Cedric Richmond

The right thing to do is to honor that commitment to waive the repayment of those disaster loans.

Can you at least advocate on our behalf that the commitment was made, people made decisions based on it, and it would be the right thing to do to live up to the commitment to waive the repayment of those disaster loans?

However, subsequent rules were promulgated where many of the municipalities, the school boards, and other agencies are not getting loan forgiveness from those disaster loans from Katrina.

Let's go back to the grant program, and then in Louisiana, especially in south Louisiana, with the largest port system probably in the world when you combine Port of South Louisiana and the Port of New Orleans and the Port of Plaquemines.

I see no difference in either.

But we can't have zero tolerance with the company.

We have to worry about the cyber attacks. We also have to worry about our hardened criminals using technology to find our children and so forth.

We ought not make a profit, and we ought not let government grow on the backs of people who just went through a disaster.

My question is more on how the elected Member of Congress can play an effective role in alerting the public about how to best prepare for a likely emergency.

Our region has the best potential, though, for job growth, just because of the capacity that we have in manufacturing.

Do you see the possibility of the city of Detroit being a site for testing and evaluating homeland security technology?

I represent New Orleans, Louisiana, which in the aftermath of Katrina the Government response was very, very poor in terms of getting resources there quickly unified command and all of those things.

I want to protect them the best I can.

My concern is that many metro Detroiters are at risk of being poisoned if a terrorist decides to dump a bunch of biological agents in that drinking water system.

How can the Department of Homeland Security best judge an urban area's risk of an attack based on the assessments that it uses now?

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: Page 2, line 20, after the dollar amount insert ``(reduced by $10,617,000)''. Page 10, line 21, after the dollar amount…

I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Louisiana will be postponed. Amendment Offered by Mr. Richmond

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: Page 2, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert ``(decreased by $6,000,000)''. Page 19, line 20, after the dollar amount…

What we heard from our city and our leaders in New Orleans was that we were just cut from I believe it was the UASI grant program to help us in security.

In terms of risk assessment or probability of where a device or products or ingredients would come from, where does ports or seawater, where does that rank in terms of the likelihood of being used to get one of these devices into the…

I think that may send a message that that is something you ought not do.

People without the ability to arrest don't get the same respect as police officers

Why wouldn't we fire the firm who hired the employee and show the same zero tolerance for protecting our Federal employees

I think we ought to show the same zero tolerance.

The overwhelming concern that I have... is just the country's awareness of this as a real threat.