[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19451-19452]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HURRICANE KATRINA RESPONSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise in 
support of the emergency relief bill. I know that all of us have been 
held rapt by the images and stories coming out of the Gulf Coast. The 
sorrow and suffering there is almost unimaginable, and it is my fervent 
hope and prayer that relief, real relief, will come soon.
  On top of our grief, there is also outrage for it is nothing short of 
outrageous that in this country, where we talk of 9/11 every day, we 
still have not dedicated enough resources to improving our emergency 
response capabilities.
  The people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, as they wait day after 
agonizing day for help to arrive, are crying out for leadership and 
more simply, for help. For those who have died unnecessarily, the help 
is already too late. If this is the best the world's greatest power can 
do for its own people, or if it is not, it is a national disgrace.
  There will be plenty of time in the future to assess exactly why we 
were so poorly prepared for this storm and why it has taken the Federal 
Government so long after the levees broke to get effective help to New 
Orleans.
  Certainly the roots of the inept handling of the situation are old 
and deep, but in the short term we need to focus on solutions. We need 
real leadership, a real plan, and a much bigger contingent of emergency 
transportation and aid workers. Reports from every corner of embattled 
New Orleans are that the presence of law enforcement is at best 
minimal, despite the declarations of the Secretary of Homeland 
Security, and there is, 5 days after the hurricane and 3 days after the 
levees broke, still no effective distribution of food, water or 
medicine.

                              {time}  1500

  How can this be? We cannot let another hour pass without a 
substantive response to the glowing shortfalls in the relief and 
evacuation effort. I would like to join the minority leader, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), in her call for the creation 
of a Select Hurricane Relief Task Force.
  Our hearts go out to all those affected as well as those doing their 
best to respond to this disaster. Tragically, it is evident that the 
Federal Government's response has been wholly inadequate. Congress must 
insist on immediate improvement so that we can put an end to the 
suffering in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast as soon as possible.
  Finally, we must learn some lessons. We must not save money by not 
preparing to prevent or to ameliorate potential catastrophes. We did 
not, despite ample warning, properly build up and strengthen New 
Orleans' defenses against hurricanes. We are paying a frightful price 
for that negligence.
  We are not now buying the loose nuclear material in the former Soviet 
Union before it is smuggled to al Qaeda to make nuclear weapons.
  We are not now inspecting more than about 6 percent of the millions 
of shipping containers that enter our ports every year, any one of 
which could contain a weapon of mass destruction.
  We are not now adequately protecting our chemical and nuclear 
facilities against sabotage that could kill hundreds of thousands of 
Americans.
  We should learn from this disaster. The administration and Congress 
cut the budget for building up the levees,

[[Page 19452]]

and we are reaping the whirlwind. The administration has acted 
unbelievably lethargically in bringing relief efforts, and people have 
died as a result.
  Let us not continue our negligent disregard until we suffer a nuclear 
or chemical catastrophe. I am tired, Mr. Speaker, of passing post-
catastrophe relief bills. It is time the administration and this 
Congress act to prevent the next catastrophe.

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