[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

[[Page S9773]]

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

[[Page S9774]]

     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.

                          ____________________