Date: 2005-09-02
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. my deepest condolences go to the victims of Hurricane Katrina who have lost their lives. their homes and their livelihoods. For many. it did not have to be this way. I represent south Florida. an area with a great deal of experience with hurricanes. Frankly. the planning and response efforts that I have seen from FEMA and the rest of the Federal Government leaves my confidence in our ability to respond to any kind of domestic disaster shaken and makes me fear for my constituents should a hurricane. or other disaster of this magnitude strike south Florida. There are some. serious questions to be asked: Why with several days notice about this storm. were more people not evacuated? Where was the plan to evacuate people who did not have the money or ability to evacuate themselves? When the size and strength of the storm was known. why wasnt a response team in place to go into affected areas immediately? Why was Federal funding to reinforce the levee system cut when it would have saved thousands of lives and billions of dollars? And. given that this disaster was the first large scale test of the new Department of Homeland Security and their Federal Emergency Management Agency. does this new structure improve or hamper disaster prevention. response and relief? Yesterday morning. President Bush went onto NBCs Today Show and made the following statement: "The critical thing was to get people out of there before the disaster. Some people chose not to obey that order. That was a mistake on their part." President Bushs statement shows a complete lack of understanding of. and insensitivity to. the plight facing so many American families today. or why those families died or are now suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The United States Census Bureau reports that in 2004 over 23 percent of the population of the city of New Orleans was living at or below the poverty level. The poverty level is $12.334 a year for a family of two. or $19.307 a year for a family of four. Mr. President. when a husband and wife only make $12.334 they very likely do not have a car. or money for gasoline. or even money for a bus fare to get out of town. It.was not a mistake on their part. but rather Mr. President. a mistake on your part that you did not have a plan to evacuate these families from the path of imminent danger. One thing is very clear. poor planning. and a slow response to .an imminent disaster has cost hundreds of people their lives and hundreds more will die if the Government does not significantly increase its response. Even today. there are over 200.000 National Guard troops that have not been called up to help in the relief efforts. Even today. the Navys Hospital ship Comfort remains in Baltimore Harbor. and will not set sail for the Gulf until Saturday and will not reach the Gulf for a week after that. Our government must be better prepared to plan and respond to disasters of every kind in this country. But for right now. we must mobilize the incredible resources of the Federal Government and respond to this crisis. in a manner that recognizes that people are dying as we speak because not enough has been done to help them.