[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19467-19468]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HURRICANE KATRINA

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, the work that we have to complete in the 
waning days of this session is significant and difficult, and nothing 
we do in the days ahead can be more important than helping the victims 
of Hurricane Katrina get back on their feet. They are counting on us. 
It is their time of need. We owe it to them to give them everything we 
are capable of giving them.
  The most terrible tragedies routinely bring out the best in America 
and Americans. We have seen that again in the aftermath of Katrina, one 
of the most horrible natural disasters in the history of this Nation.
  Americans are coming together and giving their time and money to the 
millions of victims. They are putting their personal concerns aside so 
they can put Americans in need first. Now they expect America's 
Government to do the same.
  There are dozens of steps the Senate can take in order to get 
immediate relief to the victims of the gulf coast--steps we can take to 
make sure Medicaid is easily and readily available to

[[Page 19468]]

those who need it, to get families the housing assistance they badly 
need, and to get resources to the school districts all over the country 
so displaced children do not lose a precious day of this school year. 
These items must be our top priority.
  I commend the majority leader for clearing the Senate Calendar of the 
estate tax so we can focus on Katrina. We can do better. Families in 
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida are counting on us to do 
that. They are suffering, and they have nowhere else to turn. We owe it 
to them to make their safety and survival our top priority, and we 
should give them nothing less.

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