FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 28, 2006
Contact: In DC - Brandon MacGillis (202) 225-4431
In CO - Chris Arend (303) 844-4988 

 
 New Orleans, LA – U.S. Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) released the following statement on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  The Congresswoman is part of the Democratic Congressional Delegation currently touring the Gulf States affected by the hurricane.
 

“One year ago today, we watched in horror as Katrina bore down on the Gulf and laid waste to an entire region.  Yet as horrific as this storm was, what came next was in many ways worse.  Who can forget the thousands of people stranded in New Orleans, waving from roof tops, wading though polluted water and left stranded at the Convention Center and the Super Dome. 

“Katrina not only decimated the Gulf Coast, but it also shattered any illusion that President Bush was a capable leader.

“The Administration’s immediate response to Katrina was marked by chaos, confusion and gross incompetence.  The Federal Government left thousands of people stranded in New Orleans for days without basic services or even food and water.  The response to Katrina became a great shame for our nation.

“In the aftermath of this disaster, President Bush tried to restore people’s confidence in his Administration by making many promises of support to the desperate residents of the region.  Sadly today, most of those promises have proven to be hollow.  Thousands of families are still waiting on FEMA trailers, most homeowners are still waiting on federal loans, less than half of the public schools will open this fall and only three hospitals in New Orleans have re-opened.  Nearly a year after Hurricane Katrina, the state of health care in New Orleans is appalling.  There are shortages of doctors, nurses and hospital beds.  I will keep fighting for health coverage for Louisiana families, particularly the children of Katrina.

“While Katrina was not only a natural disaster, the aftermath was a man made one that exposed many ugly truths about how we treat our nation’s least fortunate.  I was ashamed at the Federal Government’s response then and, sadly, I am still ashamed one year later.  We must do better.”

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