Dreier Leads Debate to Create Select Bipartisan Committee on Hurricane Katrina

September 15, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC- Congressman David Dreier (R-CA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, led debate in the House today as it worked to create a Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina. The Select Bipartisan Committee will be composed of 20 House members, 11 majority and 9 minority, and will work in concert with the Senate to investigate the Federal, State, and local response to Hurricane Katrina, as well the work done by the private sector. H. Res. 437 was approved with bipartisan support, 224-188. Excerpts from his floor statement follow.

"Today’s debate is about a clear choice. Will we take the responsibility delegated to us as Members of Congress by the Founders to ask the hard questions, admit our mistakes, and improve our government for the benefit of all? Or will we rely on proxies to do our work for us because we have judged ourselves incapable of carrying out our Constitutional duty to ensure that we are providing for the general warfare? I for one believe that the Constitution vests this responsibility with us, and I am ready to accept the challenge."

"If we are to get to the point where we can rectify our failures, we must first diagnose the problem. That is the purpose of the select committee established by this resolution. We need to know why there were apparent catastrophic failures at all levels of government. We need to know if our own bureaucracy stood in the way of well-intentioned private citizens who wanted to come to the aid of their fellow Americans in their time of need. We need to know why we failed to fulfill our Constitutional duty to promote the general welfare and provide for the common defense."

"The House has a long tradition of establishing committees like this one to answer the questions that invariably arise when we look at how we performed at defining moments in our history. We have established select committees to examine Pearl Harbor, the Kennedy Assassination, the Iran-Contra Affair, and our own internal operations. In fact, we have created select committees on 41 separate occasions over the last century to examine the same kinds of broad questions raised by Hurricane Katrina. The resolution before the House provides full representation and rights for the Minority in the long-standing tradition of this House under leadership from both parties."

"While I believe that this select committee is the best way to get to the bottom of what went wrong, I know that some of my colleagues disagree. However, should this House operate as intended by the framers of the Constitution and a majority votes to create this select committee, I hope that my friends will abide by that decision, and agree to work with us. We all have important questions to ask. I hope that my Democratic colleagues will join us in asking them."

DREIER ON RULE FOR H.R. 437 DIAL-UP / BROADBAND