John Kerry: “in the 15 months since Hurricane Katrina decimated gulf coast communities, Senators Snowe, Landrieu, Vitter, and I have…”

“in the 15 months since Hurricane Katrina decimated gulf coast communities, Senators Snowe, Landrieu, Vitter, and I have worked to produce a comprehensive package to reform the SBA's disaster loan program. The SBA's failed response in a time of unmatched need demonstrated to everyone that this program is broken and needs fixing. Immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit, I introduced an amendment with Senator Landrieu to the fiscal year 2006 Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill to address the needs of gulf region small business and homeowners. The amendment was adapted with input from Chair Snowe, and a subsequent bipartisan amendment passed the Senate with a vote of 96 to 0. Although the entire Senate supported the amendment, it was stripped out of the bill conference. On September 30, 2005, I again worked with Chair Snowe and Senators Landrieu and Vitter to introduce the Small Business Hurricane Relief and Reconstruction Act of 2006, S. 1807. Although this bill presented a bipartisan, comprehensive approach to hurricane relief, it stalled in the face of the Administration's opposition.”