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US Congress sending $10.5B in relief aid
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-02 08:44
US Congress rushed to provide a $10.5 billion down payment in relief aid for
Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina on Thursday as President Bush ordered
new action to minimize disruptions in the nation's energy supplies, AP reported.
"Don't buy gas if you don't need it," he urged consumers already hit by
sharply rising prices.
Amid lawlessness in flooded, chaotic New Orleans, Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff announced plans to deploy 1,400 additional National Guard
personnel each day for the next several days.
"Frankly, what we're doing is we are putting probably more than we need in
order to send an unambiguous message that we will not tolerate lawlessness or
violence or interference with the evacuation," he said.
Despite fresh pledges of help from Bush and other officials, there were
stirrings of discontent from officials over the administration's response to the
storm.
In this image from video released by ABC News,
US President Bush is shown during a live interview at the White House with
Diane Sawyer Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005, on Good Morning America about relief
efforts for the Gulf Coast and the destruction caused by Hurricane
Katrina. [AP] | Katrina roared ashore on Monday, claiming lives and spreading destruction
along the Gulf Coast. Breaks in New Orleans' levees left the city defenseless
against disastrous flooding.
"This is a national emergency. This is a national disgrace," said Terry
Ebbert, the head of emergency operations for New Orleans. He said it had taken
too long to evacuate the Superdome, a sports complex that quickly became a
squalid shelter for tens of thousands of storm refugees.
"FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control," he
said, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "We can send massive
amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New
Orleans."
Bush, who intends to visit the devastated area on Friday, expressed sympathy
with the victims. "I know this is an agonizing time. ... I ask their continued
patience as recovery operations unfold," he said.
Congressional officials said $10 billion in relief aid would go to FEMA, the
government's first-line defender in case of natural disasters. The remainder is
ticketed for the Pentagon, which has dispatched ships and other assistance to
aid in the relief effort.
With the Republican-controlled Congress officially on vacation, top leaders
said they would pass the relief measure without waiting for lawmakers to return
to the Capitol. Instead, they announced the money would be cleared — by Friday —
without the formality of a vote, as is often the case on non-controversial
measures.
"America stood with New York in its time of need and we will stand with the
people of the Gulf states now that they need us," said Sen. Charles Schumer.
Bush, too, referred to the destruction wrought in New York by the terror
attacks of four years ago. "New Orleans is more devastated than New York was and
just physically devastated, as is the coast of Mississippi," he said in an
interview with ABC.
Republican Sen. Thad Cochran, whose home state of Mississippi was hard-hit by
the hurricane, said the $10 billion would be the first of at least three bills
to help with relief and recovery.
"Over half a billion dollars a day is being spent by FEMA," said Cochran, who
is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
While Republican leaders jointly announced plans to rush the spending bill to
the president for his signature, Speaker Dennis Hastert expressed some
misgivings over a longer-term rebuilding effort in a newspaper interview
published during the day in his home state.
Asked in an interview with the Daily Herald, a suburban Chicago paper,
whether it made sense to spend billions rebuilding a city that lies below sea
level, he replied, "I don't know. That doesn't make sense to me."
While expressing sympathy with victims of the storm, he said there needs to
be a second look at rebuilding efforts. "But you know we build Los Angeles and
San Francisco on top of earthquake fissures and they rebuild, too.
Stubbornness," he added in the interview, which occurred on Wednesday.
Hastert sought to clarify his comments during the day, issuing a statement
that said, "It is important that when we rebuild this historic city that we
consider the safety of the citizens first."
"I am not advocating that the city be abandoned or relocated," he said. "My
comments about rebuilding the city were intended to reflect my sincere concern
with how the city is rebuilt to ensure the future protection of its citizens."
Bush, meanwhile, kept to a schedule salted with meetings designed to project
the image of a leader responding to a challenge.
In addition to his ABC interview, he announced he was asking his two
immediate predecessors to head an appeal for public donations to help hurricane
victims. The two men, his father, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, performed
a similar role in the wake of the tsunami that struck nations along the Indian
Ocean last year.
The president also conferred by telephone with congressional leaders and had
lunch with Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan for what aides said was a
discussion of the hurricane's potential impact on the economy and the energy
supply.
Talking to reporters, he said the administration was working to restore
pipeline capacity to the Gulf Coast, and said he expects a "temporary disruption
of gasoline."
"Steps we're taking will help address the problem of availability (of
gasoline), but it's not going to solve it," he said. "Americans should be
prudent in their use of energy over the course of the next few weeks. Don't buy
gas if you don't need it."
Even Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cut short a vacation to New York to
be available in Washington.
Bush said he had directed Chertoff to temporarily lift a ban on the use of
foreign ships for distributing oil and gas between U.S. ports. "There are
currently not enough American ships" to handle the demand, he said.
Bernanke put the hurricane-related increase in gasoline prices at 65 cents a
gallon, largely the result of refinery and pipeline shutdowns. "It could be high
for a few weeks, it could be high for a few months," he said.
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