[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 19738]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      AN ADMINISTRATION IN DENIAL

  (Mr. MENENDEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf 
Coast, the Nation has gotten used to hearing an administration in 
denial. Two nights ago, Congress got a firsthand view when six Cabinet 
members came before the House of Representatives and described a 
picture-perfect Federal response to Katrina. But as Americans have 
watched the tragedy unfold on their television screens, they learned to 
differentiate rhetoric from reality. The sad, yet unmistakable, truth 
is that the Federal Government failed the people of the Gulf Coast, 
both in the years before the hurricane and in the days after it. The 
American people get it; but, unfortunately the administration does not.
  This is not a time for finger-pointing or political posturing. 
Neither is it a time to stick our heads in the sand and pretend that 
the government has performed admirably. It has not, and the 
administration should stop pretending otherwise.
  The stakes are too high to continue heading along this road without 
asking how we got there. The President needs to explain to the American 
people why we can trust this same team to adequately deal with the 
crisis that continues to face millions and cost billions. Congress 
needs to establish an independent commission to ensure that the 
American people learn the truth. We simply cannot afford any more 
mistakes.

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