Kerry on Recovery for Katrina & Rita: Promises Made, Promises Not Kept

[kerrygoddess]

John Kerry on Recovery Efforts for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Promises Made, Promises Not Kept
May 12th, 2006 @ 11:48 am

As I reported here earlier, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported today that John Kerry was due to speak on the Senate floor, and “follow up on his promise last week, to “raise the roof” about the complaints he heard during his recent visit to New Orleans.” Today, some eight months after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, John Kerry called on Washington to act on the promises made, and not kept.

The following is a statement from John Kerry, Ranking Member on the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, as prepared for delivery today on the Senate floor:

Mr. President, last Friday, May 5th, I took my second trip to Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina, I wanted to see the recovery effort up close now that we’re eight and a half months into the process. Senator Landrieu has worked tirelessly to help rebuild the city she grew up in, and she took me around New Orleans East before we sat down to hear first hand accounts of the challenges small business owners are facing eight months after the storm.

We have all heard the statistics: Before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Louisiana had 86,000 small businesses employing more than 850,000 people and contributing $22 billion to the local economy. Of those, 71,000 were in the disaster zones and nearly 20,000 were catastrophically destroyed. More than 365,000 residents were left homeless.

But those statistics don’t tell the story of what’s happening to New Orleans today.


MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=2962

Kerry: Lag in Aid Extends Crisis in New Orleans
May 12th, 2006 @ 4:30 am

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that John Kerry “fears that problems are festering” in New Orleans. Kerry will be following up on his promise last week, to “raise the roof” about the complaints he heard during his recent visit to New Orleans, about the slow federal response to Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.

Sen. John Kerry will tell colleagues today that he is “stunned by how little is happening compared to how much more must be done.”

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=2956

[karynnj]

1. Thanks KG

I missed this speech. This speech is absolutely wonderful. It is so intensely personal. I wonder what it will take for Republican Senators and Congressmen to realize how wrong this is. The Bush counters really fall short. That they are arguing by the number of times Bush visited shows how weak there case is. That kind of fixes nothing.