[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 114 (Tuesday, September 13, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1834]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            EXPRESSING CONCERN FOR HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS

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                          HON. JOHN F. TIERNEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 13, 2005

  Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my concern for the 
victims of Hurricane Katrina. Our thoughts are with all those who have 
been stranded by the storm, separated from their family and friends, 
and have suffered from tremendous personal and emotional losses. Worst 
of all is that it was the least among us--the poor, elderly, and 
infirm--who appeared to suffer the most. Television broadcasts beamed 
poignant images of those that could not leave, who were now forced to 
survive in an inhabitable city seemingly overcome with the presence of 
death and overtaken by depravity.
  Adding to our grief and inflaming our outrage is that the Federal 
Government was woefully unprepared for this disaster. As the world 
watched, we responded in a way that was completely unacceptable. 
Despite assurance by FEMA Director Michael Brown that his organization 
was taking steps to ensure that disaster teams could respond within 12 
hours and that disaster relief supplies could be delivered anywhere in 
the country in 24 hours, stranded residents in New Orleans reportedly 
went 4 days without deliveries of food and water. Inaction, 
mismanagement, and the inability to put the appropriate personnel and 
resources in the right place at the right time exacerbated an already 
grave natural disaster.
  The scope of the tragedy we have seen in the Gulf Coast was not only 
anticipated but could have been minimized if the appropriate steps were 
taken. Multiple studies had identified the potentially devastating 
effects of a hurricane striking New Orleans. The Army Corps of 
Engineers requested funds for critical reinforcements to the levees in 
New Orleans but those calls have been unanswered. Further, as has been 
widely reported, since its transfer to the Department of Homeland 
Security, FEMA has been significantly diminished and undervalued.
  However, after these sorrowful pictures that now seem so permanently 
seared on our conscience begin to fade, after the appropriate 
investigations occur on what went so tragically wrong, and after the 
devastated areas start to rebuild, we must take more from Hurricane 
Katrina than how to better plan, prepare, and respond for a potential 
natural disaster. We must finally begin to recognize and remember that 
the Federal Government can help Americans live better lives. For too 
long now, the Federal Government has catered to those who can well take 
care of themselves. It's about time we started to care and demonstrate 
compassion for those being left behind not just in New Orleans but 
throughout America.

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