José E. Serrano: “let me thank the gentleman that he brought this week this issue up again and again. I think it is very courageous on his…”

“let me thank the gentleman that he brought this week this issue up again and again. I think it is very courageous on his part and very profound. Secondly, as far as the World Series goes, it is true that the Yankees and the Marlins are not in it, I also noted that you took our bench coach, our assistant coach, as your new manager so you will do better in the future. One of the issues that come to mind as I was watching the gentleman, as we know, this is transmitted live on television, I am wondering if the folks who are watching us today were also the same folks perhaps that watched the victims of Hurricane Katrina as that national tragedy hit us. Regardless of whether you felt it was a State or local responsibility or a joint responsibility with the Federal Government or whether you think we as a Nation failed or not, those images are in your head. Now you see this discussion. What is this discussion about and how do I see it? We all tend to come have the same feeling but we come to the table with perhaps slightly different views. My concern is, as a member of the Committee on Appropriations, is that in the appropriations process we have the ability to declare an emergency. An emergency means just that.…”