Max Baucus: “traveling down to the gulf coast region last week, I saw firsthand the havoc that Hurricane Katrina had wreaked. As…”

“traveling down to the gulf coast region last week, I saw firsthand the havoc that Hurricane Katrina had wreaked. As colleagues who have been down there know, in many places, it is stunning. It is like a war zone. It is worse than the pictures. At one stop, we went into what was left of a library. Muck and ruin covered books and other library materials. One shiny object caught my eye and I picked up. It was a DVD of the film, ``The Perfect Storm.'' The victims of Katrina have many immediate needs. The legislation that we pass today will address four of them. One, they need cash. And they need it fast. Two, they need jobs. Three, they need housing. And four, charities need help from Congress so they can help the victims of the hurricane. I am pleased that Congress could come together and act quickly on this emergency tax relief to address those needs. First, victims of Katrina need immediate access to cash. The working poor should not lose government benefits that they currently receive. These benefits are an important supplement to low-income working families. A prolonged change in their living situation could affect their eligibility for these benefits, such as the earned income credit and the child tax credit. This bill will allow displaced individuals to use their 2004 income to calculate benefits on their 2005 tax return.…”