[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19618-19619]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HURRICANE KATRINA

  Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, I rise today to reach out to my 
colleagues in the Gulf States and to all of the residents of Louisiana, 
Alabama, and Mississippi. The devastation and destruction experienced 
by Florida's neighbors is like nothing this country has ever 
experienced from a natural disaster.

[[Page 19619]]

  The great State of Florida has had its own recent struggles to 
recover not only from the four hurricanes we experienced last year but 
from two already this year, Dennis, which hit Florida's panhandle, and 
Katrina, which first made landfall in Miami and Dade County before 
making its way over the Gulf of Mexico to continue on its path of 
destruction. As Floridians, we all know well the pain and destruction 
wrought by hurricanes, and we feel a special kinship for our brothers 
and sisters in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. We have a great 
sense of duty to help our neighbors through this difficult time, just 
as they so selflessly helped us during our time of need last year.
  We, as a nation, have all begun to appreciate how fragile our very 
existence is in the face of this incredible force of nature. The loss 
of life and the scope of the destruction are beyond our capacity to 
understand. The feeling of isolation, despair, desolation experienced 
by those in the wake of a storm, and their families, is beyond 
consolation.
  Having only too recently been the recipient of our own neighbors' 
good will, comfort, and support in the wake of our own struggles, 
Floridians stand ready to respond in kind. Today the news reports that 
over 25,000 evacuees are expected in central Florida, bringing it close 
to the point of strain on the local resources because of that kind of 
activity. Thousands of Floridians are already helping. More are asking 
how they can help. Citizens have contributed to numerous nonprofit 
groups that in turn are sending truckloads of supplies to hurricane-
damaged areas.
  Our National Guard troops are now stationed in Mississippi, 
Louisiana, and Alabama, providing much needed manpower to the ongoing 
recovery efforts. Our law enforcement and fire department personnel 
have sacrificed time with their families so they can be in Louisiana, 
Alabama, and Mississippi providing emergency aid and security. Church 
groups have offered temporary housing, and schools in Florida have 
offered to take students displaced by the disaster.
  I am proud of the way Floridians and all Americans have reached out 
in this great time of need for our country. We will continue to help 
our neighbors, continue to keep them in our prayers, and continue to 
mourn the loss of so many of our fellow Americans through such a 
powerful natural disaster.
  While we certainly cannot avert our eyes and attention from the human 
suffering, we must also recognize the tremendous outpouring of love, 
support, and compassion directed to those who have lost so much. The 
American spirit of unity and survival is reflected in the response to 
the American Red Cross, the Office of Housing and Employment for the 
Displaced, the offer of neighboring public universities to accept 
students from Louisiana to avoid interruption in their education. These 
all serve to remind us that for all our differences, we are all one 
people, and we will take care of our own.
  Many have raised legitimate concerns about the level of our 
preparedness as a nation for the disaster, but now is not the time for 
recrimination. The time for examination and for determining lessons 
learned will soon come, but for now we must not be distracted from the 
mission of delivering aid and comfort to those who so desperately are 
in need and we must begin the process of rebuilding.
  The rise of rhetoric will not empty the flood waters, provide relief 
to the living, bury the dead or rebuild our cities. Together we can 
begin to restore hope to those where hope has been lost. Together we 
must move forward in good faith as one nation.
  As we look to the future, we have a responsibility to examine our 
disaster readiness at every level of Government. When lives are at 
stake, there is no room for territorial or jurisdictional turf wars. We 
must make certain no lives are lost that might otherwise be saved with 
proper planning, training, and cooperation among Government agencies at 
every level. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the 
Congress to be certain that that goal is achieved.
  Our country has been through very challenging times. We have suffered 
through terrorist attacks on our homeland, wars in Afghanistan and 
Iraq, and most recently Hurricane Katrina and surging oil prices. Yet 
through all of this, the American people have moved forward with 
optimism and determination. It is our way. We are a resilient people. 
Because of the incredible resiliency of the American people, we will 
recover from Katrina and we will be stronger and we will be better.

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