Angie Craig: “for the last few minutes, I have listened with great interest to the Senator from Iowa reading a diary of the experience…”

“for the last few minutes, I have listened with great interest to the Senator from Iowa reading a diary of the experience of a dedicated volunteer, obviously, to help out with Katrina victims in Louisiana and Mississippi. I found it most fascinating and also most frustrating, as I think the Senator did and certainly the person involved. I want to also say ``happy birthday'' to Barbara Grassley. I hope the Senator will communicate that to her. My wife Suzanne and I know Barbara and Chuck well, and I extend a ``happy birthday'' from the Craig family to Barbara. While I was home in Idaho this past week, like many of us who were in our home States, I held a series of town meetings across the State. The most often asked question at those open town meeting forums was about deficit spending and the cost of Katrina and the overall concern Idahoans have about Katrina and Katrina victims. As the Senator from Iowa spoke, it is so true of Idaho and other States across the Nation where tremendous voluntary efforts have poured out in behalf of the citizens of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. They have gone through these literally catastrophic experiences of a magnitude that none of us certainly in Idaho have every experienced. While that concern is real and the voluntary and contributive effort is of a record like none we have ever seen in our country, I truly believe there is a growing concern about the wise and responsible and careful use of the tax dollars.…”