[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20176]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PROGRESS IN NEW ORLEANS

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, there is progress in New Orleans. The Port 
of New Orleans received its first shipment, and more people are back in 
the area for brief visits to assess the damage to their homes. In areas 
that were not flooded or the flood waters have begun to recede, 
citizens and crews began the clean-up process.
  The Governor's office reported that 16 of the region's 25 wastewater 
treatment plants are now operational. And the New Orleans airport 
reopened for cargo planes just last week. Although service will be 
extremely limited, the airport reopened to commercial traffic this 
week.
  In the wake of such a crippling disaster, we are already seeing 
promising indicators of recovery for the city of New Orleans. Our 
thoughts and prayers are still with the people of the Gulf region, and 
we in Congress will continue to work to ensure that New Orleans and the 
Gulf Coast continue to move towards a full recovery.

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