[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19667]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 UNCOVER DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PROBLEMS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the House of Representatives under 
suspension of the rules, that is, a bill with 40 minutes of debate 
total, no amendments allowed by any Member of the House for any reason, 
will vote to borrow on behalf of all the American people $51.8 billion 
to begin the recovery, rebuilding and continuing the aid and assistance 
efforts subsequent to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina.
  Now, it is good that we are reacting and we are going to begin to 
fund the incredible needs that will arise and have arisen from this 
disaster. It is the beginning of a long process, and it is probably 
only a down payment. But some say that we cannot, as the House of 
Representatives or the legislative branch, examine the causes of the 
miserable response that caused unnecessary loss of life while recovery 
efforts are still ongoing.
  Some say that we cannot question the work done by the administration 
and the appointees in place who failed to act adequately. They say that 
would be unseemly.
  But during World War II, Harry Truman, in a Democratic-controlled 
legislature, chaired a special committee investigating the procurement 
scandals of a Democratic administration in the greatest crisis of our 
history, World War II.
  We can do both. We can provide aid and assistance, and we can get at 
the root causes of unnecessary loss of life and unnecessary disaster. 
We can do that.
  There are a number of lessons to be learned. We need to be able to 
respond better today or tomorrow. Hurricane season is not over yet. We 
might have another. Another might follow tragically that same path. 
That might be an incredible disaster. And we are going to have the same 
people in place, the same procedures in place. That is not going to be 
enough.
  The terrorists are not going to wait. It has been 4 years since 9/11. 
We still do not have interoperable, secure communications that were 
identified as a principal problem on 9/11. The Bush administration 
zeroed them out in this year's budget, and the Congress has not yet 
seen fit to restore that money. I hope they will do that in one of 
these emergency spending bills.
  Then there are the cuts at FEMA. The aggregate budget for FEMA during 
the term of the Bush administration, the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency, has been reduced. We are not quite sure how much yet because we 
do not have the final numbers on this bill. I guess with this disaster 
assistance that will not be the case. But in terms of their 
preparedness and mitigation, it has been reduced.
  The Corps of Engineers has hundreds of critical infrastructure 
problems, including the levee around New Orleans, underfunded and 
unfunded. I had a dam in my district that was failing, a flood control 
dam, with the largest cities in the State downstream. And the Corps of 
Engineers simply said, We do not have the money. Finally they scrambled 
around and they found the money. But, unfortunately, they were not able 
to do that in New Orleans for the Corps budget had been dramatically 
reduced.

                              {time}  1800

  In fact, the Corps' own people predicted that this could happen 
because of the underfunding of the ongoing maintenance and the needed 
improvements in the diking system there, but all's well.
  Deputy Press Secretary Trent Duffy said things are on track to 
privatize Social Security because we are going to borrow so much money 
for the disaster we are going to need to privatize Social Security. 
What? The Bush plan for privatization of Social Security requires 
borrowing more money. That is absurd. Then he says, oh, and the tax 
cuts are all on track, too. The tax cuts for the wealthiest among us 
are on track in face of a war and a disaster. Why? Because trickle-down 
will help the people of New Orleans.
  How about Federal investment in the infrastructure that would protect 
the people of New Orleans and other cities around the United States of 
America? How about interoperable communications for our first 
responders across the United States of America? How about more money 
for disaster mitigation preparedness for FEMA? How about those 
investments before tax cuts for the wealthiest among us?
  But they live on the high ground, and I guess they think they are 
exempt. They are not exempt. We are all in this together, and there 
should be some degree of sacrifice and level-headedness downtown. We 
are going to borrow $52.8 billion tomorrow, adding to the deficit; and 
they are proposing more tax cuts for people who earn over $300,000 a 
year and estates over $6 million.
  Come on, let us get real. Let us act on behalf of all our people. Let 
us invest in our country and our people and do a better job against 
natural disasters and the potential for terrorist attacks. We need some 
changes. It should be more than 40 minutes of debate, and one or two 
amendments at least should be allowed.

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