[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19459]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          PROVIDING ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, we gathered here in the People's House 
today to provide some financial assistance to those who have suffered 
as a result of this natural disaster. I think it is important for us to 
remember that those who are suffering most are those who are the 
poorest among us.
  I was reading the New York Times, and I read this comment from an 
engineering professor at the State University of Louisiana who has 
served as a consultant on Louisiana's State evacuation plan. He said 
that little attention had been paid to the evacuation of New Orleans' 
low mobility population, the elderly, the infirm and the poor without 
cars or other means of fleeing the city, about 100,000 people.
  We knew this disaster was upon us days before it reached our shore. 
In fact, the President went on television and urged people to evacuate 
the city. We saw the TV pictures of cars lining the freeways as they 
were heading northward out of harm's way. But apparently there were 
many in New Orleans and elsewhere along the hurricane's path that did 
not have cars, that did not have credit cards, that had no means of 
renting an automobile for transportation, that could not afford a bus 
ticket, that simply were left behind. These were the poorest among the 
city's population.
  Then the flooding came, and these, the sickest, the poorest, the 
oldest, along with many children, have died; and the sad truth is that 
many have died unnecessarily. Many have died simply because they lacked 
for water, they lacked for food, they lacked for timely medical 
attention.
  We are the greatest, most advanced Nation on the face of the Earth. 
We have at our disposal every resource that is known to mankind. Yet 
when disaster hit our own country, when our own citizens were without 
food and water and medical care, we did not respond in a timely manner, 
so many lost their lives. And those who lost their lives were primarily 
black and they were primarily poor, and that should strike at the 
conscience of every one of us.
  We are all a part of a great human family, but we are also a part of 
a great national family; and when tragedy strikes any of us, all of us 
should feel affected.
  Mr. Speaker, the House has done a good thing today in providing 
initial relief resources, but there is much more that needs to be done 
in the days and months ahead. One of the things that must be done is 
for us to examine ourselves as a Federal Government and as a people. 
Why is it, why is it that it is the poor, the minority, the child, the 
elderly and the infirm who are most likely to suffer in times of 
disaster, whether they be of man-made proportions or of a natural 
occurrence?
  Mr. Speaker, we should all pray that those who are in need of 
assistance at this hour receive it as quickly as possible, but we 
should also hold those accountable who are responsible for making sure 
that that assistance is available in a timely manner.

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