[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 21, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1907-E1908]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H. RES. 437, ESTABLISHING THE SELECT 
BIPARTISAN COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE PREPARATION FOR AND RESPONSE TO 
                           HURRICANE KATRINA

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CAROLYN McCARTHY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 15, 2005

  Mrs. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Katrina took an enormous 
personal toll on thousands of families across Louisiana, Mississippi 
and Alabama, many of whom are now relocated in neighboring states and 
need to begin rebuilding their lives. Congress' first priority must be 
to ensure the evacuees have the necessary resources.
  We must also determine why the Federal response, led by FEMA and the 
Department of Homeland Security failed to recognize the urgency of the 
situation. Americans may have died because of the Federal Government's 
slow response. This is unacceptable.
  Last Thursday, the House passed legislation in support of a 
bipartisan committee to investigate the Federal Government's response 
to Hurricane Katrina. Unfortunately the committee will not truly be 
bipartisan because it will be selected and led by the Republican 
leadership, which may be inclined to place blame on local officials 
while overlooking mistakes made by the Bush Administration. This will 
not give us the objectivity that we need. We must have an independent 
panel modeled after the 9/11 Commission.
  It is not a question of Members being capable of serving on a 
committee, but I fear their political affiliations will cause many 
Americans to doubt the validity of their conclusions and findings. 
Americans no longer trust their elected officials to set aside politics 
and develop objective conclusions identifying personnel and policy that 
failed us during Katrina and what can be done to remedy our emergency 
infrastructure failures.
  The 9/11 commission put politics aside and delivered concise and 
direct conclusions about failings in our intelligence infrastructure. 
We need to again appoint a similar non-partisan commission to ensure 
what happened in New Orleans never happens again and this begins with 
the response and actions of FEMA and the Department of Homeland 
Security.
  I was pleased that Congress acted quickly to appropriate funds for 
the states and victims of the disaster. Congress has the responsibility 
to ensure that FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security use this 
aid appropriately to help those harmed by Katrina.
  Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security there have 
been detailed instances of contracting fraud and waste. In an effort to 
prevent this practice in the future, I have cosponsored legislation 
that calls for the creation of an Inspector General for Natural 
Disaster Response and Reconstruction

[[Page E1908]]

within the Department of Homeland Security. The Inspector General will 
have one responsibility, to conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits 
and investigations of the treatment and handling of Federal funds by 
any organization providing relief to Katrina. This will ensure the 
funds are reaching those most in need and ensure tax dollars are not 
wasted.
  On a positive note, I congratulate my Long Island colleague, 
Congressman Peter King, for being named Chairman of the Homeland 
Security Committee. With his experience working with Federal and local 
in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and serving on the 
Committee since its inception, Peter is more than qualified to lead. I 
am confident he will show the same dedication for rebuilding the Gulf 
Coast that he has demonstrated for rebuilding his hometown and trust he 
will work bipartisanly when deciding how to use Federal resources in 
response to Katrina as he has in the fight with the war on terror.

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