http://wexler.house.gov/news.php?ID=116

 

Mr. Speaker:

Like all Americans, my heart goes out to the millions of people displaced and suffering from one of the largest national catastrophe in our nation?s history. I hope all the victims of Hurricane Katrina know that our prayers are with them in this most difficult hour. I strongly support today?s initial aid package to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

 

However, the Administration?s response to this catastrophe is nothing short of a national disgrace. How is it possible that the Administration did not realize earlier what a catastrophe this is? There is a 90,000 square-mile footprint of disaster; and yet, last night FEMA?s director Michael Brown admitted that the Administration had no idea exactly how bad the situation was. Even worse, he had previously characterized the security situation in New Orleans as ?pretty darn good? and stopped just short of blaming the residents of New Orleans themselves for not evacuating.

 

The Bush Administration failed the American people in advance of the hurricane by cutting critical funding in spite of pleas by the Army Corps of Engineers -- money that would have been used to reinforce the very levees that broke and flooded New Orleans. We had plenty of money to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans but none to save the poorest Americans with an ounce of prevention.

 

And in terms of the response to the disaster itself, what we have seen there is unquestionably too little too late. While the President today said the relief efforts so far were ?not acceptable,? how can he possibly be surprised by this deplorable response? How can he say that the flooding wasn?t anticipated? Quite to the contrary, it was expected. It was predicted. What is not acceptable is the President?s response.

 

One year ago we had the opportunity to learn from the disasters in Florida. Floridians experienced the consequences of FEMA?s failure to deliver aid to communities who needed it the most. We saw the most vulnerable in our society ? the elderly and the poor ? being left out or overlooked. Last year we had the opportunity to prevent this from happening again. At that time, I called for the resignation of FEMA head, Michael Brown because of his grievous mismanagement. The President did not heed that call, nor did he see fit to make any substantial changes in FEMA.

 

Last year, when the President?s election was in question, his response to the hurricanes in the swing state of Florida was tremendously fast -- even passing out ice in the immediate aftermath. Where was he in the immediate aftermath for Gulf coast? Where were the trucks of food? Where were the water buffalo? Where were the tents of aid that are just now being established? The President and Congress dropped everything and flew back to Washington on Palm Sunday to intervene on behalf of Terri Schiavo. Why did the President delay so long for an entire American city in crisis? These are desperate people who need food, water, shelter and safety, not a photo op ? which even itself comes 5 days late. Every asset of the American military in this hemisphere should have been devoted to America?s humanitarian crisis starting on Monday at 5 PM.

 

I was in Aceh in Indonesia last month. I saw first-hand the greatness of the American aid efforts. Our response in the aftermath of the tsunami was one of America?s finest hours. I was extremely proud as an American to see all the work our country had done to stave off famine and disease. Our aircraft carrier was off the Aceh coast within two days. If we can do that thousands of miles away in Indonesia, why not New Orleans? If we had even just met that same standard, help would have been in New Orleans on Wednesday. It should have been self-evident on Monday that now is the time to use our strength for the benefit of our own people.

 

Hurricane Katrina is another tragic wakeup call for America. After the immediate crisis has passed, we must create a national disaster fund. We must restructure FEMA. And, we must do more than talk about disaster preparedness. We must do everything possible to ensure that we are fully prepared for a national disaster and the possibility of a terrorist attack.

*shocked*

What's that supposed to mean?

He also forgot to point out that it wouldn't take us 4 days to respond to a terrorist attack, and what's worse is that we knew this was coming.

Another Democrat trying to blame this whole thing on the Bush administration? No way!