Chuck Grassley: “so far, the Finance Committee has put forth two Hurricane Katrina relief bills. One is the emergency tax relief bill…”

“so far, the Finance Committee has put forth two Hurricane Katrina relief bills. One is the emergency tax relief bill passed today. The second is the health and welfare bill introduced last Thursday. And we're working on a third bill to help rebuild and rejuvenate the Gulf region. Today I met with Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour to hear about the needs of people in the Katrina area, both now and in the future. In addition to Senator Baucus, I've been working with my colleagues from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, including the cosponsors of this tax bill--Senators Lott, Landrieu, Vitter, Cochran and Shelby. For the next package, we're taking ideas from these senators. I've talked with Senator Vitter, Senator Lott and Senator Landrieu about tax incentives and expect to talk with the rest of the group in the coming days. We've had the biggest natural disaster in history. People are hurting, and we're getting them help. We know that tax incentives helped to revitalize New York after 9/11. They can do the same for New Orleans, Gulfport and the other hurricane- hit areas. The immediate relief package will help get short-term aid to hurricane victims by encouraging food donations and the employment of displaced individuals, for example. For those who've suffered casualty losses, we've liberalized the tax rules to permit affected taxpayers to deduct losses from damaged property. We also want to help protect Katrina victims from undeserved IRS harassment.…”