IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 466 
Observing the one year anniversary of the date on which the Gulf Coast 
region was struck by Hurricane Katrina, acknowledging the significant 
deficiencies that still exist in the ability of cities in the Gulf Coast 
region to provide necessary social services and subsistence to their resi-
dents or to attract the return of many displaced residents, and reaffirm-
ing the commitment of Congress to assist in rebuilding the Gulf Coast 
region, improving the quality of life for all its residents, and ending 
poverty in America. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2006 
Mr. WATT (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. 
CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Ms. CARSON, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. 
CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. 
DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FORD, Mr. 
AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, 
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. JEFFERSON, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE 
JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, 
Ms. LEE, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. MEEK of Florida, 
Mr. MEEKS of New York, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. MOORE of 
Wisconsin, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. 
RUSH, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. THOMPSON of 
Mississippi, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. WATERS, Ms. WATSON, and Mr. WYNN) 
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Observing the one year anniversary of the date on which 
the Gulf Coast region was struck by Hurricane Katrina, 
acknowledging the significant deficiencies that still exist 
in the ability of cities in the Gulf Coast region to provide 
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•HCON 466 IH 
necessary social services and subsistence to their resi-
dents or to attract the return of many displaced resi-
dents, and reaffirming the commitment of Congress to 
assist in rebuilding the Gulf Coast region, improving 
the quality of life for all its residents, and ending poverty 
in America. 
Whereas on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made land-
fall on the Gulf Coast as a Category three hurricane, 
causing death, injury, displacement, destruction, and eco-
nomic devastation in communities and towns of Alabama, 
Mississippi, and Louisiana; 
Whereas, the Hurricane and subsequent flooding of 80 per-
cent of New Orleans destroyed 275,000 homes, 18,750 
businesses, and 875 schools and was the proximate cause 
of 1,577 deaths in the Gulf Coast, with damage estimates 
in the hundreds of billions of dollars; 
Whereas, Louisiana and Mississippi suffered the greatest dis-
placement of populations with Louisiana having an esti-
mated 344,781 people displaced; 
Whereas, the percentage of homes with electric service in 
New Orleans was only 50 percent six months after Hurri-
cane Katrina and only 60 percent nearly one year after 
the Hurricane; 
Whereas, over 96,000 people were without emergency trans-
portation in New Orleans, and the number of operational 
public buses was only 17 percent of the number of buses 
before the Hurricane almost one year after the Hurri-
cane; 
Whereas, 5,192 children were reported to the National Center 
for Missing and Exploited Children as missing or dis-
placed as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and 
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it took 61⁄2 months for all of these children to be reunited 
with their families; 
Whereas, 1,100 schools were closed immediately following 
Hurricane Katrina; 
Whereas, more than 400,000 children under age 5 lived in 
counties or parishes that were declared major disaster 
areas as a result of the Hurricane; 
Whereas, the number of licensed child care facilities in areas 
affected by Hurricane Katrina declined by 54 (4 percent) 
in Mississippi and 356 (25 percent) in Louisiana after 
the hurricanes; 
Whereas, only 46 percent of public libraries have reopened in 
New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina; 
Whereas, six months after the Hurricane struck land, 15 per-
cent of the public schools reopened, but in July 2006, 
only 18 percent had reopened, an increase of only 3 per-
cent in about one year; 
Whereas, as of July 2006, less than 2 percent of total Fed-
eral spending on post-Hurricane relief was given to meet 
educational needs in New Orleans; 
Whereas, as of July 2006, only 15 percent of the hospitals 
in New Orleans were reopened, an increase of only 5 per-
cent between February 2006 and July 2006; 
Whereas, 1.2 million residents of New Orleans are without 
health insurance since the Hurricane; 
Whereas, prior to the storm, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Ala-
bama had among the highest racial and ethnic health dis-
parities, health provider shortages, and percentages of 
persons without health insurance in the United States; 
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Whereas, following Hurricane Katrina, the provider shortage 
that plagued the region worsened, with an estimated 
6,000 physicians alone leaving the region and one in 
three displaced physicians from New Orleans parishes 
were primary care physicians; 
Whereas, as of July 2006, only about 3.3 percent of total 
Federal spending on post-Hurricane relief went to meet 
health, social services, and job training needs in New Or-
leans; 
Whereas, as of January 2006, thirty million cubic yards of 
debris remained uncollected in New Orleans; 
Whereas, the slow disaster mitigation by the Federal Govern-
ment has resulted in environmental concerns, fears of 
runaway spending abuses and despair; 
Whereas, the lack of control over the procurement process 
has caused debris removal costs to quadruple from $8 per 
cubic yard to $32 per cubic yard; 
Whereas, in addition to toxic sediment sludge from the bot-
tom of lakes, rivers, and the Gulf of Mexico Hurricane 
Katrina deposited in communities, the Hurricane also 
struck 466 facilities handling large quantities of dan-
gerous chemicals, and 31 hazardous waste sites along the 
Gulf Coast; 
Whereas, the United States Coast Guard reported that more 
than 7 million gallons of oil and between 1 and 2 million 
gallons of gasoline from plants and depots in southeast 
Louisiana were spilled as a result of the hurricane; 
Whereas, Hurricane Katrina struck 16 Superfund toxic waste 
sites, three of which were flooded in the City of New Or-
leans; 
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Whereas, theses toxic waste sites contained contaminants 
that included heavy metals often associated with develop-
mental problems and increased risk of cancer, and 
polycyclic aeromatic hydrocarbons which are known car-
cinogens; 
Whereas, the Environmental Protection Agency drastically 
raised the requirements for demonstrating the presence 
of toxins after Hurricane Katrina in an attempt to re-
duce its workload; 
Whereas, residents returning to the region have been report-
ing widespread cases of respiratory problems, asthmas 
and skin rashes; 
Whereas, the Federal response to the housing and economic 
crisis in New Orleans limited the use of $6.2 billion in 
grants to reconstruction of 20,000 homes destroyed out-
side federally insured flood zones and failed to include 
provisions to rebuild an additional 185,000 destroyed 
homes; 
Whereas, 10,477 United States Government trailers slated 
for Katrina survivors sat empty in Hope, Arkansas near-
ly one year after the storm hit; 
Whereas, prior to Hurricane Katrina, 7,379 public housing 
units existed in New Orleans and only 1,099 units were 
available in July 2006; 
Whereas, one in every five Louisiana prime-rate mortgages is 
30 days or more past due; 
Whereas, close to one year after the Hurricane hit land, in 
Louisiana, the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
had provided trailers for only approximately 37 percent 
of the estimated 90,000 displaced families in need of 
housing; 
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