[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 8, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E305-E306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            GULF COAST DISASTER RESPONSE, TRIBUTE AND THANKS

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                            HON. CURT WELDON

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 8, 2006

  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, it is a great honor for me 
to rise today to commend the residents of the Seventh Congressional 
District and the people of southeastern Pennsylvania for their 
generosity and compassion toward the people of the gulf coast in the 
aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
  As vice chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, I 
visited Louisiana 5 days after the storm hit, and witnessed the 
strength and resolve of the citizens and those working to save lives 
and restore order. This weekend I am pleased to host gulf coast first 
responders in my district to recognize their indomitable spirit and 
their great relief efforts. In the days and dark nights that followed 
the hurricane disasters, these first responders worked around the clock 
with remarkable resiliency in moving forward a person, a house, a 
building at a time.
  More than 6 months have passed since the most devastating natural 
disaster in American history. In that time, as has been the case in 
every time of national crisis, the citizens of my region have opened 
their hearts to their fellow citizens.
  Displaced residents were welcomed to our communities, schoolchildren 
held fundraisers, supplies were donated, prayers were said and 
communities sent their fire and EMS personnel to aid neighbors in towns 
hundreds of miles away, that were unknown to them weeks earlier. 
College students from my district are spending their spring break in 
Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama assisting with the recovery and 
rebuilding effort.
  To this day, our local citizens continue to donate money, time and 
effort to help rebuild this devastated part of our country. This 
spontaneous generosity--great and small, emotional and financial--of 
all of my constituents in the wake of this tragedy has been remarkable. 
I have never been more proud to represent the Seventh Congressional 
District. The extraordinary efforts of the residents of Delaware, 
Chester and Montgomery Counties are exemplary of the spirit of service 
that has made our Nation great.

[[Page E306]]

  I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have 
dedicated not only their time, but also their resources, to the 
recovery effort along the gulf coast. I am proud to recognize and 
commend the tremendous commitment, kindness and generosity of 
southeastern Pennsylvanians whose invaluable dedication to helping our 
Nation deserves our special recognition.

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