[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 103-106]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     SUPPORTING THE TSUNAMI VICTIMS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, as the previous cochair of 
the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, I rise to 
express our solidarity with the people of India and the Indian American 
community in the aftermath of the devastating tsunami that has affected 
so many nations in the Indian Ocean.
  Earlier tonight, a resolution of sympathy for South Asia was 
presented by the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Lantos), chairman and ranking member of the 
Committee on International Relations, along with the gentleman from 
Iowa (Mr. Leach), who is leading a delegation to the affected areas, 
and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), Indonesian Caucus 
cochairman.
  Nearly 140,000 people in 11 countries in South Asia and East Africa 
have died, approximately 3 to 5 million people have been displaced and 
citizens of over 40 countries have been affected by the tsunami. The 
most devastating death toll was in the nation of Indonesia, which is 
appreciated as the world's largest Muslim democracy of nearly a quarter 
of a billion people. India has nearly 15,000 casualties. In this time 
of need, the American people and our government are demonstrating the 
generosity and compassion that have been the hallmark of American 
society and culture since our Nation's founding.
  As we grieve for the dead, we must also continue to work hard to save 
those now living in the wake of this terrible disaster. Under the 
leadership of President George W. Bush, America has committed $350 
million in relief to the nations in need. This substantial funding will 
go a long way to helping the estimated 3 to 5 million people who now 
face numerous hardships as they lack access to the basic necessities of 
life.
  Our country and our people are also contributing to this effort in 
countless other ways. Almost immediately after the disaster occurred, 
the United States military dispatched aircraft and ships to survey the 
damage and deliver supplies. Presently there are disaster relief 
assessment teams on the ground and 20 ships and 80 military aircraft in 
the area and en route, with 12,600 American military serving the relief 
effort. The U.S. Pacific Command said this week it is deploying 20 
ships from docks in Hong Kong, Guam and the island of Diego Garcia. The 
ships are loaded with medical equipment and mobile hospitals, 41 
helicopters, 2,100 Marines, 1,400 sailors and the capacity to generate 
600,000 gallons of fresh water daily. Our Secretary of State Colin 
Powell and Governor Jeb Bush of Florida are tonight visiting the 
devastated nations of South Asia, proving our sincere efforts for 
reconstruction and recovery. Additionally, the United States Department 
of Defense and USAID have established coordination centers in Bangkok, 
Thailand, and Colombo, Sri Lanka. These centers will help coordinate 
the massive U.S. relief efforts.
  As the world has witnessed throughout our history, the American men 
and women in uniform always act boldly to help those in need.
  Over the past week, I have been most encouraged by the outpouring of 
support from the American people. Since December 26, Americans have 
contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to help those in need. 
Yesterday President Bush asked President George H.W. Bush and President 
Bill Clinton to head a nationwide charitable fund-raising effort. In 
the coming days they will urge all Americans to donate directly to 
reliable charities already providing help to tsunami victims. My 
colleagues, as you advise your constituents as you receive inquiries 
where to send contributions, I have two suggestions that I would want 
to suggest to you that I have learned in working with the Embassy of 
India here in Washington. First is the Prime Minister's National Relief 
Fund which is the Embassy of India at 2107 Massachusetts Avenue 
Northwest, Washington D.C. 20008. Additionally in India itself, the 
Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund of the American Chamber of Commerce of 
India, the AmCham, which is Room 1262, Maurya Sheraton Hotel, S.P. 
Marg, New Delhi, India. Both of these are organizations that will work 
to help in the recovery and restoration for the people who have been 
affected by the tsunami.
  I am confident that this effort will further highlight the tremendous 
decency of the American people. In the 1840s, historian Alexis de 
Tocqueville wrote, ``When America asks for the cooperation of its 
citizens, it is seldom refused. And I have often seen it afforded 
spontaneously with great good will.''
  Most importantly, we should all remember that no contribution is too 
small. President Bush has asked that we all contribute as we are able 
to do so and fortunately citizens are responding in innovative ways. In 
my home State of South Carolina, an 11-year-old girl donated $11 she 
collected at her birthday party. In Columbia, South Carolina, Jack 
Edgerton, corporate president of Adluh Flour Company, and the Allen 
family recently demonstrated another example of the concern and 
compassion exhibited by the American people. They have offered to send 
nearly 100,000 pounds of flour from the farmers of South Carolina to 
affected countries, and I do appreciate their generosity. I am also 
grateful to Dr. Jim Carpenter of Oconee County, South Carolina, who has 
practiced

[[Page 104]]

medicine in Indonesia and speaks Indonesian. He has volunteered to 
return to provide medical assistance.
  These efforts exemplify the President's statement that ``the greatest 
source of Americans' generosity is not our government, it is the good 
heart of the American people.'' While the full impact of this disaster 
may never be known, the significant contribution of the American people 
will be remembered. I join President Bush in urging all Americans to 
give generously to this important cause.
  Since citizens of over 40 nations have been affected by the tsunami, 
this is truly a global event. As a member of the Congressional Caucus 
on India and Indian Americans, I am pleased that President Bush visited 
the Indian Embassy here in Washington yesterday to pledge that we would 
help the Indian government and the Indian people in any way we can. 
After losing over 15,000 of its own people, the country of India has 
responded selflessly to this tragedy. India is now part of a disaster 
relief coalition with Japan, Australia and the United States. 
Yesterday, India began deploying Israeli-made unmanned aerial vehicles 
in round-the-clock searches for victims of the tsunami. By providing 
significant financial and military assistance to neighboring tsunami 
affected countries, India is already playing a vital role in this 
coalition.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen), the new India Caucus cochair who succeeded me today, has 
also expressed her support to the people of India. It was an honor for 
me to cochair the largest country caucus in Congress and I am pleased 
to have worked with people like the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Royce) my predecessor, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly), the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg), and other leaders in our 
work with the Indian American community.

                              {time}  2100

  As a real estate attorney in South Carolina, I worked with Indian 
Americans for nearly 30 years in the hospitality, medical, and business 
sectors; and I have always appreciated the strong family values, 
entrepreneurship, and patriotism they have shown in our communities. 
There has been no better or finer example of this than the recent 
elections of the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jindal) to Congress and 
Nikki Randhawa of Lexington, South Carolina to the South Carolina 
statehouse where she recently was elected president of the freshman 
class. They embody the hard work and drive that so many Indian 
Americans have fulfilling the American Dream.
  At such a critical time, it is important we stand beside the people 
of India identified today in the gentleman from Illinois's (Speaker 
Hastert) acceptance speech as the world's largest democracy, as America 
is the world's oldest democracy. Our two nations share the same values. 
I am confident with the proven generosity of Americans we will again 
demonstrate by our assistance to the people of South Asia to help 
recover from this terrible tragedy.
  Tonight I am very grateful to be joined by the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), a person of extraordinary credentials, a person 
serving in Congress who is a dedicated scientist, a graduate, a Ph.D. 
in nuclear physics from the University of California at Berkeley, a 
professor at Calvin College in Michigan, and a person, again, who has a 
deep understanding and appreciation of science and what it can mean to 
improve the lives of the American people and the people of South Asia.
  I yield to the gentleman from Michigan.
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. I 
certainly appreciate his sponsoring this particular Special Order and 
particularly his encouragement of the American people to contribute.
  We are impressed that the President has designated $350 million to 
deal with this tragedy, but I would like to point out that that is very 
little more than $1 per person this country and very little more than 
$2 for every working person in this country. Certainly we can do better 
than that, and I encourage all Americans to send contributions to the 
charities that the gentleman mentioned. I would also mention the 
American Red Cross will play a role in this through its international 
arms. I am also aware in my community of relief organizations such as 
the Christian Reform World Relief Committee, which is very active in 
this. International Aid is another organization in Spring Lake, 
Michigan, which has dispatched $3 million of medical equipment and 
other supplies already. And I am sure every American can look around 
their own community and find similar organizations that they can 
contribute to to help during this incredible tragedy.
  We certainly want to express our sympathy as the American Congress 
and the American country to the people who have suffered this tragedy. 
It is almost incomprehensible. For years scientists have talked about 
the possibility of a mega-tsunami and it has largely been dismissed 
even though tsunamis can be very large, but the idea of a mega-tsunami 
has been dismissed by most scientists. This one does not quite measure 
up to that in terms of the power and the energy it contained, but it 
certainly is a mega-tsunami in terms of the damage and the death, the 
destruction that it has caused. So I do want to express my personal 
sympathy and that of the Congress for those who are suffering and 
encourage all Americans to help.
  But the main thrust of my comments this evening are going to be about 
the science of tsunamis. That may seem inappropriate at this point when 
we are all dealing with a tragedy, but I know there is a lot of 
interest because I have fielded a number of questions from colleagues 
and staff in the Congress, and so I think it is worth time talking to 
our colleagues about what a tsunami is, how it happens, particularly as 
it relates to the possibility of developing a warning system for 
tsunamis.
  First question, how do tsunamis occur? They have four major sources. 
Earthquakes are the primary source but also volcanos can cause tsunamis 
either through eruption or collapse. Other possibilities are 
landslides, slumps, or rock falls. If they are large enough, they can 
cause tsunamis. The last category is more esoteric. Asteroids, 
meteorites. They are very rare, but they cause the largest tsunamis. 
And also man-made explosions, which many people think could cause them, 
but, in fact, it would be very difficult to do that. I will discuss 
each of these a bit later.
  But let me also address, first of all, why we cannot warn people. And 
I should mention some have asked me why the name ``tsunami,'' why do we 
use that. Do we not have an American term? Actually we do not have an 
equivalent American term. It is from two Japanese words that mean 
harbor and wave, and that is literally what it is. It is primarily 
waves in harbors or coastlines.
  If we look at the natural disasters we have in this world and the 
warning systems that we have, if we look at the very largest natural 
disasters, such as volcanic explosions, we generally have hours to 
months of warning time before a volcano will explode, and the emphasis 
is generally on months provided we have seismic devices measure the 
activity within the volcano. Hurricanes, we have days in which to 
prepare and to evacuate or to tighten up our homes or other buildings. 
Tsunamis, we could have hours of warning if we have a good warning 
system, and that is the big ``if,'' which I will talk about a bit 
later.
  Tornadoes we generally have 10 minutes to an hour of warning. And 
earthquakes we have no warning whatsoever. We know of no good warning 
system for earthquakes. Although there are some precursors, we can 
never predict an earthquake precisely. And since earthquakes cause most 
tsunamis, that means it is very difficult to predict tsunamis. But 
because they take from minutes to hours to reach the shore once we 
detect the earthquake and detect whether or not it causes a tsunami, we 
do have some warning time available and we have a warning system in the 
Pacific Ocean, which has been quite successful.
  Let us talk about some of the science behind tsunamis. Why do they 
occur?

[[Page 105]]

What is going on? How does an earthquake cause a tsunami? First of all, 
not all earthquakes do. If it is an earthquake that does not cause much 
shifting of the surface under the ocean, there is generally not much of 
a tsunami. Also if it is a weak earthquake, it generally does not 
create a tsunami. But if we have a large earthquake, let us say above 
about 7.0, in that neighborhood, on the Richter Scale, and if it 
involves substantial motion of material, we will get a tsunami.
  And the most common way in which these are called is when there is a 
subdeduction, when a tectonic plate sliding under another tectonic 
plate in the ocean and if there is a big movement and if it extends for 
many miles or many kilometers in the direction, we get a lot of motion 
in a very quick time. The water pours in to try to fill up that space. 
It is sort of like throwing a rock in a pond, and we get ripples coming 
up. But if we are talking about an ocean, and a typical ocean depth is 
in the neighborhood of, let us say, 15,000 feet, we have a huge amount 
of water being moved in a very short time, and it is like throwing a 
very, very, very large rock in the ocean.
  The waves that spread out from this disturbance are not very big. 
Typically the wave that is caused by an earthquake or an underwater 
volcano will only have a height ranging from a few inches to a few 
feet. So the waves that are traveling across the ocean are barely 
noticeable to a ship that is sailing on the ocean. And that is why we 
have this strange situation, terrible destruction around the Indian 
Ocean now, but the fishermen who were out in their ships were not 
injured. They scarcely even knew that they were lifted up a foot and 
then let down again as the wave went under. But the waves are very 
deep; and as they approach shore, it becomes shallower. All of that 
energy of motion is condensed together and the waves add together and 
create huge walls of water that hit the coast and travel inland from 
the coast.
  So if we have an earthquake, a volcano, a landslide, a slump, a rock 
fall, anything that generates motion of a lot of water, as that spreads 
out across the ocean, it loses a little energy but not very much, and 
depending on the depth of the ocean, it can travel very rapidly. If the 
ocean is deep, we can get speeds of these waves on the order of the 
speed of a jet airplane. And it is just a tremendous speed to travel. 
That is why we do not have much warning time, because they travel very 
rapidly.
  As they approach shore, as I said, they slow down, mount up, and we 
get this huge wall of water. And it depends entirely upon the geology 
of the area, the shape of the land, the nature of the source of the 
earthquake. One of the most destructive that occurred was the one up in 
Alaska some years ago, and it was not that large an earthquake, but the 
wall of water that hit the land was over 100 feet high. It hit a 
reinforced concrete lighthouse and demolished it and killed everyone 
inside. It had that kind of force, much more force than we had in the 
Indian Ocean last week, but it did not have as great an extent. 
Interestingly enough, that tsunami which was close to Alaska did cause 
substantial damage in Hawaii and killed more people in Hawaii than it 
did in Alaska because Alaska is not very heavily populated and Hawaii 
is.
  So we have many different sources of tsunamis, and I hesitate to go 
into a great deal of detail on that. I do want to point out for the 
people who like to be terrified or those who like to make movies to 
terrify people that the largest tsunamis, as I mentioned, would result 
from asteroids or meteorites. If one of those lands in an ocean area, 
we would have a tsunami that could totally decimate all of the 
surrounding coastal area for miles inland. That has happened in the 
past geological history of this planet; but, in fact, it is quite rare. 
Usually the time between those is measured in millions of years, 
sometimes many millions of years.
  What about the warning system? As I said earlier, we do have the 
Pacific warning system. It has worked fairly well. What we have to do 
is have a good system to detect earthquakes since they are the main 
cause and seismographs that could not only detect earthquakes but could 
detect a volcanic explosion or a volcanic collapse, anything that would 
move a lot of material and therefore create a big hole for the water to 
pour into or else an explosion that would make the water move out.
  So if we have the seismographs that can detect that, then we have to 
have a method of calculating where the earthquake occurred, and we have 
that in many parts of the world. Unfortunately it took a while to 
establish the exact location of the earthquake in the Indian Ocean and 
find out its magnitude and find out really what the danger was. And 
then that tells us the starting time of the tsunami.
  Then we have to be able to detect the motion of it, the velocity. So 
we have to have buoys displaced around that can measure these waves I 
mentioned, which are not all that large; but we have to have a buoy 
system that can detect that so we can calculate the speed.
  And above all we need a warning system that will send out a warning 
to the people in the countries that are going to be hit. That is where 
we completely failed in the Indian Ocean, because no one expected a 
tsunami of this size in the Indian Ocean. The Pacific system has worked 
reasonably well, but even then we cannot always predict far enough in 
advance exactly where it is going to hit and how hard it is going to 
hit. And as I said before, not every earthquake results in a tsunami.
  So we are going to have false alarms. We may send out the alert and 
the people will all quickly evacuate the coastal areas, get to high 
ground, and there is just a minor little wave that comes in. It is like 
the boy who cried wolf. If this happens several times, people say, 
well, it is a good warning system, but we really do not need it. But we 
never know when the big one is going to come, so people have to be 
trained to follow the warning system no matter what and recognize that 
not every time will it result in a major tsunami in every location that 
is warned, but sometime it will.
  I believe it is incumbent upon us to lead the way as we have in 
developing the Pacific Ocean tsunami detection system which has saved a 
lot of lives. We cannot protect against a tsunami; so we cannot stop 
the property damage. But at least we can save the lives.

                              {time}  2115

  We know how to do it. The problem is, the nations around the Indian 
Ocean and in other threatened areas are going to have to join the 
effort and, above all, they are going to have to develop a warning 
system and train their people how the warning system will work and how 
tsunamis work so that they will take the warning seriously and flee to 
high ground at the first indication of any disaster of this sort.
  I thank the gentleman for yielding me time, and I hope I have not 
taken too much time. But as I said, since so many people are interested 
in the nature and the science behind tsunamis, I thought this might be 
helpful, particularly as this Congress will be involved in the next 
year or 2 in helping to decide on what type of warning system should be 
developed worldwide and what our role is going to be in that.
  Lest we think that all the tsunamis are in the Pacific, just because 
the majority are, be aware that there is potential for huge tsunamis in 
the Atlantic and, as we all know, we have a heavily populated Atlantic 
coastline, New York City just to name one major population center, but 
all the way from Maine down to Miami. We will have to worry about it. 
And the likelihood of it is small, but if it occurs, the probability of 
major damage is so high that we should not just concentrate on the 
Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, but we should also worry about the 
Atlantic Ocean and our eastern seaboard.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. It 
was certainly very helpful to have the gentleman explain tsunamis and 
the effect and how precautions can be taken. We greatly appreciate the 
gentleman's excellent scientific background that can be so helpful. I 
know I particularly represent the low country of South Carolina, and we 
are certainly observing what has occurred in south Asia and we identify 
with our beaches of Hilton

[[Page 106]]

Head Island; it is a concern. But I thank the gentleman so much for his 
service.
  Mr. Speaker, as I complete my service as the cochair of the India 
Caucus, I want to give a special thanks to Dino Tepparo who is the 
legislative assistant and attorney of the office of the second district 
of South Carolina. I give so much credit to him for helping build the 
largest caucus on Capitol Hill. He also developed the website for the 
India Caucus, and he has really made a difference in trying for better 
relations between the world's largest democracy of India and the oldest 
democracy of the United States. And Dino Tepparo is a person, I greatly 
appreciate his efforts.
  Mr. Speaker, also I want to review the significance of this tragedy 
on so many different points, because it is so massive that it is almost 
overwhelming, as was indicated by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Ehlers) of the magnitude of what the people of the world are facing. As 
to the disaster background itself, on Sunday, December 26, a magnitude 
9.0 earthquake off the West Coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia 
triggered massive tsunamis that affected several countries throughout 
South and Southeast Asia as well as Somalia, Tanzania, and Kenya in 
East Africa. Aftershocks continued to occur in the region through 
January 1, when a magnitude 6.5 earthquake occurred off the west coast 
of northern Sumatra.
  The current situation. The estimated death toll from the December 26 
earthquake and tsunamis is more than 140,000 people in South and 
Southeast Asia and East Africa and may be as high as 150,000. Between 3 
million to 5 million people throughout the affected region are lacking 
basic survival requirements, access to clean water, adequate shelter, 
food, sanitation, and health care. Contaminated water sources in the 
affected countries have increased the risk of cholera, dysentery, 
malaria, and dengue fever.
  Approximately 500,000 people are displaced in Indonesia. More than 
889,175 are displaced in Sri Lanka. Mr. Speaker, 3.5 million people are 
affected in India, and more than 10,000 are injured in Thailand. In 
addition, between 15,000 and 30,000 may have been affected in Somalia, 
12,000 are displaced in Malaysia, and approximately 12,000 are 
displaced and 300,000 affected in the Maldives.
  The American response. On December 31, President Bush pledged $350 
million in relief and recovery assistance, bringing the total amount of 
pledges from donor countries and the World Bank to an estimated $2 
billion. The United States is leading a core group of nations to help 
with immediate humanitarian relief, rehabilitation, and long-term 
reconstruction efforts, including India, Japan, and Australia.
  On January 2, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell led a delegation 
of U.S. officials, including Florida Governor Jeb Bush, to visit the 
disaster-stricken areas of Asia. The United States Pacific Command said 
this week it is deploying 20 ships from the docks in Hong Kong, Guam, 
and the island of Diego Garcia. The ships are loaded with medical 
equipment and mobile hospitals, 41 helicopters, 2,100 Marines, 1,400 
sailors, and the capacity to generate 600,000 gallons of fresh water 
daily.
  On December 27, the United States provided more than 3,000 metric 
tons of rice to the U.N. World Food Program for use in the affected 
region. The United States Department of Defense and the United States 
Agency for International Development have established regional 
coordination centers in Bangkok, Thailand, and in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 
These centers will help coordinate the massive U.S. relief efforts.
  In addition to the hundreds of U.S. embassy and USAID mission staff 
who are now dedicated to the response to this disaster in their 
respective countries, USAID disaster assistance response team members 
and other U.S. assistance team members are already on the ground and 
moving into the affected countries.
  Of course, all of us want to advise our constituents, what can 
Americans do? Government officials on the ground are advising Americans 
wishing to offer support in the relief effort to focus on cash 
donations as opposed to shipments of used clothing, canned goods, or 
other commodities. While all assistance is greatly appreciated, cash 
donations are proving to be the most helpful form of assistance for 
tsunami victims for the following reasons: cash is the fastest and most 
direct way to get assistance to specific affected areas through 
nongovernmental and charitable organizations that are established and 
respected in the disaster response field. The cost of shipping these 
types of goods exceeds the value of the goods themselves, and many of 
these goods may not be culturally appropriate or timely in their 
arrival. Cash will also be used to help the purchase of goods on the 
ground in the affected areas in order to help jump start the local 
economies which were so severely impacted by the tsunami.
  At this time, unless there is further response and there is, thank 
goodness, from Congressman Ehlers.
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to mention one point which I 
did not include, a very practical point for anyone who is in an area 
that might suffer a tsunami. There is a very natural warning system 
that nature provides, but it is very short term and that is before a 
tsunami, before the big waves roll in, the water recedes, not always, 
but almost always, and that is precisely what happened in this case. In 
fact, that killed more people because they did not recognize it. Any 
time one is on the coast and you see the water receding for some 
unexplained reason, head for high ground. That is your first warning. 
But, in fact, what happened, all the fish were left stranded on the 
shore, people rushed out, and especially children rushed out to grab 
the fish because obviously they need the food and they were out there 
beyond where they should have been when the water hit. They had no 
chance of survival whatsoever.
  So there is one good warning system every person in every country 
should be aware of, in case you are ever on shore, you see the water 
running out, you run in, and head for high ground as fast as you can.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Again, Mr. Speaker, we appreciate so 
much the gentleman's practical advise, his expertise, and his obvious 
compassion for the people of south Asia.
  As we conclude, I certainly want to say God bless our troops, and we 
will never forget September 11.

                          ____________________