[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 135 (Friday, October 21, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11731-S11734]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HURRICANE KATRINA

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I rise to discuss the situation in 
Louisiana, particularly New Orleans, as it relates to the Katrina 
hurricane. I do that because of a very devoted constituent by the name 
of Craig Van Waardhuizen of 3716 Pearl Lane, Waterloo, IA. We are 
members of Prairie Lakes Church, Cedar Falls, IA, a Baptist church. He 
approached me because he had bad experiences in trying to help people 
in Louisiana at the height of the hurricane and the period of time 
thereafter.
  He says things just were not right. That is quite obvious to all of 
the country. I had a chance to hear it from a person who witnessed it. 
He kept a diary of his experiences. He is a sincere enough individual 
to spend time with me, sincere enough individual to put things down in 
writing, and he is a sincere enough person who would like to have 
things that happened to him not happen again in a future natural 
disaster.
  So I promised my friend in Waterloo that I would make sure the entire 
Senate knew of his situation. It will be on record for people to refer 
to so corrective action can be taken.
  I suppose most of this falls in the area of FEMA's responsibility, 
but I am not so sure but what some of it doesn't fall into the area of 
local responders and to State people as well. But FEMA is the one most 
referred to. So I am going to spend my time reading word for word from 
this diary so that people will know the trials and tribulations of one 
bus driver, trying to help people all the way from Iowa, going to 
Louisiana to help people there who had problems.
  This starts on September 1, which is the Thursday after Katrina hit. 
I believe Katrina hit either on that Saturday or Sunday, the 27th or 
28th of August. Presumably some time after Katrina hit, my constituent 
friend was desiring to help the people in need there. He was affiliated 
with a bus company that could provide transportation. This starts on 
September 1, but presumably on the days of Monday, Tuesday, or 
Wednesday before September 1, he was trying to get involved in helping:

       September 1, 2005, Thursday: Another day of searching on 
     the internet and contacting our motorcoach associations has 
     brought no success as we (Northwest Iowa Transportation, 
     Inc.) look for ways to help in New Orleans. We have coaches 
     and drivers available to go help in moving people out of the 
     New Orleans area. However, we do not believe that we should 
     just drive down to New Orleans without any contact. It is 
     discouraging when you want to help and yet can't find the 
     avenue to help.
       September 2, Friday: There is a light in the tunnel. Today 
     we were contacted by Utah Transportation Management to see if 
     we had any coaches and drivers that could go help in 
     evacuation of New Orleans. Finally a way to head to New 
     Orleans and provide the assistance that we have wanted to do 
     since a hurricane hit last Monday. Since this help will fall 
     under FEMA we will be able to use four drivers and two 
     motorcoaches to drive straight through to New Orleans. After 
     finding three other drivers who were willing to help in this 
     effort I head out to New Orleans. We pack extra supplies in 
     the coaches along with water and food for ourselves. We also 
     take along extra paper towels and toilet paper. About 9:00 
     p.m. we head south from Waterloo--

  That is Waterloo, IA--

     ready to go provide assistance to those in need.
       Saturday, September 3: Driving straight through the night 
     and switching off with driving we arrive at the staging area 
     at Le Place, LA. The first thing we notice is the large 
     number of motorcoaches waiting in the staging area and many 
     more like ourselves, just pulling in. Our first order of 
     business was to get in line to refill with fuel. We didn't 
     stop for fuel on our way as we had been told that FEMA would 
     provide fuel for all motorcoaches when we arrived at Le 
     Place. We are ready to go to work and start moving people. 
     The fuel was brought in by the National Guard and they did 
     all the refueling in Le Place. Finally, it was our turn to 
     get fuel. While fueling, we visited with the other drivers to 
     find out what had been happening. We learned that after 
     fueling you would get in another line and wait for orders. 
     Nobody seemed to know who was in charge of the operation and 
     there was very little communication. Finally a man with an 
     orange vest came and asked us to get in line to go transport 
     people. We lined up with 12 other coaches. Nobody moved until 
     the state patrol was ready to provide escort. At last we have 
     action. We are headed into New Orleans to do what we came 
     down to do, move people. We had traveled about 10 miles when 
     we were pulled onto the shoulder. No reason given for pulling 
     all of us over. We sat and waited on the side of the highway 
     wondering what was going to happen.
       After a waiting about 45 minutes we started traveling 
     again, and it was soon apparent

[[Page S11732]]

     that we were headed back to the staging area. This whole 
     operation seems to lack leadership and direction. We arrived 
     back at the staging area at Le Place. Then we were sent down 
     I-10 to the scale house and were staged with about 40 other 
     coaches. Even the State patrol assigned to us didn't know 
     what was going on. About 10 pm a deputy sheriff patrol showed 
     up with some food for us. They didn't have any news or 
     information. About 11 pm the State patrol said to stay with 
     the motorcoach as we might be called upon at any time. As 
     drivers we decided to get as much rest as we could while we 
     had the opportunity.

  So then presumably they slept the evening. That is a presumption on 
my part because it goes on now to Sunday, September 4. This is the 
fourth day of this tribulation.

       Last night was a long night with little sleep as it is hard 
     to sleep on the coach. About 4 am a group of school buses 
     arrived from Houston, TX. They had been told to report to 
     this staging area and wait. The morning passed by very slow 
     and we never saw or heard from anybody that knew what was 
     actually happening. This is really amazing as we are all here 
     to work and provide help and we are just sitting along the 
     interstate. At the scale house on the other side of the 
     interstate a unit of federal border patrol agents is also 
     waiting for instructions. They have been waiting since 
     Tuesday for orders.

  So that means that they had been waiting for 5 days, the Federal 
border patrol was waiting--that's my assumption--waiting for orders. My 
writer says:

       I asked the state patrol to radio to the main staging area 
     where we fueled to see what was going on. The patrol had as 
     many questions as we did. It sure seems like mass confusion 
     and no clear leader. I really wonder who is in charge of this 
     operation. About noon a guy shows up in an orange vest and 
     tells us that we are moving to a new staging area at Lake 
     Charles, LA. Soon the rumor is going around through the 
     drivers that we will be moving people out of temporary 
     shelters to better places. We move to Lake Charles with high 
     hopes that we will finally be moving people. At the edge of 
     Lake Charles we are pulled onto the shoulder of the 
     interstate. With over 60 motorcoaches sitting on the shoulder 
     of a major interstate (I-10), this is an accident waiting to 
     happen. The school buses from Houston are headed back to 
     Houston as they were told there was no work for them. What a 
     waste of resources to have them drive all the way from 
     Houston to New Orleans only to turn around and head back. A 
     highway patrol escort arrives and leads us to a large parking 
     area at the Lake Charles airport. We are all parked in a row 
     with no other instructions. When the last coach is parked a 
     man who tells us he is the dispatcher for this operation 
     arrives and tells us that we are going to regroup.
       This man has made arrangements for us to have a hot meal 
     supplied by the Lake Charles Firefighters in the armory at 
     the airport. During this meal he informs us that rooms in a 
     motel have been reserved for us for the night. As we sign up 
     for our rooms we are told to report back tomorrow at 1:30 pm 
     for more instructions. Since the rooms are in Beaumont, TX he 
     arranges to have five motorcoaches to take us as a group. At 
     least we will have a good bed to sleep in tonight and we will 
     be able to take a shower.

  Now, Monday September 5.

       Continued conversation with other drivers reveals only 
     rumors and no facts. About noon we head back to Lake Charles 
     to report in at this temporary dispatch office at the 
     airport. When we report in, we are told there will be no 
     movement until tomorrow. This is disappointing and hard to 
     understand, especially as we listen to the radio and hear 
     about this huge need to get people moved. Seems to me that 
     there has to be a better way to organize and run this system. 
     Who is in charge and who gives the orders to all of us 
     (drivers)? There is very limited and very poor communication. 
     If I ran operations like this, the company would lose all of 
     its business and drivers. Calling back to the office--

  I think he means his own office--

     and to any other contact I can come up with doesn't provide 
     any help. About 2 pm the dispatcher comes around looking for 
     two coaches that have two drivers. We are just what he is 
     looking for and we offer to be of service. He tells us to 
     head to Fort Smith, AR as soon as we can hit the road and to 
     report in at Fort Smith. We head right out and make the trip 
     to Fort Smith. As we are going down the road we find out that 
     a mistake has been made. Instead of Fort Smith at Fort Smith, 
     AR, it is Fort Chaffee. The drive to Fort Smith is a long 
     one, about 500 miles. Upon arrival we are to report to Fort 
     Chaffee for instructions. As we are travelling we begin to 
     notice many other motorcoaches headed the same direction.

  September 6, Tuesday.

       We arrive . . . and find the directions we were given in 
     Lake Charles to be wrong. Finally, we arrive at Fort Chaffee 
     and enter the base. The guards at the gate are very 
     surprised to see us and they wonder why we are reporting 
     at 2 a.m. The guards give us direction to the area where 
     the people are housed. We get to that area only to find 
     out nobody knows why they sent us to this base. Once again 
     I get on the phone calling the numbers I was given. These 
     calls just get voice mail and nobody ever returns the 
     calls. One of the guards gives me the phone number of the 
     base commander. I give him a call (at 2 a.m.) and have a 
     nice conversation with him. I can see that he has no 
     information to help us out. He suggests getting a motel 
     room and coming back in the morning. There are no motel 
     rooms available and it is now 4 a.m. We decide to head 
     back into Fort Smith to top off the fuel tanks and get a 
     hot breakfast. Looks like we are in a race headed nowhere. 
     At 8 a.m. we report back to the base. We are wondering why 
     we were sent over 500 miles to just sit and wait. The 
     guards at the base are telling us that the people are 
     being moved out to other places to live. Many of the other 
     coaches from Lake Charles are showing up this morning. 
     About 10 a.m. there is movement and they begin to load 
     coaches to move people on. Some guy comes along and tells 
     us to hang in there and we will soon be working. At noon 
     we are moved into position to load people. However, we 
     received no instructions or information as to where we 
     will be going. Even the people we are loading don't know 
     where they are headed. What a way to treat people who have 
     lost everything they have. Soon we are loaded and waiting 
     to go someplace. A representative of the state of AR comes 
     aboard and wishes the people a good future. At the same 
     time we are told we will be escorted by the state police 
     to Siloam Springs, AR. We are part of a 12 coach move with 
     a highway patrol escort for every three coaches. The drive 
     is supposed to take about 90 minutes. The actual drive 
     took us over three hours as the escort never went faster 
     than 40 mph. All of the people are very thankful for the 
     help in moving them and they are very pleasant considering 
     what they have all been through.
       Finally we arrive at Siloam Springs at a church camp. It 
     seems like the whole community is here to welcome the people 
     and help them make a home. It is very heart touching to see 
     all the generous help. We unload and clean our two coaches. 
     Feeling tired and hungry we head back towards Fort Smith. 
     After what happened last night we see no need to arrive at 
     Fort Chaffee in the middle of the night. We find rooms in 
     Fayetteville and shut down for the night. The whole trip is 
     nothing like we had hoped or thought it would be. Maybe we 
     will feel better in the morning.

  Morning is September 7, Wednesday. So this would be the seventh--it 
is my judgment this is the seventh day that my constituents were going 
through this trial and tribulation.

       Our week of service is almost over and we sure haven't 
     [done] much of any good. We have spent more time driving 
     around empty as they have moved us all over. This morning we 
     went back to Fort Chaffee and waited for new orders. Many 
     other drivers were also waiting to see what we were to do. 
     About noon we get the word that we were to report back to 
     Lake Charles for the next duty. Here we go again on a 500 
     mile drive with no passengers. Does anybody really know what 
     is going on? As we drive to Lake Charles, we know it will be 
     about 9 p.m. when we arrive. Hopefully somebody will be 
     around to fill us in. No such luck. When we arrive at Lake 
     Charles the parking lot is filled with hundreds of 
     motorcoaches. There are hundreds of coaches and drivers. Many 
     drivers are very upset as they just sit idle. At Lake Charles 
     we are told to report back in the morning and we are also 
     told good luck on finding any lodging. Looks like another 
     night of sleeping in the coach. I make some phone calls and 
     find out there are some rooms at the casino. I call them and 
     ask about rooms and explain what we have been doing. The 
     manager gives us a deal on three rooms for the four of us. At 
     least we will have a bed to sleep in and be able to take a 
     shower in the morning.
       September 8.

  This will be Thursday.

       This is the last day that we can help as we need to return 
     to Iowa tonight. The coaches need to be back to go on charter 
     trips. We will report to the temporary dispatch office early. 
     With hundreds of coaches just parked it doesn't look good. 
     The dispatcher said there is no work today and the next 
     opportunity might be tomorrow. I ask if there is anybody that 
     needs to move north as we could take people north as we head 
     home. Nothing available today and with all the idle coaches 
     it looks bad for tomorrow. I sign us out and we start back 
     home. I am glad that we came down and tried to help. There is 
     a huge sense of disappointment in the fact that we drove 
     about 3,000 total miles and only hauled 47 people 103 miles. 
     It seems like a huge waste of valuable resources and money. 
     Especially as I look over a parking lot filled with hundreds 
     of motorcoaches.
       Somebody made the order to get all these coaches here and 
     now they sit idle. It easy to see why people get frustrated 
     with the system. Along with these coaches sitting idle, many 
     school buses were moved to the area and never used. They were 
     sent back home as they weren't needed. Today we learned that 
     in the city of New Orleans all of the school buses were left 
     to get caught in the flood. Why weren't they used before the 
     hurricane and flood to get people moved out of harm's way in 
     New Orleans. There are a large number of public officials at 
     all levels and the news media pointing fingers trying to put 
     the blame on FEMA when they should look at themselves. Why 
     did the school buses get left and not used? Why didn't people 
     heed the notice to get out and move to a safer area?

[[Page S11733]]

       I think the whole process needs to be looked at and 
     evaluated for making improvements. We were not the only ones 
     to wonder what was going on. Almost all the drivers were 
     asking who is in charge and where are the lines of 
     communication. Of all the people who gave us orders, none 
     of them seemed to understand operations and dispatch. From 
     my viewpoint, it appears to me that many of those who were 
     supposed to manage the coaches didn't have any idea of 
     what to do and just how much help they needed.

     September 9.
       After driving through the night we arrived back in Iowa. We 
     are tired and ready to be back in our own homes. The hardship 
     we went through was very minor compared to what all the 
     displaced families were going through. As a team, we all 
     agreed that we would go again and we would do whatever we 
     could to provide assistance to people in need. Hopefully, if 
     there is a next time, there will be better organization and 
     all involved parties will work together.
       About 10 a.m. I received a call from the dispatcher in Lake 
     Charles saying he had a trip for us. He was looking for us 
     and wondered where we were. This is a good example of poor 
     management as this was the same person I had signed out with 
     yesterday morning in Lake Charles. What a joke and what a 
     lack of management. I just hope that all of the drivers and 
     coach companies didn't get mad at the system. If they did get 
     upset with the whole system, there might not be enough help 
     the next time.
       I would go and help again. It seems like the call to come 
     and help was about two days late. Then when the call went 
     out, too many resources were brought into play and then there 
     was overkill. I do hope to be able to sit down and talk with 
     somebody who evaluates this operation.

  Let me say parenthetically that he is going to continue to talk to 
other people, but he asked me to be part of this communication, to lay 
out, as he saw it, the problems, in hopes that action will be taken 
here and at the local responder level and the State level to make sure 
these things don't happen again.
  I am going to say that sentence again that I just was distracted 
from.
  I do hope to be able to sit down and talk with somebody who evaluates 
this operation.

     Someway, somehow, there has to be a method to get operation 
     managers in the right place to guide a mass movement of 
     people as fast as possible. Maybe when this is all over 
     people will have time to look back and make new plans.
       The saddest part of this whole experience was the 
     difference of the news media coverage to the real situation. 
     The devastation was huge. The generous helping spirit of the 
     American people was huge. A large number of resources 
     available and there were people willing to provide 
     assistance. Yet, many of these resources were poorly used as 
     the lines of command and communication were poor. We went 
     down to New Orleans to work hard and help. That goal of 
     providing help was not accomplished in my eyes. Yes, we moved 
     about 94 people on our two coaches. However, we only moved 
     those people 100 miles and we spent the rest of our time 
     driving empty as we were moved from place to place. There 
     needs to be a better system of command and coordination.
       I am very thankful for this opportunity to go and help, no 
     matter how small the help seemed to be. The people we moved 
     were very thankful and they greatly appreciated the efforts 
     of many. My heart hurts for those people who have lost 
     everything but their lives. I also know that we had the right 
     kind of intentions as we went to help.

  I now turn to September 20. I just have 3 more days--no, 6 more days. 
Anyway, they went back to Iowa and then they were called upon again for 
an opportunity because of Hurricane Katrina. So September 20:

       Once again the call has come for help in the gulf area of 
     LA and TX as hurricane Rita moves into the area. We have the 
     opportunity to provide service again to those in need. The 
     people who have called us, have assured us that there are 
     better plans and communications in place this time. They have 
     told us that lessons were learned from Katrina. This evening 
     we are headed out with two coaches and four drivers. This 
     combination allows us to get to the area in a straight 
     through drive and be ready to work. Our orders call for us to 
     report to a rest stop on 1-49 north of Lafayette, LA. This 
     will be our staging area. Before we leave, we put extra 
     supplies on board, take some food and pack some bedding. We 
     learned from the last time of helping that we might have to 
     spend nights sleeping on the coach. We depart with high hopes 
     and a thankful heart for this opportunity to provide help. 
     The people who called for this help are aware that we can 
     help until Sunday evening. The drivers and coaches need to be 
     back in Iowa for other charter work next Monday.

     September 21.

       The drive down was interesting and we saw a lot of others 
     headed south with the same purpose in mind. We did encounter 
     a slight problem in southern MS. There is a bug that is 
     called the ``love bug'' which is bad at this time of the 
     year. We had to make a couple of extra stops to clean the 
     windshields off. These bugs are nasty. Despite the delay we 
     arrived at the staging area about 4:00 pm. The staging area 
     was a rest stop on 1-49 which was closed down for public use. 
     First order of business was to report in and fuel. After 
     fueling, we reported in for duty. The first thing we were 
     told was to get in line and wait for orders. This is sure 
     looking like the Katrina help situation. The old hurry up and 
     wait plan. Fortunately, we had stopped for a good hot meal in 
     Lafayette and were good to go. As the night moved along it 
     appeared that we were going to sit and do nothing.

     September 22.

       A short night of limited sleep in the seat of the coach. It 
     is difficult to sleep on a coach. Good thing we brought food 
     with us. We were able to save some snack bars for breakfast. 
     About 7:00 am the dispatcher came looking for two coaches. We 
     took the call and headed into Lafayette to help evacuate 
     people from a hospital. At 9:00 am we were loaded with about 
     18 passengers on each coach. We waited on our orders and we 
     waited and waited. About 1:00 pm a doctor connected with 
     Homeland Security gave us the go ahead. We were part of an 
     escorted convoy moving these people from Lafayette to Monroe, 
     LA. A four hour drive under good conditions. Our passengers 
     had been on the coach since 9:00 am and they were not given 
     any food. A very long day for everybody with no food. All of 
     these people had been moved out of New Orleans before Katrina 
     and now they had to move again. This time they moved from a 
     hospital to a gym on the campus of LA Tech in Monroe. Sure am 
     glad we have an escort as the road is jammed with people 
     moving north. There are no gripes on our part as we are doing 
     the work we came down to do. After unloading the people and 
     helping them get moved into the gym, we took the opportunity 
     to shower in the locker room. That was a refreshing moment. 
     Then the drive back to the staging area. As we watched all 
     the traffic moving north, we assumed we would be assigned a 
     task as soon as we got back. That turned into a bad 
     assumption. Upon our return to the staging area, we refueled 
     and parked in line. Here we go again, another long night on 
     the coach. Sleep. didn't come easy and I went for a walk. As 
     I was walking I noticed some empty parking places near the 
     front of the line. I went back to the coaches and moved us up 
     in the line with the thought that we might get an assignment 
     quicker. We didn't come back down to park in a line and wait.

       September 23, 2005.

       Hurricane Rita is moving closer to shore. Why are we not 
     moving people? The word among the drivers is that there was a 
     coach accident in TX and things are on hold. This brings up 
     the subject of safety. The majority of the coaches in use are 
     top of the line, with excellent drivers and a great safety 
     record. However, there are some coaches operating with lights 
     out, broken air brakes and other safety related issues. These 
     coaches should be pulled to the side and put out of service 
     until they are repaired. There are more than enough coaches 
     here that are in excellent condition to be used. Poor 
     condition coaches. should not be used. We are in a stressful 
     situation, moving people whose lives are in danger. The coach 
     accident in TX is a tragic deal. I don't know if it could 
     have been avoided.
       3:00 am, action at last. Ten coaches have been asked to 
     move to the Baton Rouge airport to move people. We are part 
     of the ten. Upon arrival at the airport we report in. Only, 
     the airport was not expecting us and wonders why we were 
     sent. This brings back bad thoughts of a couple of weeks ago. 
     The airport folks find a place to park us while they 
     determine the next step. We get parked right next to the 
     National Guard base. The Guard asks all the drivers with the 
     ten coaches in for a hot breakfast. This is very welcome and 
     sure beats the snack foods. After breakfast we head back to 
     the coach to nap and rest for whatever the next move might 
     be. By noon the rain has started and Rita is nearing land.
       Listening to the radio we hear about people who needed help 
     to get out of the area. Why are we sitting here? At this 
     point it is too late to go to the areas in need as we would 
     arrive at the same time as the hurricane. We can only wonder 
     why.
       About 3:00 pm we get orders to move. We are moved to a 
     large building in Baton Rouge and told to park along side the 
     building. The rain is starting to come down hard. The coaches 
     left at the rest stop on 1-49 are being moved further north 
     to get out of harms way. Two FEMA representatives come out of 
     the building and brief us. We are parked right along side the 
     FEMA headquarters. We are at the main command post. Our 
     orders are to stay prepared to move in case the building has 
     to be evacuated. This is hard to believe. We have been 
     assigned directly to the FEMA staff. During our discussion we 
     ask if we can stay in the building tonight as we have been in 
     the motorcoach since reporting for duty. The two staff 
     members tell us they will check on that possibility. We never 
     hear from them the rest of the night. The hurricane hits 
     land near the LA-TX state line. It is no picnic in Baton 
     Rouge. The wind is high and the rain comes down in sheets.

     September 24.

       With all the wind and the heavy rain it was difficult to 
     get much sleep. It is very hard to believe and understand why 
     we were not allowed to come in the building. It would have

[[Page S11734]]

     been a lot safer inside and there was a floor that was 
     devoted to sleeping quarters. They even had cots for people 
     to use. Yesterday the two staff members had told us we could 
     come in the building and use the showers. When we tried to do 
     this, security would not let us near the building and 
     security would not call the two staff members inside. This is 
     crazy. We are good enough to sit outside during a hurricane 
     to be on call to provide evacuation transportation. Yet, we 
     are treated like criminals when we try to get in to use the 
     showers. On the door there is a sign about a national news 
     conference at 2 p.m. I tell the other three drivers with me 
     that we will receive orders to move before 1:30 p.m.
       Sure enough, at 1:30 p.m. we are given orders to move to 
     the staging area at Le Place. The FEMA staff didn't want us 
     parked near the building when the press conference was taking 
     place.
       We follow orders and head to Le Place to report in and top 
     off the fuel tanks. There is water everywhere from all the 
     rain. At Le Place we drive through water to report in. Once 
     again the orders are to park and wait. We spend more time 
     driving around empty and waiting for orders than we do 
     working. Nothing is going to happen the rest of today. In the 
     parking area there are city buses from Atlanta, GA. They were 
     asked to come to the area to help move people. Thus far they 
     have done nothing but sit and wait. We said welcome to the 
     crowd.
       Nightfall comes with no place to obtain lodging. However, 
     there are a couple of restaurants open in the area and we can 
     get a good meal. We spend our evening talking with other 
     drivers and listening to all of the frustration just sitting 
     around. This frustration builds larger each day as you see 
     resources sitting idle.

     September 25.

       We are tired and weary from spending the past six nights 
     trying to sleep in the coach. This morning we are able to 
     take a shower at the truck stop. The $9.00 to get a shower is 
     worth every cent.

  I sure wouldn't pay it.

       After showers, we meet with the drivers of the other eight 
     coaches we were with in Baton Rouge. As we are talking the 
     dispatcher gives us orders to drive into New Orleans. We are 
     going to be moving a National Guard unit out of New Orleans 
     to the area where Rita has gone through.
       After taking most of the morning it get organized the unit 
     is ready to move out. We will be bringing up the rear of the 
     convoy: Our route will be I-10 to Lafayette where the unit 
     has been reassigned. I have discovered that these orders were 
     issued at 1 a.m. this morning and it took eight hours for 
     them to move through channels to us and the military. What an 
     amazing chain of command. The commander of the unit fills us 
     in on the route and how to drive in a convoy. The members of 
     the unit are very happy to ride in the air conditioned coach. 
     Upon arrival in Lafayette they set up a command center at an 
     old Service Master store. We have to wait until the command 
     releases us before we can go back to Le Place. The afternoon 
     goes by slowly as we wait to be released from duty. The 
     commander holds us as he sees no reason to be stationed in 
     Lafayette as they have very little damage. Once again, I want 
     to ask who is in charge. About 9 p.m. we are released to go 
     back to Le Place.
       Arriving in Le Place we find hundreds of coaches parked and 
     waiting for orders. This brings back all the thoughts about 
     wasteful use of resources. Our time is up; we need to head 
     back to Iowa. I make the arrangements to be released and we 
     head out for home.

     September 26

       Another long night of driving and we finally get home, a 
     very tired group. This has proved to be another growing 
     experience. Sleeping every night in the motorcoach, only 
     getting one good meal a day, and only having two showers all 
     week. We all learned a lot about ourselves and what we are 
     able to do when needed.
       The hardest thing to accept this trip was sitting out the 
     hurricane in the motorcoach. It is very difficult to 
     understand and accept the fact that we were not allowed in 
     the FEMA building during the hurricane. Good enough to be a 
     safety valve, but not good enough to be allowed in the 
     building.
       Hopefully, at some point in the future I will have an 
     opportunity to share with the right folks and work with them 
     to improve the system and the way it works as it relates to 
     motorcoaches. Especially in the area of equipment safety and 
     using motorcoaches to move large numbers of people in an 
     emergency.

  That is the end of his diary. He ends with a little paragraph that 
says:

       Thoughts of Craig Van Waardhuizen while working through the 
     Katrina and Rita hurricanes in LA. I was lead member of a 
     four member team providing motorcoach service with two 
     motorcoaches. I am a Terminal Manager and Operations Director 
     for Northwest Iowa Transportation, Inc (a motorcoach carrier 
     in Iowa with membership in UMA, ABA and IMG).

     Craig Van Waardhuizen.

  I thank my friend Craig for sharing his experiences with the people 
of the Nation through this, but most importantly for the Senate and my 
Senate colleagues to take this into consideration.

                          ____________________