Judd Gregg: “Our Nation's history is not only one of growing prosperity, opportunity, and the steady progress of a free and…”

“Our Nation's history is not only one of growing prosperity, opportunity, and the steady progress of a free and industrious society, but it is also uniquely identified by the challenges that we have faced and overcome. Sometimes, these challenges have been natural disasters--earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes that have devastated entire towns and cities, uprooted communities, and tragically killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Disasters such as the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Great Flood of 1927, and Hurricane Camille are the first ones that come to mind, although there are others that we could also add to this list of superdisasters. Unfortunately, it now appears that the list of these superdisasters has gotten longer. In a number of respects, the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Katrina has so far exceeded any natural disaster that our country has faced: the official death toll is around 1,000 and could go higher; approximately 90,000 square miles, nearly the size of the United Kingdom, has been impacted; a city of nearly half a million was almost entirely emptied; as many as 1 million jobs have been directly affected; and recovery and reconstruction costs could go to as high as $200 billion, if not more. Figures aside, the tragic and widespread devastation that this storm has wreaked is apparent to anyone who has watched news footage from the golf coast region.…”