"My deepest condolences go to the victims of Hurricane Katrina who have lost their lives, their homes and their livelihoods. For many, it did not have to be this way."
"I represent
"There are some serious questions to be asked: Why with several days' notice about this storm, were more people not evacuated? Where was the plan to evacuate people who did not have the money or ability to evacuate themselves? When the size and strength of the storm was known, why wasn't a response team in place to go into affected areas immediately? Why was federal funding to reinforce the levee system cut when it would have saved thousands of lives and billions of dollars? And, given that this disaster was the first large scale test of the new Department of Homeland Security and their Federal Emergency Management Agency, does this new structure improve or hamper disaster prevention, response and relief?"
"Yesterday morning, President Bush went onto NBC's Today Show and made the following statement: 'The critical thing was to get people out of there before the disaster. Some people chose not to obey that order. That was a mistake on their part.' President Bush's statement shows a complete lack of understanding of, and insensitivity to, the plight facing so many American families today, or why those families died or are now suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The United States Census Bureau reports that in 2004 over 23 percent of the population of the city of
"One thing is very clear; poor planning, and a slow response to an imminent disaster has cost hundreds of people their lives and hundreds more will die if the government does not significantly increase its response. Even today, there are over 200,000 National Guard troops that have not been called up to help in the relief efforts. Even today, the Navy's Hospital ship Comfort remains in
"Our government must be better prepared to plan and respond to disasters of every kind in this country. But for right now, we must mobilize the incredible resources of the federal government and respond to this crisis in a manner that recognizes that people are dying as we speak because not enough has been done to help them."
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