Marcy Kaptur: “we here in the Congress have just returned to conduct the Nation's business, and our hearts are with the families and…”

“we here in the Congress have just returned to conduct the Nation's business, and our hearts are with the families and individuals who have lost loved ones and are scattered across this country as a result of the terrible, terrible devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The House of Representatives this evening met with the President's Cabinet for nearly 3 hours, and this evening I would like to address concerns regarding how the institutions of this Nation failed the American people and what can be done about it as we try to heal as a Nation and thank those who are extending their compassion and assistance and to try to give strength to those who have suffered so much. There is not a single American who does not feel just horrible about what has happened, and we in the Congress bear responsibility, as does this administration, for the response and its shortcomings. There is a story today in the Wall Street Journal entitled: ``Behind Poor Katrina Response, a Long Chain of Weak Links.'' I would like to enter that into the Record and read from a key section of that article that talks about what went wrong. {time} 2245 Number one, the absorption of the Federal Emergency Management Agency into the gargantuan and terrorism-focused Department of Homeland Security, which I voted against as a Member of this Congress over 2 years ago; I served on the Committee on Appropriations where FEMA came before us.…”