[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19557-19558]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      ENCOURAGING SIMPLIFIED FORM FOR VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA

  (Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, our hearts go out to all who have 
suffered the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. Our hearts also go out to 
those who have suffered the tragedy of a failed Federal Government in 
coming to their aid in saving people's lives.

[[Page 19558]]

  I ask my friends on the other side of the aisle to step back for a 
minute, to stop their campaign out of the White House blaming local and 
State officials for their role in this tragedy. I also ask my friends 
on the other side of the aisle to step back from their mission to cut 
Medicaid $10 billion, that they step back from their drive to cut taxes 
for the wealthiest 1 percent of people in this country; because instead 
of those tax cuts for the wealthy, instead of cutting Medicaid $10 
billion, this Congress should, first of all, adopt legislation that 
anybody in need of disaster-related assistance should only have to fill 
a single form out for Medicaid, if they have lost their job, for TANF, 
for unemployment insurance, for food stamps. The simplified form, 
instead of the bureaucracy we know they will deal with, could be used 
to determine eligibility for all Federal programs for a 90-day period, 
just showing you have lost your job because of Hurricane Katrina, and 
then they could be helped.

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