Providing for Concurrence by House with Amendment in Senate Amendment to H.R. 3768, Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005

PROVIDING FOR CONCURRENCE BY HOUSE WITH AMENDMENT IN SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 3768, KATRINA EMERGENCY TAX RELIEF ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - September 21, 2005)

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

First, let me thank the leadership on the other side of the aisle for the cooperation that they have given. I have worked very closely with the chairman, the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), and I am so pleased the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. McCrery) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson), who come from the affected areas, have been able to work together to assist the Congress, and especially those of us on the committee, to see how fast we could get some type of assistance to the victims of this horrendous disaster.

As the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. McCrery) stated, this is a temporary provision that is not meant to indicate that the Congress has completed its work on this task. As a matter of fact, it is hardly even a beginning, but that is what we thought we could do.

The good that has come out of this is a sense of bipartisanship, that Katrina was not a Republican or a Democratic disaster, it was one that struck America. And I think the President of the United States has definitely set the tone as to what most all Americans, and certainly people from all over the world realize, that this is not just building or rebuilding a city, it is not just restoring a culture, but it certainly is making the people there whole. So as we pass this bill on the consent calendar, I hope that the tone that has been set on the other side of the aisle can continue to be a bipartisan and bicameral effort in order to do the best we can in terms of restoring the dignity and the culture of this great city.

To do this, some of us are working very closely with the people that come from this area, hoping that we can get an authority on the empowerment zone concept that goes far beyond the limitations that we have on the tax-writing committee. We hope that we can get the local officials, the State officials, as well as the business people, to come up with a comprehensive plan that would allow all of us, no matter what committees that we sit on, to be a part of this great American recovery effort.

We also have to make certain that the people that are providing the assistance down there are held accountable and that every effort is made to make certain that, one, the people who were forced to leave the area have an opportunity to return; and to some extent our tax policy will reflect what we can do to provide incentives for them to come back home. It is also important that we take into consideration the environmental conditions that exist there to make certain that it is not contaminated when the people come back.

We would also like to see an independent commission that goes far beyond what has been suggested by the Speaker to make certain that as we move forward that we do not make the same mistakes that were made in the past, and where there have been mistakes, we do not give medals of honor to those people who made them, but rather work to correct them and make certain we have competent bipartisan workers doing the Nation's business to rebuild the area that has been affected.

Some Members on this side will share their experiences with 9/11, some of the things that did and did not happen; and I would hope that we would be able to share those views today and as we move forward to make certain that when we do have a plan, there are jobs there and we deal with housing, schools, and deal with all of these things with the same vigor as the President had indicated that we would do.

Again, I would like to thank the gentleman from California (Chairman Thomas), the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. McCrery), and the members of the Committee on Ways and Means for the speed with which we reacted to this. I hope it has set a tone, if not for the entire Congress as we relate to other things, at least to begin with Hurricane Katrina and see what we can do to set an example for the other committees in working together.

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

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