Political Quotes

“I rise to address what has been a heartbreaking week for all of us. As was mentioned by my distinguished colleague from Washington, I just returned from a trip from Houston with former Presidents Clinton and Bush as part of a fund-raising effort to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. As we wandered through the crowd, we heard in very intimate terms some of the heart- wrenching stories that all of us have witnessed on television over the past several days: Mothers separated from their babies; adults mourning the loss of elderly parents; descriptions of the heat, filth, and fear of the Superdome and of the convention center in New Orleans. There was an overriding sense of relief in Houston, and the officials in Houston and in the entire State of Texas deserve great credit for the outstanding job they have done in creating a clean and stable place for the tens of thousands of families who have been displaced. A conversation I had with one woman captured the realities that are settling into the families as they face the future. She said to me: We had nothing before the hurricane, and now we have less than nothing. We had nothing before the hurricane, now we have less than nothing. In the coming weeks, as the images of the immediate crisis fade and this Chamber becomes consumed with other matters, we will be hearing a lot about lessons learned and steps to be taken. I will be among those voices who will be calling for action.…”