[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 93 (Monday, July 17, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7625-S7626]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          VISIT TO NEW ORLEANS

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I recently made a brief visit to New 
Orleans to see for myself where things stand now, not quite 11 months 
after Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast. Katrina, of course, was the 
first of two major hurricanes to ravage that area last year. I only had 
the chance to see a small part of the area hit by that first storm, but 
what I did see was striking.
  The news reports cannot fully convey the devastation or the enormity 
of the problems the region faces in trying to put things back in 
working order. One problem feeds into another. Businesses can't get 
back up and running without employees. Workers don't want to return 
without a safe place to live, without a school for their children, and 
without health care and other essential services upon which we all 
rely. Hospitals and other health providers face the same staffing 
shortages that businesses face. The neighborhood schools face 
challenges both in the physical infrastructure--providing a safe place 
in which kids can learn--and staffing shortages. All of these issues 
must be addressed.
  Housing is an overarching challenge. I saw neighborhood after 
neighborhood still empty and unlivable. The outside shell of some homes 
was still standing, but the inside was uninhabitable because of the 
flood of toxic liquid filth that soaked into those houses.
  I also saw lots where homes had stood but where now there was nothing 
but a slab of concrete. While many are living in the notorious FEMA 
trailers, many others, I understand, are having a hard time getting 
approval for a trailer. I was pleased to learn a little bit more about 
the so-called Katrina cottages that might be an alternative to the 
trailers, and I look forward to learning still more about them.
  So much still needs to be done that one can be overwhelmed by the 
size of the task that remains. I have a great deal of respect for those 
who have made the commitment to remain in or move back to the city, for 
those who are working to make the neighborhoods habitable again, for 
the State and local law enforcement, the National Guard, and all the 
other dedicated individuals who are working so hard to bring the region 
back.
  I still have a lot to learn about the particulars of what is needed 
in New Orleans and the other areas ravaged by Hurricanes Katrina and 
Rita--what is working, what has not worked, what Congress can still do 
to help. My central message today is that people from other parts of 
the country should not think that the gulf coast has recovered from 
those two hurricanes. That simply isn't the case. People are making 
progress, but there is still a very long way to go.
  To put it in perspective, I will compare it to another place I 
visited earlier this year: Banda Aceh, Indonesia. I was there in 
February, a little more

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than a year after it was devastated by the tsunami in late 2004. Having 
been to both places, I was struck by what the people in Banda Aceh and 
New Orleans had in common, both because of what they went through and 
because of the incredible resilience they have shown in the wake of 
those tragedies. But I was just as struck by how those places 
differed--especially how, in many ways, New Orleans seemed worse off 
than Banda Aceh did a year after the disaster.
  When I visited Banda Aceh in February 2006--a little over a year 
after the original tsunami hit--though many of the reconstruction 
programs had yet to be completed, there was visible progress being 
made, thanks in large part to the generosity of the American taxpayer. 
I saw homes, roads, buildings, and bridges being built with funds that 
the American Government generously gave to the victims of the tsunami.
  I strongly support the aid we have given to those in Banda Aceh and 
others who were the victims of the tsunami in 2004, and no one disputes 
that we have responsibility to help them rebuild. But we cannot let the 
disasters of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita be forgotten. We have a 
special duty to the people of the Gulf Coast who still need us. Almost 
a year later, after more than 1,500 people were killed and countless 
lives were disrupted, our fellow Americans do still need us. We still 
need to stand by them as they rebuild their lives, and I know the 
people of Wisconsin stand ready to help.

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