[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 20173-20174]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         ONGOING EFFORTS IN THE AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE KATRINA

  (Mr. DeLAY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago, Congress reconvened early to 
pass an emergency funding bill to meet the immediate relief and 
recovery needs of the Gulf Coast communities ravaged by Hurricane 
Katrina.
  Last week, we met the growing humanitarian and economic needs by 
passing an additional $51.8 billion in emergency relief.
  This week, Mr. Speaker, with the levee repaired, the flood waters 
receding, and the immediate funding needs met, the House's focus must 
shift to the broader policy implications of the Katrina disaster.
  Millions of our countrymen, men, women, and children, have been 
displaced all around our Nation. That means communities taking on 
larger populations, schools seating more students, hospitals seeing 
more patients, businesses serving more customers, roads and public 
transportation accommodating more travelers.
  The first responders and emergency managers on the ground in the 
affected region from all levels of government are in charge of the 
national response in the coming days.
  Congress must look at the coming months and years.
  Toward that end, last week, the Speaker and Senator Frist announced 
their intention to create a bipartisan, bicameral, select committee of 
senior Members and Senators to review and report findings about the 
preparations for and response to Hurricane Katrina. Isolated partisan 
attacks of the bipartisan committee notwithstanding, it will allow and 
require the Congress to do its constitutional duty to review the 
recovery and the policies that govern it.
  The joint select committee will work, as even its shrillest critics 
must know.
  Meanwhile, this week, the House is at work developing targeted 
policies for the ongoing national response, from a bill to protect 
Katrina's good Samaritans from predatory trial lawyers, to a bill to 
encourage more charitable giving to the Katrina private relief effort 
by providing targeted tax relief for the contributors to the recovery.
  These and other policies will be brought to the floor as they are 
ready so that the House can respond as quickly and as effectively as 
possible.
  Our entire Nation has its work cut out for it, recovering from this 
tragedy. The House will meet its responsibility, in the aftermath of 
this emergency, to lead.

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