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“ Democratic priorities are clear: we will fight to get the economy back on track, we will create jobs, and we will help unemployed workers. ” |
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Pelosi: Independent Commission, Not Partisan Committee, Is Necessary to Investigate Response to Hurricane Katrina
Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi announced today that she supports forming an independent commission to investigate the federal government’s failed initial response to Hurricane Katrina, and that she would not appoint Democratic Members to Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist’s bicameral committee:
“The American people want Democrats and Republicans to put their differences aside and work together to address the emergency assistance and recovery needs of the victims of Hurricane Katrina and to investigate why the initial federal response compounded the disaster. Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist had an opportunity to join Democrats in this effort and have chosen not to.
“For nearly a week, I have urged the Speaker to establish a bipartisan task force that is truly bipartisan, made up of equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, has real authority to cut congressional red tape, and would have bipartisan subpoena power.
“The partisan proposal that Republican leaders outlined yesterday is completely unacceptable. House Democrats will not participate in a sham that is just the latest example of congressional Republicans being the foxes guarding the President’s hen house.
“Americans want an objective assessment of what went wrong during the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. Now that Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist have decided to form a partisan committee, the only way to get Americans the truth about what went wrong and correct how we respond to future disasters is by creating an independent commission. It could be modeled after the independent, bipartisan 9/11 Commission, which did a huge service to our country with its excellent report detailing the urgent task before us to make our nation safer.”
“ Democrats are united in presenting a New Direction for America, one that will make our nation as strong as its people, one that brings opportunity, security, and prosperity to all Americans. ”
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
