[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19556]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HURRICANE KATRINA

  (Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I am here today to express, first and 
foremost, my sincere sympathy for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The 
people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama are dealing with a 
catastrophic event; and they deserve whatever it takes from the Federal 
Government. The mismanagement of the Federal response to this disaster 
is beyond comprehension. The victims and the rest of America deserve 
answers to their questions, not excuses, because there is no excuse for 
the slow Federal reaction. There is no excuse for the lack of 
preparedness. There is no excuse for this absence of leadership.
  Why were Federal funding requests by Louisiana for flood control 
perennially denied? Why was the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction slashed by a record 
$72 million? Why was the head of FEMA, Michael Brown, hired despite 
having zero background in disaster management and was actually fired 
from his previous job for mismanagement?
  It is clear now that we need to revamp FEMA, and that starts with 
firing Michael Brown as director who has been an absolute 
embarrassment. Louisiana Governor Blanco has hired former FEMA director 
James Lee Witt to direct Katrina recovery efforts. I encourage 
President Bush to follow Governor Blanco's lead and to hire someone 
new, this time based on qualifications, not political patronage.
  Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Government needs to get the best people 
possible working on the rescue, recovery, and rebuilding efforts. 
Anything less is unacceptable.

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