[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 21141-21142]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1715

                HELPING ALL OF HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I, like many Americans, am 
watching and praying that Hurricane Rita does not cause the same level 
of death and destruction as past Category 4 and 5 hurricanes like 
Andrew and Katrina.
  Watching the death and destruction wrought by Katrina was truly 
heart-wrenching. What was even more unnerving was watching as many 
desperate victims stranded on their rooftops and surrounded by rising 
flood waters wrote makeshift signs begging for help. All they wanted 
was to be rescued and to have access to food and water. Those images 
have been stamped into the hearts and minds of Americans and people all 
over the world, and we must remind the administration that we will 
never forget.
  How pretentious of our government to assume that everyone in the gulf 
coast region had the means to pick up at a moment's notice and hop in 
their cars and get on the highway towards safety. We must be aware of 
the ramifications of poverty in America and recognize that it is a real 
condition that many Americans face each and every day.

[[Page 21142]]

  We cannot turn a blind aye to those trapped in a dismal socio-
economic predicament that this administration's tax cuts for the 
wealthy and cuts in social programs have only exacerbated. Obviously, 
an investigation into the slow response by FEMA is warranted, an 
accurate, unbiased, independent investigation, not one that will be led 
by the President's own domestic security advisor or a partisan 
committee that was formed here in this Congress.
  Does that make you feel confident that the inquiry into this 
administration's performance in response to Katrina will be fair and 
accurate?
  Only a fool would allow the very people who botched the rescue 
efforts to be the ones to go back and determine what went wrong, what 
went right, and what lessons we have learned from this tragedy.
  People have died because of the inaction by their government. That 
much we certainly know is true. Now we must move forward with an 
investigation that is independent and one with subpoena power so that 
we can avoid the mistakes of Katrina. People have died, and we need to 
find out why. I know that if we do an investigation in name only, then 
people will die again, and they will continue to lack confidence in 
their government's ability to help them in their time of need. People 
will die in Florida. People will die in Texas. People will die in 
States throughout the hurricane region if we do not learn from the 
lessons of Katrina and ensure that our failures are not repeated.
  I also want to remind people that people in Florida were victims of 
Hurricane Katrina as well. Hurricane Katrina's first victim was Florida 
as it struck Broward and Miami-Dade counties as a Category 1 storm on 
August 25, leaving hundreds of damaged or destroyed homes and nearly 
11,000 individuals seeking assistance.
  These are the people that FEMA has decided do not need help. This 
woman here is standing in water up to her knees. Her cars are damaged. 
They are late model cars, not fancy ones; and they are the result of 
Hurricane Katrina hitting Florida. This is representative of what FEMA 
has denied individual assistance and denied help to.
  FEMA's response to this woman and to the woman standing among the 
remains of her house is that ``you are on your own.''
  What was FEMA's response to all the families in Florida's requests 
for help? It is the same as it was to the people in New Orleans who 
died the first days that Katrina struck here: ``you are on your own.''
  Last night we learned that Florida's appeal to FEMA to help our 
victims of Katrina in Florida was denied once again. My question for 
FEMA is, hurricanes do not know State boundaries, so why does FEMA?
  Florida has been hit by six hurricanes over the past year and a half. 
Six. It is a constant plague that the residents of Florida deal with 
every single year, and the denial of aid to those in need is 
irresponsible and unconscionable. I introduced legislation this month 
that calls on FEMA to provide the much-needed assets to the residents 
of Florida who are victims of Katrina. And I plead with my colleagues 
in Congress, do not turn your backs on the first victims of Katrina. 
Help those in need regardless of State line.

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