This just in from the minority leader of Congress - who happens to be my congress person. But voted for the Iraq war. Still nothing in the media in this country.
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi
September 9, 2005
Dear Friend,
This week, House Democrats worked to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Today I joined Representatives Gene Green, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Al Green on Friday at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston to meet with victims of Hurricane Katrina. We thank the communities that have welcomed evacuees into their communities. House Democrats are doing our part by working to cut red tape so we can give these Americans the help they need to begin rebuilding their lives.
Learn more about assisting the victims of Hurricane Katrina at
http://www.house.gov/pelosi/hurricanerelief.html.
For more than a week I have said the federal response must be managed by a capable leader and that Michael Brown should be removed as the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Finally, President Bush today removed Mr. Brown from managing the disaster relief effort and replaced him with Admiral Allen, an emergency response professional.
However, President Bush yesterday continued his efforts to undermine workers' rights when he removed federal wage requirements in areas devastated by the hurricane. His executive order rescinded the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires federal contractors to pay workers wages that are at least equal to the prevailing wages in the area where the work is conducted. Now, employers receiving disaster assistance money can pay unfair wages to workers returning to the Gulf Coast. Now is a time to come together to rebuild and restore, not undo years of hard-won workers rights.
Also this week, the Majority in Congress was less than responsive. Last Wednesday, I urged the Speaker of the House to call a special session of Congress to help the victims of this disaster, something he initially refused to do.
Read the request to the Speaker of the House for a special session of Congress at
http://www.house.gov/pelosi/press/re.../katrina2.html.
I then called on the Speaker to immediately set up a Select Hurricane Relief Task Force to address the emergency assistance and recovery needs of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and to investigate why the initial response fell so far short. Unfortunately, Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist chose not to create a Task Force that would give Democrats an equal number of seats at the table. This partisan proposal will not result in the objective assessment of what went wrong during the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina.
Read more about the partisan panel proposed by the Majority in Congress at
http://www.house.gov/pelosi/press/re...ommission.html.
Please feel free to forward this information to your family and friends. To learn more about my work in Congress, to express your views, or to sign up for email updates, visit
http://www.house.gov/pelosi.
Sincerely,
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Member of Congress
U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi
2371 Rayburn HOB, Washington, D.C. 20515
Telephone: (202) 225-4965
Email:
pelosi.updates@mail.house.gov
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