Representative Pignatelli Takes on Katrina

Floor Speech

REPRESENTATIVE PIGNATELLI TAKES ON KATRINA

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Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I welcome this opportunity to commend my friend and colleague in Massachusetts, State representative William Pignatelli, who represents the fourth Berkshire district. In addition to his tireless dedication to the people of western Massachusetts, Smitty, as we all call him, has also shown his extraordinary commitment to public service by going far above and beyond the call of duty to help people in New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

During a trip to New Orleans last December, Smitty met Stanley Stewart and his family of 12, who had just moved into a FEMA trailer after 16 horrific months of suffering. The family had been rescued from the second-floor balcony of their home in the city after spending 2 days without food, water, and plumbing.

Distressed by the plight of Stanley and his family, Smitty decided to help them rebuild their home and has already made a number of trips to New Orleans to do what he can. Now he has decided to spend his fall vacation in New Orleans to finish the job. On September 30, he will be taking a group of volunteer builders from the Berkshires to New Orleans to do so. With these generous acts of kindness, Smitty has shown us extraordinary dedication to those less fortunate.

As my brother Robert F. Kennedy said, ``Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest of oppression and resistance.''

I commend Smitty for the remarkable ripple of hope he is sending forth. A recent article in the Berkshire Eagle describes this amazing chapter in Smitty's life. I believe the article will be of interest to all my colleagues in the Senate, and I ask unanimous consent to have the article printed in the Record.

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