Robert Wexler: “like all Americans, my heart goes out to the millions of people displaced and suffering from one of our largest national…”

“like all Americans, my heart goes out to the millions of people displaced and suffering from one of our largest national catastrophes in our history. I hope the victims of Hurricane Katrina know that our prayers are with them in this most difficult hour, and I strongly support today's initial package to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. However, the administration's response to this catastrophe is nothing short of a national disgrace itself. How is it possible, how is it possible that the administration did not realize earlier what a catastrophe this is? There is a 90,000 square-mile footprint of disaster, and yet last night FEMA's director, Michael Brown, admitted that the administration had no idea exactly how bad the situation was. Even worse, he had previously characterized the security situation in New Orleans as ``pretty darn good,'' and stopped just short of blaming the residents of New Orleans themselves for not evacuating. The Bush administration failed the American people in advance of this hurricane by cutting critical funding in spite of the pleas by the Army Corps of Engineers, money that would have been used to reinforce the very levees that broke and flooded New Orleans. We had plenty of money to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, but none apparently to save the poorest Americans with an ounce of prevention. In terms of the response to the disaster itself, what we have seen is unquestionably too little too late.…”