Hurricane Katrina Disaster
Floor Speech
HURRICANE KATRINA DISASTER -- (House of Representatives - September 07, 2005)
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Mr. JEFFERSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, it is important the Congressional Black Caucus address these issues tonight because many of the people who are affected by this tragedy are African American and otherwise impoverished or disadvantaged, and they are folks who need to have their concerns given voice tonight.
Many of our Members will talk on different issues. I want to talk about the recovery of that area, of our area, and about an economic recovery package for New Orleans and the other areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Hundreds of thousands of my constituents have been uprooted from their homes. More than 100,000 businesses have been shuttered, and possibly thousands of lives have been lost to the wrath of Hurricane Katrina.
The extent of the damage, the human toll, property damage and economic loss is unprecedented in our Nation's history.
Of particular significance, a disproportionate share of the damage in my hometown of New Orleans was meted out to parts of our great city that were already extraordinarily economically disadvantaged.
The poverty and economic depression in these areas in no small way were factors in the extraordinary loss of life and property experienced by my constituents.
For that reason, it is critically important at this time to come together to ensure that all areas affected by Hurricane Katrina receive the necessary resources to rebound from what could be an economically devastating blow all across the gulf coast.
Now, we are talking about an economic package of $40 billion coming up. We just approved $10 billion a few days ago, but I think it is important to put the right number before the Congress. At this time, we do not know what that number is, but we know it is a lot larger than $50 billion.
The Wall Street Journal reports today that through their own analysis they have come up with a figure of $150 to $200 billion. Today, at a press conference, I called on our Congress and our Nation to set aside some $225 billion for this tragedy, $100-plus billion for New Orleans alone.
I believe it is important to talk about a number that is closer to the right number now so that we will not have the rest of the Congress figuring that we have already fixed the problem with 40 or 50 or $60 billion when we know it is going to be four times that number.
So as the Congress moves on various relief packages, I would like to articulate a few principles and policy proposals I believe should guide our efforts and be included in any relief package.
First, the urban poor in New Orleans were dramatically and disproportionately affected, as I have said, by the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Therefore, our efforts must include provisions to improve conditions to the point that the magnitude of the damage is never again experienced in our great Nation.
Second, businesses large and small have been shuttered throughout the region, leading to an economic double whammy. Not only is the region cut off from the goods and services provided by these businesses, but the tens of thousands of employees working for these businesses are cut off from their jobs and their paychecks.
Third, the public health effects of Hurricane Katrina are also extraordinary. In response to the health impacts of the hurricane, we must restore health care access, health care quality, health outcomes and the health care worker force because all Americans deserve equal treatment in health care. A proper investment in health care will improve both the health and economic well-being of our region and our country. The legislation we propose ought to address rebuilding the public health infrastructure and ensuring health care coverage. We must, therefore, move to immediately counter these difficult challenges.
On the economic front, I think it is important to propose measures to jump-start the economic recovery throughout the gulf coast, and in the long term to improve the lives of hardworking Americans throughout the region. Because there are a number of Federal tax benefits conditioned on the household living situation of the taxpayer, and in light of the extraordinary displacement of citizens throughout the region, I think we should recommend changes to the Tax Code that ensure that displaced Americans are not disqualified from the tax benefits to which they are otherwise entitled as a result of the hurricane.
Under current law, there are limits on a taxpayer's ability to deduct casualty or disaster losses in ways that would severely affect large numbers of our constituents. Accordingly, I believe we should propose to eliminate any barriers in the Tax Code that would prevent the devastated families from the tax relief to which they are now entitled.
So many of our people who lost their property back home were not home owners; unfortunately, they lived in apartments. They did not have renters insurance or flood insurance. They have lost everything. This has to be taken into account as we go about this.
One of the most extraordinary effects of Hurricane Katrina ever is the unprecedented destruction of housing in New Orleans. One hundred sixty thousand homes in New Orleans alone, and across the area more than 200,000 homes have been affected by this or destroyed by this hurricane. This is going to take some extraordinary action by FEMA and HUD, and some flexibility in the Community Development Block Grant program and the HOME program to get our region back on its feet.
I think we should look at the New Markets Tax Credits program and add $1 billion in 2006 and another $1 billion in 2007 to help with the restructuring there.
With our businesses, of course, there are no jobs, and we ought to ensure that we provide businesses throughout the region the tools necessary to reopen and thrive, as well as incentives to provide jobs to the thousands of displaced Americans throughout the region.
On health care, we ought to have a declaration of emergency to trigger emergency Medicaid provisions, and we ought to allow our States to therefore simplify the application process and eliminate other barriers to enrollment and participation. We should think about a 100 percent Federal Medicaid match to States directly affected by Hurricane Katrina or States receiving evacuees, and elimination of residency requirements as people are being scattered throughout the country.
On Medicare, we ought to waive the late enrollment penalties for affected residents to sign up for the new prescription drug benefit from October of this year to some other time, if they become newly eligible. We ought to delay transition of the affected dual-eligible to the Medicare program. And we ought to create a health safety net for all people affected by Katrina.
With regard to the health care workforce, we have to redirect our resources there to make sure we have people available to do the work. We ought to establish health empowerment zones, for instance, and freeze budget cuts for safety net and public health programs for two. And, finally, we ought to be concerned about the mental health of our people, because displacement is a terrible mental health issue, and we ought to make sure services are delivered there in the proper way.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to my colleague, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt).
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Mr. JEFFERSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Mississippi for his expert handling of this hour to help to bring to the attention of the American people the particular plight of African Americans, the particular plight of people who are impoverished, the particular plight of disadvantaged citizens who have been afflicted by this storm, and the hope and promise that our Nation holds for them and for my great city of New Orleans and the gulf coast region. I want to thank the gentleman for his attention to this matter, and I thank my colleagues for joining us in this very special and important hour.
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Mr. JEFFERSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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