[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
[September 27, 2004]
[Pages 2244-2245]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Transmitting 
Supplemental Budget Requests To Support Comprehensive Response and 
Recovery Efforts After Hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne
September 27, 2004

Dear Mr. Speaker:
    On September 8th, I signed into law Public Law 108-303, the 
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act, which 
provided $2 billion in supplemental funds for hurricane-related disaster 
relief. On September 14th, I submitted a supplemental request totaling 
$3.1 billion to continue immediate assistance to address the impact of 
Hurricanes Charley and Frances.
    Due to Hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne and other hurricane-related needs, 
I am requesting additional emergency funds from the Congress. I now ask 
the Congress to consider the enclosed requests, totaling over $7.1 
billion, for additional emergency FY 2004 supplemental resources for the 
Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, the 
Interior, Justice, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs; as well as the 
Corps of Engineers, International Assistance Programs, and the Small 
Business Administration.
    I hereby designate these specific proposals in the amounts requested 
herein as emergency requirements. These additional requests will support 
response and recovery effort to address the critical needs associated 
with the effects of Hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne and other storms in 
southern and eastern States and other affected areas. In addition to 
this enacted and requested emergency funding, Federal agencies will 
continue to use existing resources and programs for response and 
recovery efforts from all recent hurricanes and storms.
    I urge the Congress to limit this emergency funding to those items 
directly related to the recovery efforts from the impact of these recent 
major disasters and

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to act expeditiously on this and my September 14th emergency 
supplemental request.
    The details of this request are set forth in the enclosed letter 
from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
         Sincerely,

                                                          George W. Bush