Statement on Going Forward in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
September 15, 2005
Washington, D.C.---U.S. Representative Tom Allen issued the following statement today in anticipation of President Bush's address to the nation, scheduled for 9:00 p.m. this evening, to lay out his proposals for actions at the federal level in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:
"Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Gulf Coast, the victims remain in our thoughts and prayers. For the moment, our top priorities must remain to deliver clean water, food, housing, health care and education to the estimated one million-plus of our fellow Americans displaced by this catastrophe and to take the immediate action needed to retrieve the dead with dignity, forestall disease, decontaminate the devastated areas and repair the disaster prevention infrastructure.
"I look forward to the proposals President Bush will outline this evening. Indications are that he will recommend a mammoth reconstruction package. Given the scope of the destruction, that is appropriate. Massive federal spending alone, however, is not a sufficient response to the crisis that has unfolded over the past three weeks.
"Hurricane Katrina was a colossal natural disaster compounded by an unprecedented breakdown in the government response. It revealed more than just gaping holes in our nation's disaster preparedness. It demonstrated the high price we must pay in lives and economic loss from our failure to invest in preventive measures. It graphically exposed shameful inequities in our society that relegated the elderly, the infirm, the disabled and the poor to horrors most Americans believed afflicted only the peoples of undeveloped nations.
"Above all, it shows what happens when government is run by people who denigrate the role of government in our lives. It is no surprise that this anti-government government failed its job. It failed in part because of what today's Bangor Daily News labeled 'government by cronyism.' It also failed because this Administration's preoccupation with terrorism led it to neglect the risks posed by natural disasters.
"I hope that the President will embrace the proposal that I and many others in Congress support to establish an independent commission comparable to the 9/11 Commission to investigate thoroughly every aspect of the circumstances leading up to and following this catastrophe and to recommend steps we need to take as a nation to prevent a future recurrence. I hope also that the President will offer an honest and fiscally responsible plan to pay for whatever he proposes this evening."
http://tomallen.house.gov/showart.asp?contentID=1716&IssueID=1&ID=