To reestablish the Federal Emergency Management Agency as an independent establishment in the executive branch that is responsible for the Nation's preparedness and response to disasters, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the work of the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany) in coming forward with this bipartisan resolution.

I am going to offer some formal remarks, and then I am going to say a word further about the irony of my managing this bill this morning.

Mr. Speaker, 10 days ago Hurricane Katrina slammed into America's gulf coast. The aftermath of the hurricane has prompted one of the largest response mobilizations in United States history. At the very core of all the relief effort is the overwhelming concern we all have for our fellow Americans, ordinary citizens who have become victims of this vast, unprecedented devastation.

Thousands of local State and Federal workers and volunteers are engaged in life-saving activities. Life-sustaining activities, supported by virtually all national charities, are spreading across all parts of the United States. Sheltering and housing initiatives so vital to the well-being of the victims have been activated all across the country. These efforts are aimed at providing some measure of efforts and relief to the tens of thousands of displaced Americans, many who survived with merely the clothes on their backs.

It is with a heavy heart, but with a deep sense of hope for a better future that I join all of my colleagues today in expressing my deep sense of sorrow and the condolences of the Nation to all the victims of Hurricane Katrina. I commend the resilience of all who have survived and all who are helping them to survive and am awed by their enduring vision for a better future.

For the present, I will work to fulfill our Nation's commitment to each victim that all the necessary resources and the might of the country will be used to relieve their suffering and to provide the resources they need for the brighter future characteristic of our country.

Mr. Speaker, I say the irony is, I was at an opening of an employment and training center for SOME, So Others Might Eat, and commenting there on the irony of the opening of that employment and training center at a time when just yesterday I had gone to Dulles Airport to retrieve 300 evacuees from a plane, who now reside in the Armory just a few blocks from here. And I said the symbolism of this center opening now is not lost on me, and the first moment I have to tell my colleagues about the symmetry between the opening of this center and the evacuees here, I am going to do it. Then I got a phone call saying we need someone to manage the bill expressing our condolences as a Nation and our resolve for the victims on the gulf coast.

Mr. Speaker, as I left this center, this new center where I had indicated that here in D.C. is doing very well, but certainly the poorest part of the region, surrounded by very rich counties, I was proud of my city because we had seen the need and said, Come here even though there are many unemployed here.

The man who runs this new SOME center said, We are quickly filling the 60 slots; we have 20 slots left. I am on the other side of the Anacostia in Ward 7, and Wards 7 and 8 are the high unemployment wards. So if there are only 60 slots, there are 60 times 60 people in Ward 7 alone that need it. And so he said, I think we ought to give the slots to the people who got off the plane yesterday. And I said, What a wonderful contribution that would be. We all have to find a contribution to make, and for you to contribute 20 of 60 slots from the highest unemployment pool in the city is to make the kind of sacrifice our country needs to be prepared to make now. And that is the kind of sacrifice we are seeing all over the country.

I want to say that in this House we have got to ask ourselves, what sacrifice are we prepared to make? We have assumed the best of all possible worlds, but what we cannot control is always possible and what we cannot control has happened.

I hope that in the coming weeks, as we finish the session, we will remember that it is time for us to make sacrifices. Already the Senate appears to say it is not going to bring forward the permanent repeal of the estate tax. If it took a tragedy to do it, then it has been done. The mega-rich will not get richer this time around. I just think in the spirit of trying to figure out how we can go home and say this is something we did that we would not otherwise have done but for Katrina is what we need to say.

Of course, we will go home and talk about the $20 billion and now the $40 billion. That, of course, is mandatory. That is what we are here for. The real issue for me is, what is it that we wanted to do, talking to both sides of the aisle, that we now forswear, that we now say, in the name of the greatest natural tragedy in memory, we decide that we will not do that that we most wanted to do.

Some of us wanted to do spending on some things. Some of us may want to do a little more tax cutting, but it is time for us to become introspective about being visited with the most massive natural tragedy of our time.

My heart is with the people of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and the entire gulf coast. That is true of America generally. But as people take in people in their own homes, as people send money, we have to ask ourselves, what will we do, what will we say is the sacrifice we as Members of Congress have made as a body when we go home next week?

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I agree with the gentleman that we are not in an atmosphere where we can properly evaluate and investigate what has happened here. I do think it important to note that the only way to avoid making mistakes is to look at the mistakes we have made.

I do want to say this for the record. It took us a very long time to get bipartisan support for a 9/11 Commission. Is anybody in this body sorry? What would have happened if history had looked back and said there was no independent commission that looked into 9/11?

In this same way, this natural disaster is the functional equivalent of 9/11 for natural disasters. We need an independent commission to do the kind of job that the 9/11 Commission did, and I think a fair reading of that report is not that it pointed fingers at anybody, but that it did advise what it is we should do.

We should quickly get about the business of appointing a commission equal to the task of doing a credible, unbiased, independent investigation in the name of the people of the gulf coast who have suffered and in the name of the people of the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to comment that I appreciate what the gentleman has just said about how much of this was unpredictable. There is no question that that is the case.

But, for the record, it must be said that the levee was built to withstand a Category 3 storm. So the Corps of Engineers has been saying, yelling for decades that no one can say we will not ever surpass a Category 3 storm. People will tell you in Louisiana that they have been talking about dodging the bullet for decades because they did not go above Category 3.

I hope that when we repair the damage, and it will take billions more than we can imagine now, that we will do what we say we are going to do for the possibility of terrorism, that is to say, prepare for the worst-case scenario, not the case scenario that we wish for. And the worst-case scenario is finally what Louisiana got.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Orleans, Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson). I am sure perhaps no Member has suffered more greatly than the Member I am about to yield the floor to now.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I just have a few closing remarks. We all agree that the first obligation of any government is to protect its citizens. The majority often say that, and we have seen no contradiction from this side on that score. And I think there has been agreement that we have not fully honored that responsibility.

It was with a great deal of thought that I became a cosponsor of the bill today, H.R. 3659, to reestablish FEMA as an independent agency outside the control of the bureaucracy of the Department of Homeland Security. I did not do that easily. Frankly, I strongly supported and still support the establishment of a Department of Homeland Security. So I had to think about this matter. Is this a contradiction from what I generally believe, that these agencies must be brought together?

I have resolved that conflict in my mind because it is clear that FEMA is not about preventing anything. FEMA is about going in quickly and nimbly after there has been either an actual natural attack or a national attack; and there is telling evidence about how we have diverted funds from FEMA's natural disaster responsibilities to our legitimate concern with preparation for terrorism.

I believe, therefore, that we do no harm to the notion of one cohesive unit, the Homeland Security Department, to prevent attacks if we have FEMA outside. I think that FEMA simply has not done well inside the Department of Homeland Security. I cannot guarantee that taking it out will

make it whole again. I do know this: that we did not have complaints about FEMA during the 1990s, and I remember FEMA's being held to great glory for how they handled and how they were reorganized during the 1990s.

I, therefore, want to thank the gentleman from Louisiana for coming forward and to say that I know I speak for every Member on my side when I say he will have our full cooperation, more than our empathy, our full cooperation when it comes to Louisiana and the entire gulf coast. I thank him for his initiative. I am pleased to be a part of it.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that it shall be in order at any time to consider in the House the resolution (H. Res. 425); the resolution shall be considered as read; the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the resolution to its adoption without intervening motion or demand for division of the question except: (1) 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; and (2) one motion to recommit.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of today, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 425) expressing the condolences of the Nation to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, commending the resiliency of the people of the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and committing to stand by them in the relief and recovery efforts, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 425.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the House of Representatives expresses the condolences of the Nation to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and this resolution expresses those condolences. It commends the resiliency and courage of the people of the States of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, and it commits to provide the necessary resources and to stand by the people of the States of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama in the relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts.

Mr. Speaker, the Senate approved a similar resolution last night, and bipartisan support for recognizing the work of first responders and to express congressional concern for those displaced by the hurricane and those who died is in order. My district, the Seventh Congressional District of Louisiana, did not suffer significant damage from Hurricane Katrina, but we face enormous challenges of sheltering and supporting the numerous evacuees now in my district. The rest of our State down in the New Orleans area and south, in Plaquemines Parish and St. Bernard Parish were devastated.

Mr. Speaker, we are up to the challenge. In my district, in Lake Charles, there are an estimated 25,000 evacuees, and in Lafayette, my hometown, there are an estimated 40,000 evacuees. Official tallies are much lower because many had family or friends to stay with or had funds to pay for hotel rooms, but this is going to be temporary. Almost all available housing has been rented or bought. Schools are preparing to accept thousands of new students. In fact, we are already currently enrolling many of these students.

State and local officials are concerned about being able to support evacuees for the long months of recovery. Local community organizations are stepping up to help, but have limited resources. The evacuation process continues. Much media attention has been on New Orleans, but there are other areas of Louisiana that remain under 10 feet of water or more. A number of communities in the Third District of Louisiana, represented by the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Melancon), have been completely destroyed. Entire towns in Mississippi have been destroyed. There are residents of these communities still waiting for aid, food, water, and health supplies.

The recovery process will be long and expensive. The Federal Government must continue to step in and bring its resources to bear in this effort.

Mr. Speaker, the visual images have been heartbreaking, and I have seen

the damage with my own eyes. I have spoken to the many victims who have been affected, and the human stories are unfathomable to hear. And, like many, I am frustrated with the delay and the bureaucracy that has interfered with getting relief and supplies to our evacuees. But this is not the time to point fingers; this is not the time for blame.

There is an enormous amount of work that still needs to be done and done in a bipartisan manner. Accountability will come, and I know Congress will look into the disaster.

I urge my colleagues to rise above the vicious rhetoric that does not provide the thousands of children in my district with school supplies or uniforms, or does not provide displaced small businesses with the help to get back on their feet, or does not provide opportunities for families to reunite or housing for seniors with care or comfort.

Mr. Speaker, this is going to take time. It is going to take a monumental effort. We must pull together to accomplish all of this.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster), who is the distinguished subcommittee chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert). The State of Texas has been very, very generous in helping out, reaching out to evacuees.

Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Baker), my colleague and friend who has been involved in the relief efforts.

Mr. Speaker, this is not a time to cast blame and to second-guess actions.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to yield 5 minutes to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jindal), who lost his home, his district has been devastated, and he will inform us on what the facts are.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank the gentlewoman for her kind remarks.

Mr. Speaker, today the House of Representatives, through this resolution, expresses its condolences to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It commends the resiliency and the courage of all those involved in this, both the victims and the volunteers, who gave so willingly to help these victims. It also makes clear that we have a tremendous task ahead of us in Congress; and yet I know, as many others here know, that we are up to the task.

What we are going to do is we will commit the necessary resources to stand by the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama who have been affected by this disaster. We have a tremendous task ahead in sustaining life as we continue to search for and rescue those still missing. We have a tremendous effort ahead in the recovery of the entire gulf coast, and I know this Congress is up to that task.

So I stand with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in expressing these condolences and urge support for this resolution. It is time to move forward. It is time for action so that we can get on with recovery.

Mr. Speaker, thousands of students have been displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina, including university students who rely on federal financial aid for their education expenses.

Several institutions have had to close for the entire semester, leaving students without schools to attend.

Fortunately, other colleges have stepped up and are accepting many of these students. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is one example of this generosity. They have already enrolled over 835 displaced students, and the numbers are expected to increase.

But not all students will be able to attend other institutions.

Many have suffered large losses of property, jobs, and, most devastatingly, family and friends.

In the past, low-income students who were the recipient of need-base Pell grants and suffered extreme losses due to natural disasters have been forced to repay their Pell grants, further straining their financial resources.

H.R. 3169 will provide financial relief to many students displaced by Katrina by waiving the Pell Grant repayment for those students withdrawing from school as a result of the hurricane, and it will also ensure that future natural disaster victims are treated in the same manner.

I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan measure, which will assist thousands of needy students who have been dealt an enormous blow by Hurricane Katrina.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, today I, together with Subcommittee Ranking Democratic Member Norton, and 30 other Democratic Members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (the Committee), have introduced the ``Federal Emergency Management Agency Restoration Act of 2005''. This bill will reestablish the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as an independent, cabinet-level agency. It will further strengthen the agency by ensuring that the FEMA Director is chosen from among qualified candidates who have extensive experience in the areas of emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation for all hazards. This bill will begin the process of restoring FEMA to a level of competence that the American people expect and deserve.

Moving FEMA into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was the wrong thing to do. It trapped the agency--an agency that needs to be nimble and be able to marshal resources quickly--in a bureaucratic morass. During its time in DHS, FEMA has been partially dismantled, been bled of necessary resources, been unable to fill key management positions on a permanent basis, been unable to make timely decisions to deal with emergencies, and has been forced to focus on terrorism at the expense of natural disasters. FEMA's response to the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina was itself a disaster.

Although I am saddened by FEMA's current troubles, I am not surprised. Three years ago, during consideration of H.R. 5005, the Homeland Security Act of 2002, I offered an amendment to keep FEMA independent from the Department of Homeland Security. I, along with many other Democrats, feared that including FEMA in the new Department would undermine its effectiveness by diverting resources away from its traditional mission of preparing for and responding to natural disasters, thereby leaving the federal government unprepared to respond to a disaster like Hurricane Katrina.

Further in testimony before the Select Committee on Homeland Security in July 2002, in response to a question by Select Committee Member Congresswoman DeLauro, I set forth what I believed to be the dangers of moving FEMA to the newly-created Department.

Congressman DeLauro: Let me ask a question with regard to

FEMA. You've recommended keeping FEMA as a separate agency

but would coordinate with a DHS in the event of a terrorist

attack. How do you think that moving FEMA into the Department

of Homeland Security would affect our ability to respond to

hurricanes, other natural disasters, and how do you envision

the FEMA-DHS coordination being carried out?

Congressman Oberstar: FEMA started out as the civil defense

agency. . . . And then moved into, as the Cold War wound

down, assuming broader responsibilities as our nation's

premier disasters assistance and response agency. To move it

into this new Department of Homeland Security without a

clearly defined homeland security role is, my judgment, a

mistake. We have not seen a delineation of what is homeland

security compared to response to floods, hurricanes,

blizzards, earthquakes, tornadoes. You know, when your home

is underwater up to the eaves are you going to wonder, where

is FEMA? Are they on some mission lookingfor terrorists or

are they going to be on a mission looking for your lost

children and rescuing you from the rooftop of your home?

[emphasis added].

The bill I introduce today will help FEMA get back on track. By establishing FEMA as a cabinet-level independent agency in the executive branch, the bill ensures that FEMA is not trapped in a massive department in which the Director of FEMA must work through levels of bureaucracy before taking appropriate action.

In Committee hearings held in October 2005, emergency management officials from across the Nation testified that they believed FEMA needs to be moved out of DHS in order for it to function effectively. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee plans additional hearings early next year to discuss the direction of FEMA and how to improve our preparedness and response to major disasters. I hope that Secretary Chertoff, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, will respond favorably to the Committee's request to testify at one of these hearings.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that this bill will begin the process of restoring FEMA as a first-class agency able to prepare for, respond to, and recover from both natural and man-made disasters. On September 6, 2005, when Congress returned from the August recess, Congresswoman Norton, the Ranking Democratic Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, and I introduced H.R. 3659, a bill to move FEMA out of the Department of Homeland Security and reestablish its independence. This bill builds upon H.R. 3659 by strengthening the qualifications for the FEMA Director and establishing the position of Deputy Director, who is to serve as a liaison to the Department of Homeland Security in the event of an act of terrorism, and act for the Director when the Director is absent, unable to serve, or when the position of the Director is vacant. The bill also includes those provisions to provide for the transfer of personnel and appropriations which are necessary to establish a separate, independent agency. A section by section explanation of the bill is set forth below.

I urge Congress to consider this legislation early in the coming year.

Section-by-Section of the Federal Emergency Management Agency

Restoration Act

Section 1. Short Title. This section establishes the short

title for the Federal Emergency Management Agency Restoration

Act.

Section 2. Federal Emergency Management Agency. This

section establishes the Federal Emergency Management Agency

(FEMA) as a cabinet-level independent agency in the executive

branch. The section sets forth that FEMA is responsible for

emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation

for all hazards, including major disasters, acts of

terrorism, and other emergencies. For purposes of the Act,

``emergency preparedness'' does not include law enforcement

efforts to prevent or deter terrorism, protect critical

infrastructure, and conduct intelligence activities.

The section establishes qualifications for the FEMA

Director. It states that the Director of FEMA shall be

appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of

the Senate, from among persons who have extensive experience

in emergency preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation

for all hazards, including major disasters, acts of

terrorism, and other emergencies. The section also

prescribes a five-year term of office for the Director.

The section establishes a Deputy Director, appointed from

the competitive service, and sets for the criteria for the

Deputy Director. The section also sets forth the duties of

the Deputy Director and authorizes the Deputy Director to

serve as a liaison to the Department of Homeland Security in

the event of an act of terrorism, and to act for the Director

when the Director is absent, unable to serve, or when the

position of the Director is vacant.

Section 3. Transfer of Functions. This section sets forth

the functions and personnel to be transferred to an

independent FEMA. The section also provides for the transfer

of FEMA within 120 days of the date of enactment.

Section 4. Savings Provisions. This section sets forth

various technical provisions to establish an independent FEMA

with the authorities necessary to function as an independent

agency and provides for the transfer of personnel and

appropriations.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Lafayette not only for recognizing me but also for his volunteer efforts and his community's hospitality to so many thousands of dislocated residents of my own district.

Mr. Speaker, I want to share with this body that, first of all, the pictures do not do the suffering justice. I have been spending the last several days in the water, in helicopters, in boats, on land, just trying to help bring comfort

and trying to bring relief to the people of southeast Louisiana. The pictures do not do the suffering justice.

Yet there are some lessons that we have learned. Many of you have heard me share very specific frustrations about what has worked and what has not worked. Certainly we can learn from the red tape and the bureaucracy where aid could have been delivered more quickly, where relief could have been provided in a more efficient way.

But I am not here just to point out what did not work, and there are many examples where red tape and bureaucracy got in the way. I am also here to say a big thank you. I am here to offer on behalf of my district our sincere gratitude to the people of Baton Rouge and Lafayette; to the people of Texas and Arkansas; to the people across the country who literally took in thousands of evacuees, people who were forced, like myself, to leave our homes.

The State of Texas took in over 220,000 people. They did not ask how are we going to do this. They literally opened their homes, opened their wallets, opened their hearts to create temporary housing, to create health care, to create opportunities for people to find comfort.

I want to say thank you to the medical volunteers that rushed into harm's way. I want to say thank you to the first responders, the sheriffs' deputies, the law enforcement officials, the Coast Guard officials, Wildlife and Fisheries officials, those that have been working 7, 8, 9, 10 days without relief, without rest. Many of these heroes have no idea what happened to their own property. Many of these heroes have been separated from their own families. Yet they worked tirelessly to provide relief to others.

I want to say thank you to our National Guardsmen. If ever before we needed yet another reminder of the true heroism of our military, we saw tens of thousands of men and women on the ground in the most dangerous circumstances, thinking not of themselves, but of others.

I want to say thank you to the entire communities that pulled together, with the sheriffs, the mayors in my districts, who had so little, and yet reached out to their colleagues to share what they had, literally patching together impromptu communications systems, food supply systems, and other systems. Those that had the least shared the most.

I want to say thank you to all these people. We have been reminded again what a great and powerful country America really is.

I want to say thank you to the private sector. We called on Ford Motor Company to provide overnight search and rescue vehicles to first responders, and they did that. I want to say thank you to the bottling companies that sent the water, the food, the supplies, Anheuser Busch and the many other companies. I want to say thank you to Lamar for providing the tarps to cover people's homes.

I want to say thank you to all the companies like Verizon, Wal-Mart and others, the pharmaceutical companies and small businesses that opened their stores, opened their warehouses, provided during this time of need without any concern for compensation, without any concern for anything other than helping their fellow man.

I want to thank all those employers that have done so much work to find their missing employees, to set up shelters to truly meet our needs during this devastating tragedy.

I also want to comment on the amazing spontaneous effort by our faith-based community. Churches all over our State, all over our Nation literally opened their doors, made room in their pews, made room in their sanctuaries for families. One church, Healing Place in Baton Rouge, literally put up hand-lettered signs the day of and the day after the hurricane saying: ``If you need water, if you need food, if you need shelter, come here.''

We have private individuals across the State and now even outside the State that organized a network for people with extra bedrooms, extra places in their own homes to take in complete strangers.

Again, in this tragedy we have seen on TV and in national images some of the very worst behavior. And yet these are the very few, those that choose to be obstructionists to get in the way of the relief efforts, a very few who resorted to violence. They were outnumbered greatly by the tremendous number of people who opened their doors, opened their hearts, opened their wallets.

Let us not let the images of a small number of people who out of frustration or for whatever other reasons became violent, became obstructionists, let us not let them be the final story of Hurricane Katrina. Let us look to the churches, let us look to the first responders, let us look to the National Guard, let us look to the communities in Texas, in Arkansas, across the country, that have been so generous.

Now I want to say a word to this body about what comes next. We are still rescuing people from the water and off the rooftops. We have an obligation to bring people to safety. We have an obligation to cut through the red tape and bring people housing, make sure that people know where their kids will go to school, how they get their health care. We also have an obligation to rebuild. We have an obligation to rebuild southeast Louisiana.

But shame on us if we also at the same time we preserve and rebuild what was good in southeast Louisiana, we also rebuild what was bad. Shame on us if we do not use this as an opportunity to rebuild a better health care system, a better educational system, a better economy, better paying jobs for the people that are coming back. We want every single person to come back to a better city, to a better region.

We had problems in New Orleans and in southeast Louisiana before the hurricane. We had problems with education, we had problems with health care, we had problems with crime, we had problems in our economy. Things were getting better, but more can be done.

I want to say thank you to those who have been so generous; but I want to urge this body as we are generous in our response, let us keep our eye also on saving lives, but also on rebuilding a better city, a better region.

God bless Louisiana.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, it is indeed with a heavy heart that I rise today in this Chamber to support this resolution. I want to thank my colleague, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany), for his work.

During my 15 years in the people's House, we have confronted many trying circumstances: runaway fires in the West, rolling blackouts across the Northeast, the extraordinary destruction of Hurricane Andrew, the horror of September 11. And the Asian tsunami. But my heart has never been as personally struck and touched as by the tragedy of a disaster as it is now.

Just over a week ago when Hurricane Katrina roared ashore, it left wide paths of destruction, unprecedented in American history. The citizens of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and my home State of Louisiana have suffered unspeakable tragedies. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of lives have been lost. Hundreds of thousands of homes have been destroyed and shuttered. Thousands of businesses have been closed, at the risk of perhaps never opening again.

The images in the news media shocked the American people, but they are only a pale reflection of the devastation experienced by our friends, families, and neighbors throughout the gulf coast region.

My hometown of New Orleans, my constituents, friends and family, thought they had once again dodged a bullet when Hurricane Katrina changed course at the last minute, making landfall in another place bordering the city.

But we woke Tuesday morning to a heart-wrenching discovery. The levee system that had protected New Orleans for hundreds of years had failed. Our city was inundated, 80 percent of it, with deadly water. Thousands of lives were lost, many drowned, trapped in their homes. Others were lost trying to escape the fury. Others were lost unnecessarily through neglect, and still others have now survived and are spread far and wide throughout the country, have lost their sense of place and their connection to home.

Our neighbors and families are living in shelters, staying with friends or family, benefiting from the hospitality and kindness of caring Americans. Tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed, churches and businesses at the heart of many of our beloved city's neighborhoods have been flooded and lay in ruins.

In sum, Hurricane Katrina was more than a destructive hurricane. It has dealt a death blow to the very fabric and culture of a grand American city and region. Hurricane Katrina has left most of New Orleans, known for its vibrant spirit and vitality, threadbare and melancholy.

The gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jindal) talked about the people of our city, and I want to say something about that too.

The spirit of the folks in my city, although beaten down, is still vibrant. If you saw the people who were standing and waiting for help, they were orderly. They were a model of orderliness in most cases. When I went down Friday to see folks at the convention center, they simply said to me, Jeff, help us get out of here. When are the buses coming?

The few scenes you have seen of some people taking advantage of people who were there in dire circumstances are few and far between. The image that we want to remember is one of people who endured unnecessary suffering and who stood strongly and in an orderly fashion and dealt with it. I am so proud of our people for having done that.

I also am proud of the outpouring of support that has come from around the country. I want to thank my colleagues for their words of encouragement, for their support, and for their prayers: from the mayor of Detroit, who told us we could bring in 500 families, to just one man from San Diego who offered his small plane to the folks in New Orleans, to pick them up and take them to safety, and one couple from Illinois who called us saying they had just sent their three kids off to college and they had three spare bedrooms for anyone who needed them.

The generosity has been overwhelming. It has reminded us that the human spirit is vibrant and that goodwill is abundant in the American people's hearts.

I want to thank all those who contacted my family, my office, to express concern, those who are now telling us they want to help to reach our constituents, to get our constituent services back together. And I want to thank all of you who have worked with us over the Labor Day weekend. I want to thank my CBC colleagues who have initiated unprecedented efforts to marshal resources to help dislocated Louisianans.

I want to tell you that the most important thing we can do right now is to make sure that people who are displaced are dealt with with dignity, that they are taken care of properly and their needs are met, and that we try as soon as we can and as well as we can to get our people back home, back to the State of Louisiana, back connected to their way of life, back connected to their culture, back connected to their people, and that we commit ourselves for the long haul to rebuild our city, to rebuild our region, and to rebuild the lives of our people. This is our mission now in the Congress.

Also, though we look at all the good things that have happened, it is not inappropriate to ask the question as to whether or not we could not have done a better job. The President himself has said that the response is unacceptable.

So I am one who believes that as we do these other things and as we congratulate each other for the work we have done, and as I congratulate the Red Cross and the FEMA workers that have given a great deal, and our responders, our mayor and our State government, our police and fire people, that we recognize there is a need to do better for our people, and in the future we would make sure that things that did not go right never ever happen again.

Mr. Speaker, I thank everyone for what they have done. We appreciate it very much.