[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 114 (Tuesday, September 13, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1834-E1835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 13, 2005

  Mr. MOORE of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, on September 6, I was surveying 
damage from Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and failed to cast recorded 
votes on rollcall votes 454 and 455. Had I cast my votes, I would have 
voted ``yes'' on both.
  Last week, I traveled to Louisiana with a constituent who is the 
president and founder of Heart to Heart International, Dr. Gary Morsch. 
Heart to Heart International, a Kansas-based humanitarian organization 
that serves the needs of the poor and provides aid to those most 
affected by natural disasters, has established a forward distribution 
center in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, to distribute aid to the 
refugees of Hurricane Katrina. A team organized by Heart to Heart 
International traveled to this forward distribution site to deliver

[[Page E1835]]

aid, determine assignments for possible future teams, and prepare to 
receive future shipments to deliver to agencies sheltering refugees.
  I deeply appreciate the work of private relief organizations like 
Heart to Heart International that play a critical role in the public-
private response to natural disasters. While private organizations do 
their part for disaster relief, government at every level needs to work 
together to plan for inevitable natural disasters and coordinate relief 
efforts. I will continue working within Congress to ensure that the 
federal government's response to future disasters, whether natural or 
man-made, is as efficient and timely as possible.

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