[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 20162]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               H.R. 3673

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LYNN A. WESTMORELAND

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 13, 2005

  Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 3673, the 
Second Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act to Meet Immediate 
Needs Arising From the Consequences of Hurricane Katrina, 2005.
  Along with the other members of the House, I have been shocked and 
saddened to watch the devastation that has been caused by the Hurricane 
in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. I have also been encouraged by 
the heroic efforts both of private individuals and our military in 
saving the lives of many people, and evacuating those who simply could 
not get out of the affected areas.
  This has also been a time for Americans to draw together--donations 
to private relief agencies are more than $500 million in just the first 
week after the tragedy, and organizations like the Red Cross and 
Salvation Army have been right at the forefront in providing relief to 
the people affected.
  I strongly supported the efforts of Congress in allocating the 
initial $10 billion in immediate relief to keep the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency (FEMA) and Army Corps of Engineers functioning to 
assist in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane and flooding. 
However, I rise in opposition to this $51.8 billion relief package. I 
do not oppose all funding for the emergency, but one of my major 
concerns with the government response to disasters in general is the 
tendency to throw money at problems with very little accountability on 
how that money is being spent.
  The $51.8 billion we are about to spend is nearly three times the 
entire annual State budget of my home State of Georgia, the ninth-
largest State in the country with a population of 8.8 million people, 
and will be spent in about five weeks from what we are being told. 
According to the Office of Management and Budget, we are spending money 
at a rate of $2 billion a day, and yet we in the Congress do not have 
many details at all on how that money is being spent.
  I strongly support continued government funding of relief work in the 
affected areas, but the legislation we are considering is sorely 
lacking in effective accountability. The legislation allocates funds to 
Federal agencies with barely any explanation, except for one thing we 
know--that not a dime of the $51.8 billion will be spent on 
reconstruction in the affected areas. The funding is only for immediate 
response over and above the $10 billion we are already spending. This 
legislation holds no one responsible, and I cannot in good conscience 
allow such a tremendous amount of taxpayer's money to be spent without 
holding someone accountable for its disbursement. The legislation does 
provide for the inspector general to oversee the funding, but even that 
is after-the-fact as the money is being spent.
  The more than $60 billion Congress will have allocated after this 
legislation passes is enough to give every family of four affected by 
the hurricane a cash payment of $120,000, and yet none of that $60 
billion will be spent to actually rebuild anything in New Orleans, 
Mississippi, or Alabama.
  We need time to absorb information about what is happening. We know 
more today than we did yesterday, and we will know more tomorrow than 
what we know today. We do not need more knee-jerk reactions of spending 
money to fix problems. There are only three ways to pay for hurricane 
relief--raising taxes, which will stifle the economy; cutting Federal 
spending to offset the money; and passing the cost along to our 
children and grandchildren by increasing the deficit. We need to 
carefully consider this spending, and work diligently to ensure that 
the funds are being spent wisely.
  I have personally donated to the Red Cross and Salvation Army, as has 
my staff, and I will continue to support relief efforts. I would prefer 
that the votes in Congress on spending these disaster dollars take 
place in $10 billion installments, where we can see how effectively the 
money is being used. This is an extremely difficult time, and I applaud 
the leadership both of our President and other government agencies, 
along with the military, who have acted so decisively and effectively 
to alleviate suffering.
  We are a great nation, and we will continue to be great and rise 
above the challenges we face. May God continue to bless America.

                          ____________________