Kendrick Meek

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, let me just say this in order to clarify the whole issue on subpoenas. In section 5 it calls for joint operations, and it comes down to the majority party. The majority, basically, the bottom line, are the only people that can actually subpoena. So your statement was correct, the minority view on the committee or the Democratic view on the committee, if we wanted a particular individual to be subpoenaed, could not be subpoenaed if we are not in the majority to be able to do so.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Of course. And that is in section 5 of the joint operations. But let me just say this. If there was an equal 50-50 power on the committee, then, obviously, there would be time for compromise. Okay, if you want to subpoena this witness, we want to subpoena that witness, and let us just compromise. Even though we do not fully agree, we will get our members to vote for it. But let me just say this. I think that it is important for us to remember that this is not the only battle as it relates to making sure that this never, ever happens again, especially after a 9/11 bill passed through, Homeland Security given all this authority, FEMA having the resources to pre-stage the equipment and to be able to move in for it to ever happen again. Whether it is something the Governor did not do in Mississippi or Louisiana or Alabama, or something that the mayor did not do in the town, wherever it may be, Gulfport, New Orleans, what have you, we have to get to the bottom of it. Americans are pouring their hearts out and their money out, and we are using their taxpayer dollars to send down to the affected areas, and rightfully so, without the proper oversight and without any real congressional review. If a Member of Congress wanted to go down and see exactly what the Federal response was, you cannot go on what we call a congressional visit, go down there on a CODEL. No, you cannot. You have to find your own way down. Good luck, Charlie. You find your own way down there. Catch a bus if you can, or hitch a ride with a friend, or take money out of your own pocket and go. I happened to get down there on the relief flight taking food and necessities down. That is how I got into the affected area. The American people can take it for what it is. This is a coordinated campaign. Unfortunately, I do not believe it as a campaign, I see it preventing lives in the future from being lost. I cannot help but look at exactly what is going on. U.S. News and World Report, ``What went wrong?'' We will never know. Another edition, U.S. News and World Report, ``Who Screwed Up?'' We will never know. Newsweek, ``Poverty, Race, Katrina, Lessons of a National Shame.'' We will never learn because the majority does not want to learn. Some may be saying that the 30 Something Working Group, they are on the floor are talking about the majority party's failings with regards to leading and this national tragedy. This is not an issue of being partisan. This is an issue of telling the truth. The bottom line is we always talk about what would be different if we were in the majority. Well, the Democratic leader, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), recommended with the council of ranking members said, let us come back from our break and go into session and give FEMA what it needs to be able to respond to this national tragedy. Number one, it is a shame that FEMA was out of money. What did they say? The House leadership said, no, we will be back; do not worry about it. A day later, the President got called out on it. Time was awasting. That means maybe FEMA did not have what it needed to be able to respond to people stuck in the Superdome and in shelters. And in Mississippi, where I went, in Hancock County, they had sanctioned looting. It was sanctioned because they had no food and no water. It was not a situation where they said, fine, electricity is off, we do not have a lot of law and order going on, so we are going to go into this store and take things. These are individuals who work every day. Second point, the Democratic leader said we need to make sure that we have a FEMA director that knows what he is doing. This one does not. He needs to step down. Because, obviously, if he was there the day before the storm and his administration was there before the storm and they watched this come in, knowing what the National Weather Center has done, and I am speaking from fact. I went down to Miami, just south of my district in Miami, and met with the director of the Hurricane Center last Friday. He was here before the Committee on Science this week and testified. He told the officials that the levees would break. A Category 4 or Category 5 storm, they will break, so it was not secret. He called the mayor of New Orleans on Saturday night before the storm and said, Mr. Mayor, your levees potentially will break. The mayor put out the order early Sunday morning, mandatory evacuation. We knew there would be massive flooding from the simulation pattern a year prior to this storm. The officials all knew. They knew within FEMA. The State and city folks knew. The levee board knew.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I mean, it is like, Will you please come and talk with us?

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, we have central time in the affected area, eastern time. I know that the President is going to be on 8 o'clock central, but he is going to be on at 9 o'clock eastern. But, obviously, he will be coming on very shortly. But I think it is important that it is not the words he is going to share with the American people tonight. It is the action. We have to look at the action or the lack thereof that has been taken thus far. Flying down, reviewing the devastation, talking to families, we have to go far beyond that. We have to make sure that Members of this Congress feel what we feel here on this floor tonight, having an opportunity to touch these individuals. And I just want to say, Mr. Speaker, this is a picture of, I may say, very fortunate individuals. This is a FEMA trailer down in Hancock County, Mississippi. I am standing there talking to one of the FEMA part-time workers. And there is a row of people actually behind us. There are maybe 10 phones in this trailer. But these individuals waited about 2 hours, and that is the short line, to get the assistance. They say that it should be 48 hours, 72 hours when it goes into their bank account. Many of these individuals, some of them returned back because they applied 3 days earlier and they still did not receive the assistance. But I think it is important for us to realize, Mr. Speaker, that he mentioned the poll about putting an independent commission together. Because it is one thing to be able to say I will do my investigation and we will make sure that this never happens again and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is my good friend and I am going to make sure that he did what he was supposed to do. I do not think we are going to get down to the real truth about how we can avoid this from happening in the future, the governmental response, also making sure that the nonprofit agencies that we tie in with, that they did what they were supposed to do. As it relates to the evacuation of poor people, there was a bill dropped down today on the Democratic side of the aisle that called for a response plan, an evacuation plan for the poor, for the elderly, for the individuals that need assistance the most, because what we saw in New Orleans, what we saw in Louisiana, what we saw in Mississippi, the individuals that were left behind were the individuals who did not know where their next $5 was going to come from or were waiting on their check to come in or did not have a car to get out, and it is catastrophic. So for us to be the last standing superpower, for us to have a President that we call the leader of the Free World, and for us to allow this to happen to Americans is shameful. That is not what I am saying. That is what weekly periodicals are saying. That is what the headlines on newspapers are saying. That is what everyday Americans are saying. Some folks say it has a lot to do with the fact that people just did not listen to us. Well, there are a lot of people who did listen, and there are a lot of people that are somewhere else, at a cousin's house right now; but their homes are gone. Many of them did not even have insurance because their homes were paid for or they could not afford it. Mr. Speaker, the bottom line here tonight is that we cannot allow business as usual or ``the establishment'' to sweep this under the carpet. We are not saying that blood is on anyone's hands. We are not saying that. What we are saying is that we cannot afford for it to happen again. That is the bottom line. So I think, Mr. Speaker, before we leave here tonight, we need to make sure that we give the e-mail address out. We need to make sure that Members know on both sides of the aisle that we have a responsibility to stand for these individuals. If somebody wants to do something, I think they need to help these individuals in the South. They need to help these individuals who do not have the means to come to Washington to organize themselves and ask for a government- sanctioned, funded independent commission to be able to make sure that someone's husband or wife does not run out of oxygen because the levees broke and because we could not reach them and that instead they sat in their homes for 3 days and perished. On their memory, on behalf of them, make sure that does not happen again. Like in the charity hospital where 35 or 40 folks perished because the levees broke and we could not do anything, and we come to find out that those individuals did not even drown. They just expired. They did not get health care. The power ran out. The generator was out. All of this could have been avoided. All of this could have been avoided with the proper oversight and governance. So we need individuals that are professionals in this field to make sure that this never happens again. Mr. Speaker, I will just go ahead and say for those individuals that felt that the resolution that we passed today was the best thing since sliced bread and they are on the plane on the way back to their districts or what have you, off for the weekend, that they did their part, now they go home and do what they have got to do in their district, that is fine. But I think they should have a conscience, a conscience on the fact that these individuals are not getting their just due, and they are not getting represented, and they are not getting what they deserve as Americans. They are not refugees. They are Americans; and I will tell the Members right now, if we leave these individuals behind, if we leave these individuals behind, because I am going to tell the Members right now I do not think the American public will allow that to happen. I am going to be positive on this. When one is a leader and they say, okay, we thought we did something, maybe we need to revisit this thing one more time, I think that is important. And if one is in power to be able to make that happen, then so be it. The 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act never would have been if it were not for the people out in the streets making it happen. If it were not for black and white people of goodwill saying that somebody like me can have an opportunity to come to the Congress and give a Special Order to talk about the very individuals who cannot represent themselves; if it were not for those individuals, white and black, people in the North saying something is not right in the South and we are going to risk our lives to get the attention of the government that they pay taxes to allow them to have the kind of representation they deserve, this is far deeper than the resolution on the last day of a work week. The last vote we take, and folks go home like it is another day at the office, I am sorry. If these individuals had the means to be able to make the political contributions, maybe they would get the attention of the majority of the House. I am talking about majority on both sides of the aisle. Maybe it would be different. But all they did was they voted for representation, and they salute the same flag that we solute every day here in this House, and they deserve the representation. I am disturbed, Mr. Speaker, I am disturbed, by the fact they are partisan votes that are going on the other side of the Congress and in this House as though it is just another piece of legislation. It is something we disagree on. Americans have lost their lives. Americans are displaced. Children are displaced. People ran out of oxygen. Folks ran out of insulin. People are wrapped up on the side of the road, and bodies are still floating; and we leave on our way to a picnic like it is nothing. Maybe all of us have made our contributions to the best 501(c)(3) or the relief effort that we wanted to. I know I have. But I will tell the Members this: it goes far beyond that. It goes far beyond that. So I think the 30-something Working Group has to continue to do our part. We have to continue to do our part.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is 110 percent right. The gentleman from Ohio mentioned an issue about being nonpartisan and being, I would say, third-party validators, I just want to make sure we are clear. On the commission procedural vote here on this House floor that was voted down, for us to have this week, voted down for us to have a 9/11 kind of a commission, I believe that was today; and yesterday, there is an article, and I will give it to the Members just in case they were not watching the Senate, www.sfgate.com, there is an article: ``Senate Kills Bid For Katrina Commission.'' Now, let me tell my colleagues something. This is nothing that we did; this is something that the majority did. If they wanted to get to the bottom of it and to make sure that it never happens again and to make sure that Americans do not have to watch the horror, the horror of people dying and bodies floating, not because of Katrina, but because of lack of response, because the levee broke and because of a lack of administrative duties and governance on all levels; if we do not want that to happen again, why are we not passing a 9/11 kind of commission for the people in the gulf States? They do not want to hear a speech. They do not need to hear, oh, we are going to do this, that, and the other. We are at war right now. We have men and women right now with sand in their teeth and bombs blowing up every day around them, away from their families, some have family in the affected area. I just want to give credit where credit is due; some of them had an opportunity to come back and check on their families. But let me just say, we have to go far beyond allowing business as usual. I call on the Members and the American people again not to allow this to be swept under the carpet, not to allow individuals to sit up here and set the deck because these individuals are poor. We are better than that, and I know that we are going to do it. Mr. Speaker, I want the gentleman from Ohio to give our e-mail address out. I know our hour is coming to a close. But I will tell my colleague, I am encouraged. I am encouraged because the American people, some 70 percent of them say they want an independent commission, and it is not a partisan issue. Those are Democrats and Republicans. I am encouraged that the democratic leader, the gentleman from California (Ms. Pelosi) is willing to stand in there against the wind for what the American people believe in and not allow business as usual. I am encouraged. I am encouraged by the fact that people are not only praying on behalf of these individuals, but the American people have taken action on behalf of them, making sure that they have the things that they need. Throughout the country people are bringing people into their homes, paying rent for them as they are displaced at this particular time. I am encouraged. I am encouraged by the fact that these victims, many of them have praying grandmothers to make sure that they are even able to stand up and go through the trials and tribulations that they have gone through and they still go through. I am encouraged by that. So, I say that every time that we have an opportunity to come to this floor and speak as free Americans in this democracy, we are going to give those individuals voice. I am glad that there is some leadership on this floor that sees the importance in that.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. It is a select committee. It does not have any subpoena power. You cannot subpoena anyone.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, once again, it is an honor to come before the House of Representatives; and, also, we would like to thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the Democratic leader; and also the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the whip; and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), the caucus chairman; and the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn) who is our vice chair, and all of the hardworking Members of this Congress. I think it is important for us to remember, and I think in a few short minutes the President will address the country from New Orleans and the French Quarter, about the Federal commitment to the hurricane- devastated areas. He will be in Louisiana, but I would assume he will also be addressing Mississippi, Alabama and some of the other surrounding areas that were affected by Katrina. I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, that I think it is important that we look at the contrast of what exactly the Federal commitment will be. There has been a lot of words, a lot of Federal jet fuel burned of the President and the Vice President going down to the affected area. There has been a lack of organized congressional visits for us to even understand what those people are going through in the South. We are going to be talking a little bit about, the 30 Something Working Group, the Federal commitment and the response not only to rescue and recovery but also the response to a national tragedy. There have been some good statements and some very disturbing statements, and I think the Members need to realize what has been said, what has been done and what has not been done. I think it is important, if we are going to follow through on some of these statements that have been made here on this floor, if we are going to follow through on what the President would say tonight in another 20 minutes to the country, are we going to be here for the long haul or are we going to give the people affected in the South what we call here in Washington, D.C., the Potomac two-step? Are we going to try to ride this media cycle out? Are we going to allow big-time contractors to go down, make a bucket of money on the back of tragedy and cut the wages for those very same people that were victims? Are we going to allow that to happen? Are we going to allow this House, in a vote that we took today, that I voted against, not that I am not in solidarity of the reason why we wanted to put together a select committee of the oversight of what happened in Hurricane Katrina, but the fact that the people of the South are not getting what the 9/11 families got and the American people got after 9/11. So there is a reason I think why we are heading off, and there are strange votes that are taking place. We say we do not want to politicize the process, but we step out on politics. We say we want to get to the truth, either it be city or parish or State or Federal Government, but, better yet, we take congressional action that does not even carry the language to allow us to get to the truth, does not have the bipartisan not only flavor but bipartisan language. If we are going to do something in the Congress to find out where government failed, where nonprofit failed and not have a 50-50 relationship with the majority side to be able to get to the truth, we are going to see partisan votes on that select committee. I stand with the Democratic leader and I know many of the 30 Something Working Group stand with the Democratic leader as it makes to not even making an announcement now, even if we are going to appoint Members to that select committee because I will tell you 710 lives that have been lost. Better yet, we are going to appoint a committee just like it is regular business here in the Congress. Also, the largest supplemental, I must add, in the history of the Congress and this country, outside of a war supplemental. Some are saying it will go to $200 billion. Well, if it goes to $200 billion, what will be the Federal commitment in the end? A, we know the people that will be working in the rebuilding process that are victims of this hurricane will not receive the prevailing wage because Davis-Bacon has been waived. They will not receive what other Federal contractors will receive using Federal money. We know that from the beginning. We are going to shortchange them from the beginning. We know they need money to rebuild, yet we are going to do that. The whole issue, when it comes right down to it, I say to my colleague from Ohio, is that the Federal commitment is about tomorrow, a national day of prayer over at the cathedral, and that is fine, we can pray for them. But we are the Congress. We are supposed to act on behalf of those individuals that cannot stand for themselves. So I want to come out tonight and say that individuals that are in the affected area, I believe the country needs to rally around them and demand a 9/ 11-like commission. We are going to let politicians stand in judgment of politicians? We are going to let a majority party stand in judgment of the majority in the executive branch? The same party that says, oh, we will get to the bottom of this, even if it is embarrassing? Well, people have lost their lives, yet we are going to sit around here as though it is another day at the office? I think not. There are individuals right now that have mold in their homes, and individuals right now that still do not have even the simple opportunity to bury their dead. There are children right now that are lost in the hundreds, and yet it is just another day at the office? Excuse me, but I have a problem with that. Over in the other body across the hall yesterday there was a vote that went down on a partisan party line. One individual from the State, one of the affected States, did not even vote on the amendment, and that amendment called for, down to the last sentence, a 9/11-like commission. It is very, very unfortunate that partisan politics has found its way into this national tragedy. The only reason why this Congress is getting away with it is the fact that these individuals who have lost their lives are poor. The individuals' homes that are still under water are poor. That is the reason why. So who are we, as a country, to go somewhere else and start talking about what other people should be doing when we are not doing it? Now, I am not saying the American people are not doing it. I am saying the leadership here in this Congress is not doing it. And if they can sleep well by doing that, so be it. But I will say this, that I believe the American spirit will rise on behalf of these individuals who are living in shelters right now and who do not even know what is happening to them. I think the reason why people are saying, well, we are moving expeditiously and we are trying to do this, that and the other, and we want to make sure people get accountability, is that these are poor individuals, who, by the way, work every day but who may not have the education that the brokers and the stock folks and all of those folks had in 9/11. Now, I supported that 9/11 Commission, and we are better because of it. We are better because there was a 9/11 Commission. There were families that came to this Congress. It was not the first idea of the Congress or the administration to have a 9/11 Commission, but thank God that those family members on behalf of their families who had lost their lives took whatever money they had, came to this Congress and made it happen. The only difference between the 9/11 families and these families down south is the fact they had a little more money and had a little more influence. And God bless them for having it. But I will say right now, Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, that we have to stand for these individuals that cannot stand for themselves. That is why we are here. We are not here to represent the haves and haves more; we are here to represent the individuals that cannot afford to come here. We are here to represent those who got up early one Tuesday morning voting for representation so that they would be represented in this House, so that Democrats and Republicans alike would be represented in this House and Independents would be represented and those that are too young to vote would be represented. We come here and stand as though it is business as usual while the body count still goes up, the death toll and the misery. So I do not know how long this media cycle is going to go on. I just do not know. I do not know how long the press will stick with this issue to keep it in the forefront, but we cannot leave these individuals behind. We have to be resilient; and we have to make sure, even if it costs criticism from individuals who may say, well, what do you want us to do? We want you to do the right thing. We want you to pass a resolution that has some teeth in it. Mr. Speaker, this resolution 437 is a select committee that we cannot even get people to come and talk to us. We have to ask them to come talk to us. So I say to my colleague that this is going to be one of those things, like the Committee on Ways and Means, with partisan votes up and down; like the Committee on Armed Services, partisan votes up and down; like the Committee on Appropriations, partisan votes along party lines. We cannot allow that to happen.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well said, I say to the gentleman. I thank my colleague for joining me in this (special order) this evening.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I am sorry, we usually would have a closing statement here, but our time has run out. We will have, I understand, the first Democratic hour on Thursday. Mr. Speaker, with that, we would like to thank the Democratic leader for allowing the 30 Something Working Group to come to the floor, and it was an honor to address the House once again.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, once again it is an honor to come before the House of Representatives, and we want to thank the Democratic leader for allowing the 30-something Working Group to come to the floor once again to work on issues and talk about issues that are facing Americans in this time after Hurricane Katrina and the devastation that has taken place in the South. Also, issues that are facing everyday working Americans throughout our country that are working 30-somethings and their families. When I mention their families, I am not only talking about 30-somethings as individuals but also their parents and their grandparents and their children and children to be. Mr. Speaker, this working group, like I stated last week and the week before last, is a group of Members on the Democratic side of the aisle that come together on a weekly basis to talk about the issues that are facing Americans. I want to thank the Democratic leader and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the Democratic whip; and also the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), chairman of the Democratic Caucus; and the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), our vice Chair, for standing steadfast on behalf of those Americans that are in great need at this time. I would also like to thank all of the workers that are working on behalf of the Federal effort to be able to bring about some, hopefully, stability to those that are in the affected area. Mr. Speaker, I speak from experience because I had an opportunity to travel down to Hancock County this past weekend and also to Gulfport, Mississippi, to speak with some of the residents there about some of their pain and suffering they are continuing to go through. And I know that last week I mentioned that we are in the first 2 minutes of the first quarter of their recovery process, and I will tell the Members what I saw down in Hancock County, which was one of the hardest hit areas. Everyone knows about New Orleans, that when the storm hit New Orleans, the worst thing that happened to New Orleans was the fact that the levee broke and that those homes were flooded, and a lot of those homes have to be leveled due to the water damage and saltwater damage to those homes. But I had an opportunity to travel down there, Mr. Speaker, and I want to share some of the photos that we were able to take down there of some of the devastation that took place. Mr. Speaker, this is actually a photo here of the Florida National Guard. I have to take my hat off to those men and women that actually went down to Hancock County, where they had a tidal surge, or storm surge, of 23 feet. We have Colonel Duren who is in between me and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor), who is a Member of this House. This is actually the gentleman from Mississippi's (Mr. Taylor) home that stood there and was washed away. The storm surge was actually to the top of the trees, and it was almost like a washing machine. Brick homes, wood homes, trailers, what have you, are just leveled and devastated. The gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) feels that he will recover, but there are a number of stories of his neighbors and his whole neighborhood that was actually washed out. These are members of the Florida National Guard that were with us, and they have cleared in Hancock County and Mississippi some 65 miles of roads that needed to be cleared to help individuals put themselves back together. This is also some devastation from the same county that is receiving very little media attention about what happened. Some buildings that have been there since the 1800s have been taken outside by Hurricane Katrina. And as the Members can see, the economy and the way of life in that particular area is going to be forever changed. Also, we have here a middle school. I am standing there with Colonel Duren of the Florida National Guard once again. Not just because I am from Florida, but I want to thank all of the National Guard troops that are actually down there trying to be a part of the Federal response. As the Members know, in Florida we have the special emergency response teams that have a lot of experience in the recovery process, helping people bring their lives back to normal. They are working with very little guidance, and I think I am going to make a point a little later on, Mr. Speaker, the reason why we need a commission to look at the whole Katrina experience from the beginning to the end. Some may say that a commission would bring about something similar to the 9/11 Commission with civilians, individuals that once served in this body, past first responders and present first responders, so that we will be able to avoid something like this from happening again. This is actually a middle school here. The Florida National Guard cleaned about maybe 2 or 3 feet of mud out of this school. This is the library, where the librarian and we also met with the superintendent of schools in this county said that the librarian's goal was to have a million books in this library, and obviously she has been set back; and we will be asking Americans to not only help this school but other schools that are trying to stand up on their own two feet. All of these books were soaked, and obviously the mold and everything has set in here, and these are the setbacks that many of our young people have gone through. The last picture I want to show here, I know FEMA has received its hard knocks and I commend not only past Director Michael Brown from stepping down from the post of FEMA because this recovery should not be about Michael Brown, it should be about FEMA doing its job, and with the appointment, the temporary appointment, of Mr. Paulson, who was the Miami-Dade County fire director, who went through Hurricane Andrew and a number of other hurricanes, we do know that he does have experience in recovery and also response. With it being very early in hurricane season, and North Carolinians and South Carolinians and Virginians looking at a possible storm hitting them now, it is important to have someone at the helm of FEMA that has some experience in dealing with natural disasters and know what to do when they happen. This is actually a FEMA trailer here in Hancock County. I am speaking to one of the part-time workers here standing up. These are phones that are there of individuals that are coming in that are making phone calls to receive their initial $2,000 from the Federal Government to be able to assist them with some of the basic needs. Some of these people waited at least 3 hours in the blazing sun in Mississippi. I must say it must have been about 90 degrees here, nothing that we can do anything about because they do not have the facilities to be able to go into. My hat is off to those local workers and FEMA workers. Actually, this gentleman here in the corner of the picture, he is retired. He worked with the Firestone Rubber Company in west Maryland, I must add, and he has been down there for 8 days, and he is saying that he has been working hard in trying to make a wrong right. And many of these people like him that are working that are retired that have decided to work part time for FEMA, I think we need to take our hats off to. We have a couple of others. But, Mr. Speaker, I think it is important that we set politics aside and allow leadership to prevail. And in the 30-something Working Group, we are very concerned about politics playing a role in not only this recovery process but being able to get down to the bottom line of what has to happen not only in the future but right now. I would ask the Members and also Americans to take a look at Time magazine talking about poverty; also talking about the issue of race in the South. I will tell the Members that many of us watched New Orleans residents suffer for 3 days without food, without water. Some went into stores and took what they needed to be able to survive. Some left their homes with only the clothes that are on their backs. I went to Mississippi, Hancock County, a lot of hard-working people, like the hard-working people of New Orleans; and there was a similar story, Mr. Speaker. I was talking with the mayor of the town, and he told me at the Big K and the Wal-Mart, they stood in front of that Wal- Mart and he told the folks, listen, go in and get what you need. Do not walk out with a DVD or whatever the case may be, but go in and get the things that you need to survive, because that is all they had. There was the threat of the fact that they may run out of food, they may run out of water, they may run out of personal items that they need to be able to survive; and so they did what they had to do. Unfortunately, they had to do that. These are law-abiding individuals, and I know in New Orleans the same thing happened. So when we look at this situation, we have to look at how we put Americans in the position to go in and do things traditionally that they have not had to do, individuals that woke up every day and went to work, did what they had to do to put food on the table for their families, pay for their children's education. I think it is important. A lot of children and women are affected by this storm. It did not discriminate, and I think that the question that was posed to the President, was there discrimination that played a role in the national response, I think that the future will tell if that is true or if it is not true. I am one that believes that we can see the best of America right now. The world is watching what we do and how we do it. And regardless of the pigment of the skin of the individuals that were affected by this storm, if everyone is treated equally and as human beings, I think that it will be important for us to prove to the rest of the world, if we are the superpower of the world and we stand as a shining example of democracy, I think it is important that, through our actions and here on this House floor and in the other body and the executive branch, that we play a very strong role in making sure that those individuals that were displaced, evacuees, Americans that are in Utah, that are in my district in Miami, Florida, that are in New England, that are in Maryland, that are here in Washington, DC, in our Capital, that are in Texas, that are in Georgia, that are in the upper part of Mississippi, that we make it so, Mr. Speaker, that they will be able to come back to their homes and they will be able to claim their property and that they will be able to move in and they will be able to take part in this recovery process. Many of the small businesses that were struggling anyway will not go back into business. We know that the SBA will try to do all they can to provide low-interest loans. We know that individuals of good will and banks have offered dollars as it relates to providing them with loans, and we know that the economy in New Orleans and throughout the Gulf Coast area are going to be suffering for some time. I had an opportunity also to visit Gulfport, and I can tell my colleagues that I went to go see the port, and to see port containers, Chiquita Bananas, what have you, that are 5 miles down the road that destroyed homes. I am from Miami, Florida, so this is nothing that I am not used to, seeing storm damage. But when you see a storm surge, 23 feet of water, and you see a container sitting between two trees and what is left of a house wall and you wonder how it ended up there, some 4 or 5 miles away, and that is no exaggeration whatsoever; it was like a washing machine and those containers moved on down and they just literally, and the tidal surge cleared those homes and the way of life that individuals are used to seeing. I think that it is also important that as we look at FEMA, we have to make sure that we have this independent commission. The Democratic leader, and I must say the Democratic leader, and I may just want to say leader, she is a leader just like we have other leaders in this House on the other side of the aisle; I think we should be willing to take on the recommendations of leaders who are in this Congress, and I think we should be able to take on the recommendations of those who have been through this before. I think that we should ask professionals to come to serve their Federal Government, just like a 9/11 Commission with subpoena powers to be able to ask the tough questions. Because the unfortunate thing that happened in this case as it relates to Hurricane Katrina is that we did have a great deal of loss of life. It may not be what some people said that it would be, but individuals have lost their lives, and we also have individuals that have been injured in this storm that go unsung. We have children who cannot find their parents at this particular time. We have sons and daughters that they are trying to locate, through the media and Internet sites, and volunteers are trying to reunite individuals, family members together. So I think that it is worth the Federal commitment to the South that we do everything that we can. It goes far beyond our visit. Just by myself going down to Mississippi is not enough just to say I have been there. It is not like visiting Walt Disney World and saying, oh, I did go to Walt Disney World and I have been to Disneyland. That is not what this is about. It is about us being able to not only go down to the area; and I must say, Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman) and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson), the ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security, and others, the ranking member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has asked for a congressional visit down to the affected area, and I think that is important. I am glad the President is going there. He was down there when I was there. But this Congress has to go down and see exactly what is happening to these individuals in the South. This Congress that will appropriate the dollars, because the President can only recommend, but this Congress needs to see firsthand the needs of those individuals that are affected. I think not only going to the affected areas, but going to see shelters that are far away from the South where these individuals have been introduced to a new community, and I want to commend those communities who have taken these evacuees, these Americans in with open arms. But we have to go far beyond putting them in our gymnasiums and in our sports arenas and in our churches. We have to make sure that they have what they had before the storm, that is, a home with a fence, with memories, with family portraits on the wall, and a sense of community. We owe them that. I feel as it relates to the levee, the levee there in New Orleans, the things that should have been in place, that it is important that we make them whole. I think it is important that we look at and we have an independent committee just like the Democratic leader has suggested. And I must say, Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the Democratic leader said we should come together in a special session and send emergency appropriations to FEMA so that they can have the dollars to deal with the response. Originally, that response back from, unfortunately, the leadership was, oh, we do not need to do that, and then a day later the President recommended it and said well, yes, it is an idea and jointly we will do that. But I think that time is of the essence and we need to put partisanship aside. I think also as it relates to the recommendation of Director Michael Brown, obviously he was over his head on this particular issue. I personally went down last Friday and met with the hurricane center director. Michael Brown was in place, he spoke to him the day before the storm, like he spoke with the mayor of New Orleans and others. There were individuals that knew what happened and what was going to happen. So I think it is important that we look at this beyond what we read in the paper. I think it deserves the kind of attention that the 9/11 Commission was able to bring about, for not only the survivors but also the families of the 9/11 tragedy. So if we do not do that, I think we fall short of allowing Americans not only to know the truth but to be able to have preventive action in place. The Special Emergency Response Team from Florida is one of the best teams in the Nation with some of the best building codes in the Nation, and we are able to respond. Our National Guard automatically, they know automatically in the way they do business, when the wind drops down to 40 miles per hour, they are moving in. They are moving in before Americans or Floridians have an opportunity to even come out of the house and see what happened. They know they have a security mission; they know they have a recovery mission. This is what we need throughout the Nation. We need a Federal Government that understands that. I am not here to say that it was totally the Federal Government. I commend the President for taking some level of responsibility for the Federal response being lackluster, at best, because Americans not only were close to starvation, but without water. And if the media can make it there, the Federal Government can make it there. If a paper was not signed or somebody did not call somebody, we knew, those of us who knew, what we had to do when we had to do it. So that is important. I am glad that my colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), has joined me, who knows quite a bit about hurricanes herself. We served in the State legislature together in Florida and were a part of many of the reforms in Florida after Hurricane Andrew. Now, hopefully, we will be a part of the reforms here in this Congress as we look at the Federal response in the future.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman was also busy making sure that our constituents were able to take advantage of the filing of her bill, and I am a cosponsor of her bipartisan bill, in forcing FEMA to make sure that those homeowners, some 300-plus in south Florida, are able to receive FEMA assistance. Many of those individuals need that assistance; and because they fall under the 800 or 400 threshold of FEMA, they have a discretionary decision to make here in allowing those families, individuals who work every day, pay taxes every day, to be able to take advantage of what the Federal Government provides.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, I can tell the gentlewoman that this is very, very important, being able to take these recommendations and move with them. Also, I think it is important that Members of Congress, we can travel overseas and learn from what they are doing and express our feelings to individuals as it relates to counterterrorism issues, as it relates to trade; we can definitely go right here domestically. We have a number of aircraft that are out at Andrews Air Force Base that can move Members down so that they can get firsthand experience in speaking to those Americans. One may say, well, you do not represent those individuals. Well, I do not represent anyone in Egypt. I do not represent anyone in Europe. I do not represent anyone in other areas where we have interests, whether it be Pakistan, citizens of that country. But as a Member of the U.S. Congress, I do represent Americans. Even though I have a district, we are here, and we stick our voting card in these machines that are placed behind these chairs here voting on behalf of Americans, and they pay taxes to be able to allow us to do some of the things that we are doing throughout the world. The least that we can do, Mr. Speaker, in my opinion, the least that we can do on behalf of these Americans, go down now, see it as it is now. Take it from me, from someone that has gone down there and has seen responders, they are going through a transition of law enforcement and first responders. We have search and rescue that is going on in New Orleans, but much of it is now a transition into recovery, making sure that independent contractors that are traveling from as far down as Canada, United States border, and we do know some of them are well intended and some of them are coming to take advantage of making the victims victims again. And this is the reason why we need to know first hand what is going on. When New Orleans is clean and when the gulf area is clean, as it relates to some of the debris that is there, that is in place there now, I do not think that it will serve us well if we do not see it in the way that it is now. TV just does not give it justice, in my opinion, to be able to see the sweat literally run down the side of an individual that is waiting in line to be able to receive Federal assistance. I was there with the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor), who has been down there and was there all last week, did not come up to Congress because he needed to be able to help his constituents put their lives back together. Rightfully so, he was there for him; and we did what we had to do up here, did the best that we could to make sure that appropriations came down. But there are a number of individuals that are still suffering, a number of individuals that we have to understand as a Congress how we respond, even when it comes down to individuals that Americans that have poured their hearts out and sent not only contributions to some of the organizations but have taken it upon themselves, with their credit cards and with the gas prices now, I would say credit cards, going and filling their tanks up and driving down, not knowing anyone, but going down there to feed people, to help people, but those individuals, and for diapers and all of those things that have been sent down, being able to understand that we need volunteer coordinators from the beginning to make sure that those supplies are not spoiled or being out in the sun or being in a place where they should not be. The little, small things like that are important for us to understand as Members of Congress. And, Mr. Speaker, if this was allowed, because I must share not only with the Members but those of us that are in this Chamber that, you know, as a ranking member of the Oversight Committee on Homeland Security, if I had the authority, I would do it. But, unfortunately, I am in the minority party; and we cannot authorize a congressional visit. The majority party can do that. And I have said that to my Chair. I said that we have a responsibility to go down there. From what I understand there hasn't been an official congressional CODEL to the gulf States. Our commitment to the South is in judgment right now. I think there are individuals, Democrats and Republicans and independents alike, and those individuals that are not even registered to vote, that are still putting out the question, where is my Federal Government? Now I will tell you this. I ran into a young lady that said, where is my Federal Government? And she was, you know, had some water and MREs and all of those things. Yes, I can say, look at your hands, there is your Federal Government, but that is not enough in my opinion. Here is someone that is looking for a process that we should be well practiced in, natural disasters. And I will tell you that being a member of the Homeland Security Committee, and from what I have seen of the performance of the Department, I think we are pretty well trained up on a terrorist event. But I think that natural disasters are still in the rear view mirror and is considered as an afterthought. I am not totally prepared to say that it is important that we move FEMA outside of the Department of Homeland Security, and that is the reason why we need this commission. We need this commission to make recommendations to us here in this Congress on what we should do, how we should do it, and in a way that it could happen that will not disrupt the relationship between FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security. So that is the reason why we need it. I will say to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), and now our good friend, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), is here, that the leader said that we should go into special session immediately or come back from recess early, go into session, give FEMA energy funds. No. Then eventually it was yes, 48 hours later. Said that Under Secretary Director Michael Brown of FEMA should step down because he is not up to par, being able to carry on, not only the future response but the initial response. Several days pass, back and forth. Okay, they sent him back to Washington. Three days later, he resigned. She has also asked, even though the leadership has said in both House and Senate, the other body, that we should have a committee of House and Senate Members to look at this and have a press conference, just one side on, you know, Republicans there representing, saying that it is a bipartisan, but no subpoena powers, none of the teeth that we need to get down to the bottom of how can we correct it. I commend the Democratic leader and the Democratic leadership for saying in both the House and other body that we will not participate in such a committee. Because we need to professionalize that. Even though we are professionals here, we need individuals that understand emergency management and recovery. And so that is what that is about, to be able to make sure. And you know something, if the leadership says, fine, let us put together a commission, the President says, let us put together a commission, I am all for it. But we are wasting time. Because people are saying, well, you know, the Democrats recommended it, and we cannot do it because they are Democrats. We are Americans, too. And I believe there are some individuals that are on the other side that believe that we should come together in time of 9/11. I think there is an opportunity for us to be able to show Americans that we can lead in a bipartisan way, and I just do not want us to blow that opportunity. To the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), I am so glad that you have joined us here. The gentlewoman and I are from Florida. I mean, it is like we are talking when we were in the State Senate together, because we were a part of helping Florida being able to advance itself as it relates to recovery. But thank you for joining us.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I always want to be a part of technology, but I can tell my colleagues that I am so glad they brought up the whole issue of Davis-Bacon and what the President did, many Americans did not understand what he did. We talk about avoiding making the victims victims again. And we want them, and even some prominent Republicans have said, we want them to be able to have first swipe at the jobs that become available. But they will have a first swipe at the jobs at a lower paying rate than usually what the Federal Government provides to individuals carrying out federally funded work. I think it is also important for us to realize that there are no parameters on contractors that are down there trying to correct the problems that are there. So that means that the money saved on Davis- Bacon will go into the pockets of those individuals who are direct contractors of the Federal work.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. The good thing I like about this 30-something Working Group is we always talk about second- and third-party validators and making sure that folks do not watch us here on the floor and think that we are talking out the sides of our necks. The Wasserman Schultz Report, the Ryan Report, the 30-something Report, the Meek Report. This is reality. The $62 billion is the largest supplemental appropriations in history of this country outside of war; $62 billion we did last week or the week before and the rest last week is the largest in history in the United States of America. So we have not been to this point ever. I think it is also important for folks to understand the difference. Folks say, what is the difference between Democrat and Republican leadership? I will tell you this in the moment, this is fact, not fiction. I am holding here a letter from the Democratic leader and several other ranking members that I mentioned earlier. Folks wants to know the action. This is not on behalf of Democrats in Mississippi and Louisiana and Alabama. This is on behalf of Americans in those States. We are talking about the commitment to the South. We are talking about commitment to Americans that pay taxes every day, those that are veterans, those that are children of veterans, those that never fought in wars before, those that go to work every day, those individuals that are disabled and cannot go to work. We represent them. Like it or not, we have to make sure as this Congress, because as the House we are the only branch of this government that must be elected to the position that they are in right now, including the President but the Vice President can very well, I am just saying as it relates to the legislative body, we are the only body that has to be elected by the people.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I thank the gentleman. I am glad he was present in constitutional law. There is a letter right here to David Walker, the Comptroller General of the United States of America, Government Accountability Office. It is basically saying that we are asking for an anti-fraud commission to make sure that there is accountability in government contracting as it relates to Hurricane Katrina. This is not just a letter just by the Democratic leader, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi). Here we have the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman) who is the ranking member of the Committee on Government Reform. He would be chairman if we were in the majority. We have the Democratic whip, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) who is the number two in charge of our efforts here on the floor. We have the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) who is the ranking member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. We also have the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) who is the ranking member and would be chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security if we were in the majority here. We have the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), the ranking member of Committee on Appropriations. We have the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) who was once chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce that would be chairman if we were in control. We have the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) who is also the ranking minority member as it relates to the Committee on Education and the workforce. They are writing this to make sure that the largest appropriations outside of supplemental appropriations for a war, some $62 billion are spent in the way that it is supposed to be spent so we do not make the victims victims over again. I think all Americans, no matter where they may be, east coast, West, Midwest, South, this is their taxpayer money at work. So we know that Davis-Bacon, those rules and regs and that right that workers would have has already been swiped aside by the stroke of a pen, that you will receive a wage lower than any other Federal project that is out there because it has been waived at a time of natural disaster. Will it save us money to be able to do more projects? No. Will it help the companies down there that are assigned the no-bid contracts, saying do the work, the sky is the limit, do what you do, bill us the way you want to bill? One of the companies is under investigation right now as it relates to the Iraq contract. But better yet, they are given a contract, go down there, do as you may, we will do the paperwork later. But what we have done from the beginning are parameters on the American worker and those that are in the South. Let me also add this: today, Democratic leader and also senior House Democrats, again, the list of individuals that are on the committees that are affected, have also requested an immediate establishment of a team of experienced auditors to monitor and also realtime contract and spending of the recovery effort. This is what we are doing right now. If the majority side has done it, I commend them; but I do not think that is the case now. So when I mentioned earlier on that we need to work in a bipartisan way, if we were working in a bipartisan way, this would not be a question of letters. It would be an issue of action. It would be, good, let us move on that idea. Let us make it happen. That is the reason I believe that the chairmen, ranking members, and Members of this Congress should take time out and go down to the affected areas and see what is going on down there, and see poor individuals that are staying in New Orleans right now and staying in some of the affected areas in Gulfport, in Hancock County. Some watch TV and say, why do they not leave? Guess what? They cannot afford to leave. They still today do not have the money to be able to get $5 worth of gas. I went down to see the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor), our colleague, who is down there trying to not only help his constituents be able to receive some sort of Federal assistance or State assistance or trying to put boats back together so they can get back to work; he is a victim himself. Earlier, I showed a picture of the Florida National Guard that is with us and the Congressman there on the other side of the colonel and myself. This is the Congressman's house, straight off the platform, not a brick left. So you want to talk about individuals being affected and not affected, all of us are touched by this, but we have to make sure that we show some level of leadership right now. This is why it is important that we make these recommendations. We have Members of Congress that are trying, but we need individuals that are in the leadership that are willing to stand up. And I said it once before, and I will say it again, if we are ruffling feathers here tonight, so be it. Because last week we came to this floor putting great pressure on the administration and those that are in charge that have the pen stroking power to bring about a difference in the South, and we were in the light of saving lives. Now we are in the light of making sure that individuals are able to return back to their homes. Our business here is very serious, and that not only letter writing but action is important. I think based on the action that has taken us this far, all the way back when we said if we can go in special session on the Schiavo case, if we can bring individuals before Congress and have congressional hearings and have special prosecutors for personal decisions that individuals have made in elected office, if we can come up here for far less, we can at least make sure the largest appropriations outside of the war supplemental, $62 billion, that it has the oversight, not just because we want to have the gotcha factor. That is a lot of money, a lot of money that has been appropriated in a matter of 10 days, rightfully so. I heard one of the esteemed, very prominent Members on the other side of the aisle, who took to the well right there and said, guess what, in $50 billion, there is going to be wasteful spending. I had to kind of double take and rub my eyes and say, excuse me, am I sleeping? Am I dreaming? I have a problem with wasteful spending of $50 billion, but, guess what, that means a victim will not receive what they should receive, Americans will not get accountability of their taxpayer dollars and that we have accepted the fact that it is okay to waste money. I have got a problem with that, and I know we all do.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, in this time of national tragedy, the merits of this bill are obvious. The American people are generous and insist that we offer aid and assistance to Hurricane Katrina's survivors. The confidence of our nation was shaken by the slowness and shortcomings of the federal government's response to this massive human tragedy. While this Second Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Hurricane Katrina Response provides an additional $51.8 billion for hurricane relief, much more will need to be done. Congress must ensure that the victims, and the state, local, federal and private agencies that are trying to care for them, have the resources they need. However, it is not enough to just vote for large funding bills. Americans also want accountability on the over $60 billion we have appropriated so far for Hurricane Katrina relief. We have to make sure that the relief money we are appropriating today and in the future actually gets to the victims, and is not used on unscrupulous contractors or spent on projects that boost the profits of companies seeking to profit at the expense of the hurricane victims and the taxpayers. This was the case in Iraq, where hundreds of millions of dollars were either ``lost'' or improperly paid to contractors like Halliburton. To make sure that the $2 billion that FEMA is now spending every day is properly used, I believe that, even as we appropriate billions for hurricane relief, we also provide additional resources to the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security to help ensure that the additional tens of billions of dollars that will be necessary to care for our fellow Americans and rebuild the South are not wasted through fraud, abuse, overpayments or ineffective government management. We have many good reasons for concern about wasteful spending. In the 3 years since the Department of Homeland Security, the umbrella department that houses FEMA, was created, numerous reports by the Congress, the Department's Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office have detailed instance after instance of contracting deficiencies, fraud, wasteful or lavish spending, lax oversight and management, procurement shortcomings, blurred lines of responsibility and lack of accountability. I believe that this Congress must make sure, to the greatest extent possible, that the funds that we are appropriating today and in the coming months to help the Hurricane Katrina victims are directed squarely at helping the victims and not those who seek to profit at the expense of the victims who desperately need the help. This is more than just a business opportunity for the Administration's friends. It is an opportunity to do the right thing and help those who are suffering, and it is our obligation. I also want to express my disappointment in the bicameral review committee created by the Republican Majority to examine the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. This committee, simply put, will be toothless.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I am going to finish, and then I am going to go back over it again. In 2004, for the first time in 37 years, the first time in 37 years, the Corps of Engineers halted all work. They stopped all work on the New Orleans levee system. Not because they felt like it. It was because they did not have any money. I am on the Committee on Homeland Security and we knew, and I know the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) has information that they went through a whole exercise about what if this happens. They knew it could happen. So when someone lines up in front of a camera and starts talking, I do not care who they are. I was emancipated many years ago; so I do not care what some may feel about what I say here tonight. The bottom line is if it is the President or the village council person or whoever it might have been as it relates to holding back funds from the levee system, saying this was a natural disaster, what could we do, we could have governed in a way that we should govern on behalf of individuals in the South that pay taxes just like anyone else. And the bottom line is if it was not for Katrina, Mr. Speaker, we would have been voting here on the estate tax for a huge tax break, to even make the reality even more evident that the Corps of Engineers never would have had started work on the levee system next year or the year after that or the year after that because we have no money.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to address the House once again. I am glad that we are here back in the people's capital of the United States to represent those that sent us up here to represent them. This hour is designated by the Democratic Leader, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), and the rest of our leadership on the Democratic side, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), also the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), and the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), our vice chair of our caucus; and week after week we come to the floor to share with Americans issues that are facing not only them, but also this country. I can tell you that we appreciate the fact that the leader had enough foresight and insight to know that not only those of us that are in the 30-something Working Group, but young Americans, have to have a voice in this process. As you all know, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and a number of other issues that have faced the Nation since we recessed for the summer to go back to our districts to also take care of other congressional business, there is a lot that has happened for and to Americans. I think it is important for us to just reflect a little bit on what has happened as it relates to Hurricane Katrina. Tonight I am joined not only by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), but also the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), who is my neighbor in Florida and representing south Florida. The gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) and I, both our districts were touched by Hurricane Katrina as a Category 1 storm, but not as a Category 5, some may say 4, that hit the gulf coast area; and our hearts go out to those individuals that are going through the process. I think tonight not only are we going to talk about the issues that are facing many of these families, but many of them are young families, many of them are elderly; and because of the mistakes and the failures in some part of our emergency management agency and other responding agencies, there was loss of life that could have been prevented. I think we should take this in a very serious way. The responsibility of this Congress, one, is to ask the questions and to make sure it does not happen again. I do commend not only the Democratic leader for recommending that there be a task force or a select committee to deal with the issue of the recovery process and to be able to review the whole Hurricane Katrina experience, but I am glad that the Speaker has taken her recommendation and moved on it and they will appoint a task force to deal with this issue, because I think it needs the kind of oversight to make sure that we do not make the victims victims over again because we thought that it was important to appropriate some $50 billion-plus towards the recovery effort without the appropriate oversight to make sure that it gets where it is supposed to be. Mr. Speaker, I also feel, before I yield to my colleagues, that it is important that we all understand that we are in the first 2 minutes of the first quarter, if this were a football game, as it relates to the recovery process. I think the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) and other Members from States that are constantly hit by hurricanes understand that we are in the very early stages. We know that a number of Americans have been turned off by the recovery and the response, and there will be a time and place to be able to identify that. That time is now, that time is also in the future, but also to make sure that we do not continue to fumble the ball. When I say ``we,'' I think it is important to understand that we do have an executive branch that has the responsibility for appointing responsible individuals to carry out the task that we legislate for here in this Congress, and that we make sure that they have the dollars, A, that is the question as relating to levees and other preventative measures that could have prevented loss of life; and, B, making sure that there are individuals that can make the decision without an act of Congress to go in and save lives in a timely manner. So, I am glad, Mr. Speaker, that we are here. I am glad that the 30- something Working Group, that one thing that not only the Democratic Caucus can count on, but also this Congress can count on, we will come here week after week to make sure that the American people know what they need to know and make sure that this Congress also hears the voices of those that cannot be heard here. I have some information, but I am going to yield to my colleagues, A, talking about the process on what are the programs that are available to Americans, because, Mr. Speaker, I feel those that are victims, and I am talking about in the tens of thousands, that are victims, some are in shelters, but, guess what? Many have been taken in by their family members and friends throughout the country. Maybe FEMA, maybe the State government, maybe the local government has not been able to locate these individuals to let them know what they are eligible for. If they left their home in the middle of a storm trying to swim out of their home and the water is over the roof, they may not know they are eligible for assistance from the very government they have been paying taxes through the noses to over the years. So as it relates to their home and as it relates to their job, to even making sure they are able to receive the kind of counseling, their children receive counseling, it is important that we tell them and break it down to the point that they can understand. If they have a problem as it relates to getting that information, that is what their Member of Congress is for. So we have people throughout this country, we have the list of how many people are displaced in different States, but how many of those individuals cannot be reached. Hopefully, we will reach family members and loved ones that can share with them their rights, so that they will be able to take advantage of some of the assistance that has been provided thus far. Mr. Speaker, with that, I yield to my good friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).

Mr. MEEK of Florida. The same letter here that I read from earlier, I just want to read another paragraph out of the letter to the committee chairman from Ranking Member Waxman and also Ranking Member Oberstar and Thompson of the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee on Government Reform and also the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The President said, I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. But just the opposite is true. Multiple reports have predicted that a large hurricane could overflow the levees and cause massive damage in New Orleans. Both the Red Cross and FEMA ranked a hurricane in New Orleans as the Nation's most dangerous natural disaster threat. I am going to tell my colleagues, this is well documented. Senator Breaux, who is retired, came out of retirement and jumped on TV 2 days after the storm saying, Excuse me, I am sorry, I just, I do not know what folks are talking about when they say they did not know this was going on. I mean, year after year, we tried to get money from the Federal Government. His entire congressional career was based on getting money for the levees. That is why some folks started talking about, well, you know, they are here talking all that mess, and we are trying to save lives, they are talking about what is not happening. Let me tell my colleagues what we are doing here tonight. We are saving lives, literally. We are saving lives here and pointing out the inequities of an agency that we just gave $10-plus billion to and said, You handle it, okay? And the bottom line is that just as upset as Americans were about 9/11 and the loss of life, they need to be upset about Katrina and the loss of life and the lack of oversight in governance. The bottom line, period, dot. So I think any American life that is lost when it could have been prevented deserves to be brought to the highest levels of Congress on both sides of the aisle. I am beyond partisanship right now. This is about responsibility. And the bottom line is, if the tables were turned and there was a man in the White House that had a Democrat, had a ``D'' behind his name, we could not stop the line of Republicans out the door to talk about what he or she did not do when they were supposed to do it and how they were supposed to do it. So the bottom line is this: What are we going to do? I do not have a family member, God bless, in this situation, but there are people that do. And guess what? They may not be a Member of Congress. We have to give voice to those individuals. What commitment does the Federal Government have to the people that are living in the South? That is the question. That is the bottom line. I do not care if they are a chairman, ranking member, somebody elected them over something in this Congress. The bottom line is, What is the commitment to the South? Because that is the only thing that I can point out, I say to my colleagues; I cannot come out with anything else. Maybe the folks down there do not talk as fast as other folks, I do not know. Maybe they do not have endowed universities like we have in the North and in the central part of this country, I do not know. Maybe there are individuals that do not necessarily care about infrastructure and look at the warnings as it relates to New Orleans. Now it has happened. The question is, what are we going to do about these individuals who are living in football stadiums and folks think it is okay for them to be there for 6 months. You can reach over and touch the next person in your bed. Do we have sex offenders living in the same stadium on the 50-yard line or the 60-yard line from a child? These are the things that we have to correct. These are the things that we must pay attention to. We cannot allow it to happen, or they will be made victims time after time and again. So the bottom line is that we have individuals that are displaced. We have a Federal agency that we are about to give $50-plus billion, and I guarantee my colleagues that there will be no real discussion about oversight. There will be no real action. I will guarantee, we will not stand by and watch this administration get this money and start handing out contracts to their buddies.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important that everyone understand that Homeland Security Director, the FEMA Director, or the President of the United States can reverse an original decision by FEMA not to pay individual homeowners or assist individual homeowners who do not have insurance, that are eligible for Federal programs. It is almost like saying that we have the antidote for their problem, but there are only 200 or 300 people affected and we have to get to 800 before we can help them. I mean, it does not make sense, and because of that we have asked the President, and a bipartisan letter has gone to not only the President but also to the FEMA Director and also to the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, about looking at this very small issue. But I can tell the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) that if there are issues of the very obvious, what happens under a $50-plus billion dollar appropriations to an agency that cannot see that there is a need out there that needs to be met? Let me tell the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) when Americans pay their taxes, they expect a response in times such as this. They do not expect bureaucratic lip service. They expect action. And I just want to make sure the people are clear on this. Folks may say, well, you know, you all are there and you all are Democrats and all, and it is your job to be able to point out everything that is wrong. That is incorrect. And I know the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is from the heart of America, this, that, and the other; but the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) and I are from the South, and I think this is an issue about how this country feels about the South, how they feel about people that live in the South. I will tell my colleagues this: maybe in another part of the country the response would have been different, but I can tell the Members right now there are a lot of individuals that are down there that pay taxes just like anyone else that expects representation. I do not know, maybe this lady may be a Republican. She may be an Independent. We do not care. She needs assistance. And the bottom line is that FEMA is supposed to be there in a time of need. The Federal Government is supposed to be there in a time of need. When the local government resources are out or depleted or coming close to being depleted, that is why we have a Federal Government. They are not independent countries out there. Louisiana is not by itself. Alabama is not by itself, and I can guarantee my colleagues that Mississippi is not there by itself. So why should they be treated any differently than any other part of the country? The bottom line I feel is what is the Federal obligation to the South? What is it? And I feel that we really do not have to paint a picture for Americans. We really do not. They have seen it. And they saw folks having press conference after press conference talking about what the situation is. They say, We knew that 5 or 6 days ago. And what my colleague was talking about with the hurricane director, they knew. They were just hoping that the levees held. But I think it is outstanding that the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) brought pictures here tonight, because when we talking about the 30-something Working Group, third-party and fourth- party validators are important because we have folks who take to the floor saying, Well, it is not what some people tell you that it is. Do you believe us or your lying eyes? We see it on television. The reason I talked about information, that it is important that we disseminate information, I want the Members and the American people to see what we get in the U.S. Congress. We get one sheet of paper talking about a recovery process. Like my cousin used to say, If I am lying, I am flying. The bottom line is that this came out as Congressional Advisory No. 8, September 6. This is yesterday's advisory. Today is like three quarters of a page. I thought I would at least get a full- page report. It is just bullets and feel-good language, not telling us anything. I just want to take this little segment out here while we are talking about the major inequities here, and hopefully, Mr. Speaker, hopefully, someone will say we need to correct this. Not only should we provide more information to Members of Congress but we should also make sure we provide information to more victims. This is what it is: the Housing Task Force, whoever they are, are also identifying long-term housing facilities to assist disaster victims as quickly as possible. What is ``quickly as possible''? Do I pay my taxes as quickly as possible, or do I have a date to pay my taxes? Here is the other issue: assuring that security and order to the impact areas, maintaining law and order is a priority to assist recovery and evacuation efforts, deliver relief in a timely and effective manner. This is stuff that one puts on their Web site when they are selling cookies. The bottom line is we have people that we have not even found yet. I am talking about FEMA or whatever the case may be. But here is the issue: we must assume nothing. And I tell my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and I have said this before and they all have heard me, I do not care if they are Republican, Independent, Democrat. They need to go see the wizard and get some courage and say, listen, it is not working and we need to make it work, not going down there and walking around for a day saying, well, you know they are doing the best they can do, because folks are hurting. So we have got to get this information out. We have got to make sure that this lady and other folks are able to get the assistance that they pay taxes for. So if I have anything to contribute here tonight, and I have some other information, and I see that the gentleman from Ohio is looking at me, but if I have anything else to contribute here tonight, I want to make sure this Congress understands. Here is a question for the Congress and for the Federal Government: What commitment do you have to the people that are living in the South? That is what I want to know. I want to know is it lip service or is it for real? And I can tell the Members right now from what I am seeing, there are no recommendations for a national day of mourning. People have died in this thing, and we are finding more people. There are no recommendations to go down to the South and have a joint session of Congress. It is beyond a natural disaster. A lot of it is failure of government. I am coming in for a landing. There was a letter that was written today to a chairman of a major committee here of serious questions that were asked. Could New Orleans' levee system hold? The budget of the Corps of Engineers for construction projects in New Orleans District was cut over 40 percent between 2001 and 2005 apparently to free up funds for the war in Iraq and homeland security projects.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, on behalf of the 30-something Working Group, we would like to thank the Democratic leader, Mr. Speaker, for allowing us to come here to the floor once again, and it was an honor addressing the House once again.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I would say to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) I just wanted to go over a couple of these programs that FEMA has available for individuals that are in the Federal disaster area, those States that have been designated by the President. There are a number of grants and I just want to make sure, and also low-interest loans, and if anyone wants assistance as it relates to those, you can call and just ask the question. The operators will go over it with you. They are working 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. You can call 1-800-621-FEMA, F- E-M-A, and that is 3362. So that is 1-800-621-3362 to register. If you are hearing impaired, you will dial the TDY line, which is 1-800-462- 7585. I am going to read that other number over again. 1-800-621-3362. If you are hearing impaired, 1-800-462-7585. They also have an online, you can reach FEMA through FEMA acronym, FEMA.gov/register. That is again 24-hour grant. They also have 24-hour you can get the grant information. And many of the family members may have to get it on behalf of the other family members because they may not be in an area where they can receive that information. You have to help your family and friends through this process, even though government is reaching out to them. The individual housing grants that are also available, this is the primary vehicle of assistance that FEMA provides to individuals. Also what that individual grant information does, it provides you with a voucher for short-term housing. Each individual can get up to $26,200 per individual or household. And I think that is important. And we will give you more information in the coming days on that. Disaster unemployment relief. This program, with acronym of DUA, provides benefits to individuals that were previously employed or self- employed that have been made jobless because of a direct result of the major disaster which will be Katrina, that are not eligible for regular Federal or State unemployment insurance. I think that is important. But I still urge Americans and also Members to encourage their constituents to go after these programs. Dislocated worker activities, this is a program that provides training and also related assistance to persons that have lost their jobs that are unlikely to return back to their current job or industry. That is important for individuals that are throughout the country. I just want to be able to add in the last couple of minutes here, we have folks that are all over the country, that are literally all over the country. And I am coming back to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan). In Alabama, there are some 5,017 individuals; Arkansas, 5,534. I am just reading out some of the big numbers. Louisiana there are a lot of people still there, 67,000 individuals. So there are a number of programs that are available. I urge you to go to the FEMA Web site or even call them. Mr. Ryan, do you want to give the Web site information?