[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 18361-18362]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     LONE STAR VOICE--MAGGI CARTER

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 14, 2006

  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, it has been one year since Hurricane Katrina 
flooded Texas with

[[Page 18362]]

evacuees. It's almost a year since welcoming Texans weathered their own 
storm, Hurricane Rita.
  But today there are still shells of smashed buildings left standing. 
There are still homes where roofs were peeled back by wind and rain. 
Today only a blue tarp remains over the heads of countless families.
  But these victims, these Lone Star Voices, are crying out for help.
  Maggi Carter of Beaumont writes, ``Hurricanes Katrina and Rita handed 
the State of Texas an unprecedented housing challenge. To date, there 
are grossly inadequate resources for the 75,000 victims of Hurricane 
Rita. We support a 5-step plan to provide housing to the more than 
100,000 families living in Texas who are victims of Hurricanes Katrina 
and Rita.''
  Mr. Speaker her plan includes: Transferring long-term housing from 
FEMA to HUD, the people who understand housing; settling the elderly 
and disabled into long-term government housing; and developing 
affordable rental housing while repairing the battered homes of 
survivors.
  We cannot turn a blind eye to survivors. The victims of these natural 
disasters and their needs cannot be ignored. They need their government 
to finally help them find the calm after the storm.
  That's just the way it is.

                          ____________________