I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4266 
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act to provide temporary emergency assistance for primary residences 
damaged or destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 9, 2005 
Mr. PICKERING (for himself, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. WICKER, Mr. 
JINDAL, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. BONNER, Mr. BOUSTANY, and Mr. 
MCCRERY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-
gency Assistance Act to provide temporary emergency 
assistance for primary residences damaged or destroyed 
by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Housing Opportunities 
and Mitigating Emergencies Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Gulf Coast region of the United States 
was recently decimated by twin natural disasters: 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 
(2) Hurricane Katrina crashed into the Gulf 
Coast on August 29, 2005, as a category 4 storm. 
(3) At the time of its landing, Hurricane 
Katrina was recorded as the third strongest hurri-
cane to ever make landfall on the United States, 
with sustained winds over 140 miles per hour. 
(4) The damage and destruction caused by 
Hurricane Katrina along the coastal regions of Lou-
isiana, Mississippi, and Alabama were unmatched in 
their breadth and scope. 
(5) A 10- to 30-foot storm surge came ashore 
on over 200 continuous miles of coastline from 
southeast Louisiana, including Mississippi and Ala-
bama, through to the Florida panhandle. 
(6) The 30-foot storm surge recorded at Biloxi, 
Mississippi, is the highest ever observed in the 
United States. 
(7) Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge quickly 
breached the levee system that protected the city of 
New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain and the Mis-
sissippi River, subsequently flooding at least 80 per-
cent of the city.
(8) The magnitude of Hurricane Katrina was of 
such an unprecedented scale that the Federal dis-
aster declarations which followed its destructive path 
blanketed over 90,000 square miles of the United 
States, an area almost as large as the United King-
dom, displacing more than 1,000,000 people—a hu-
manitarian crisis on a scale unseen in the United 
States since the Great Depression. 
(9) The storm has now become the most de-
structive and costliest natural disaster in the history 
of the United States, resulting in over 1,300 deaths 
and estimated damage between $70,000,000,000 
and $130,000,000,000. 
(10) Less than one month later, on September 
24, 2005, the region was battered again, this time 
by the strongest-measured hurricane to ever have 
entered the Gulf of Mexico—Hurricane Rita. 
(11) Hurricane Rita came ashore between 
Texas and Louisiana as a category 3 hurricane, 
packing winds up to 120 miles per hour and a storm 
surge of 10 feet. 
(12) A day prior to landfall, the resultant storm 
surge also reopened some of the levee breaches 
caused by Hurricane Katrina a month earlier and 
re-flooded parts of New Orleans.
(13) Local storm surges of 15 to 20 feet in 
southwestern Louisiana were reported, and damage 
was extensive in coastal parishes. 
(14) Thousands of residents and families in the 
effected States, who lived outside the 100-year flood 
plain and were told they did not need flood insur-
ance, suffered significant damage to their homes and 
in many cases total losses. 
(15) These families are currently without any 
type of permanent shelter or any means by which to 
acquire such shelter or otherwise make themselves 
whole, thus crippling the Gulf Coast region and its 
economy. 
(16) Because of the unprecedented magnitude 
of the storm and the impact that the devastation of 
such a large region will have on the United States 
as a whole, the Federal Government should play a 
role in providing emergency assistance to these fami-
lies to help them rebuild and get on with their lives.
SEC. 3. TEMPORARY EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOR PRI-
MARY 
RESIDENCES 
DAMAGED 
OR 
DE-
STROYED BY HURRICANES KATRINA AND 
RITA. 
Title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 425. TEMPORARY EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOR PRI-
MARY 
RESIDENCES 
DAMAGED 
OR 
DE-
STROYED BY HURRICANES KATRINA AND 
RITA. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall provide emer-
gency assistance to owners of eligible structures in accord-
ance with this section. 
‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—The Director shall provide for 
owners of eligible structures to submit applications for as-
sistance under this section in such form, containing such 
information, and in accordance with such procedures, as 
the Director may require. 
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS; SCOPE OF COVERAGE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of any assist-
ance under this section provided to an owner of an 
eligible structure in a covered disaster area of a 
State may be used only for paying— 
‘‘(A) the costs of repair, reconstruction, or 
replacement of such structure or construction
or purchase of any other structure (including a 
manufactured home) to be used as the primary 
residence of the owner in the covered disaster 
area of such State; or 
‘‘(B) the amount remaining to be paid by 
the owner on the mortgage of the eligible struc-
ture. 
‘‘(2) REPLACEMENT COST.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection 
(d), the amount of any assistance provided 
under this section shall be based on the replace-
ment cost necessary for repair, reconstruction, 
or replacement of the eligible structure to its 
original specifications and standards prior to— 
‘‘(i) August 29, 2005, in the case of 
a structure damaged by flooding resulting 
from Hurricane Katrina; or 
‘‘(ii) September 23, 2005, in the case 
of a structure damaged by flooding result-
ing from Hurricane Rita. 
Such costs shall include adjustments as nec-
essary for compliance with the requirements of 
subsection (e)(1)(B). 
‘‘(B) DOCUMENTATION.—An owner of an 
eligible structure applying for assistance under