resource limit in recognition that
households are facing many extraordinary expenses and should
not be required to spend down to $2,000 when their savings
may have to last them until they can find new jobs. In
addition, disaster relief aid from federal, state, or local
governments, charities, insurance settlements, and other
sources would not count as resources.
Assets owned by a household, but which are currently
inaccessible to the household due to the emergency, will not
be counted for purposes of determining food stamp
eligibility. for example, a family should not be rendered
ineligible because of a house or car the family had to leave
behind in the disaster area.
Food stamp benefits would not be prorated for the month
based on the date the household applies. Under disaster
conditions, families' applications may be postponed through
no fault of their own. During this time, the families are
forced to spend their scarce funds on food and remain just as
needy as families that were able to get a ride to the food
stamp office sooner.
The legislation also would streamline procedures for aiding
affected households by:
Having the federal government assume 100 percent (rather
than the usual 50 percent) of the administrative costs of
serving disaster victims. State expenses to address the range
of issues presented by these disaster victims are rising
constantly and this change will assist states in their time
of need.
Encouraging states to work aggressively to serve affected
households by excluding any errors in applying disaster
procedures from error rate calculations.
Waiving any claims for inaccurate issuances to affected
households except in cases of fraud.
Requiring USDA to work with states to eliminate duplication
between households initially certified for food stamps in
their home state that are then relocated to a different
state. Except where someone deliberately lies to get double
benefits, displaced persons would not be required to keep
track of which food stamps they received from which state
while this overlap is being resolved. Recipients should be
encouraged to spend food stamp benefits to feed their
families even when they are uncertain about the status of
their cases. This is particularly true since overburdened
state food stamp agencies may be ill-equipped to answer their
questions.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program and Commodity Distribution
In terms of immediate emergency relief, food stamp receipt
may, in some cases, not be the most timely form of assistance
that a family may access. Emergency commodities may be a
faster and more efficient manner by which to provide
immediate food assistance through food banks, food pantries,
and congregate meal sites. In order to provide USDA with
sufficient funding by which to provide emergency funding,
this food assistance emergency package includes;
$200 million for The Emergency Food Assistance Program
(TEFAP), to be spent either on commodities or for
transportation, processing, and administrative costs.
$200 million for USDA to procure bulk commodities using
Section 32 authority.
$20 million for USDA to replenish Commodity Supplemental
Food Program commodity stocks destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
(WIC)
To allow for unexpected increases in WIC caseload as well
as the possibility of rising food costs in the WIC program,
this package provides $200 million dollars (available October
1) for the WIC program.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________