[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19672-19673]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                MINNESOTANS SUPPORT HURRICANE SURVIVORS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ramstad) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RAMSTAD. Mr. Speaker, the Minnesota spirit is alive and well. The 
Minnesota spirit of compassion and help for people in need has moved 
countless Minnesotans to step forward to provide relief for the 
survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
  My district office has literally been overwhelmed with calls from 
people offering housing, food, clothing, health care, labor, and 
monetary assistance. Camp Ripley, located in northern Minnesota, is 
presently welcoming over 3,000 survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Other 
Minnesota communities are similarly opening their doors.
  In our suburban communities, churches and synagogues, civic and 
service clubs, school groups, the business community and numerous other 
organizations have answered the call to help disaster survivors. The 
Minnesota Vikings football team collected 70,000 pounds of clothing, 
toiletries, and other supplies for Katrina's survivors. As head coach 
Mike Tice said, this was an example of Americans helping Americans.
  In our Lake Minnetonka community, Interfaith Outreach & Community 
Partners, representing 21 area churches, has a long history of helping 
people in need. Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners is jump-
starting its annual housing fund drive to aid the housing needs of 
Hurricane Katrina survivors. I will be home this coming

[[Page 19673]]

Saturday to join Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners in kicking 
off a drive to raise $1.5 million for people in the gulf States who are 
so devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

                              {time}  1845

  John Berg, chairman of the Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners 
Housing Fund, put it best when he said, ``It's simply the right thing 
to do. We can't look away from the suffering of these people. We need 
to leverage all the resources and partnerships available to ensure a 
safe place to call home for both the families and children of our 
community and the families and children devastated by Katrina. It's a 
time for faith,'' concluded Mr. Berg.
  Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners, Mr. Speaker, which 
sponsors the Sleep Out annually to raise funds for homeless people in 
our community, will also continue to raise funds for local emergency 
and long-term housing initiatives. Last winter's Sleep Out raised over 
$1.3 million from the generous people of our Lake Minnetonka 
communities to literally, literally, bring in 42 homeless families from 
the cold and to enable 656 other families with over 800 children to 
keep a roof overhead.
  Mr. Speaker, the people of our communities back home have big hearts, 
and I know they will come through again for the Hurricane Katrina 
Housing Relief Fund. A special thanks to all the good people of 
Minnesota for opening their arms to hurricane survivors who have 
suffered so greatly. Once again, Mr. Speaker, the people I am proud to 
represent are doing the Lord's work here on Earth.

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