releases: https://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/barbara-lees-statement-in-response-to-president-bushs-speech-on-hurricane-katrina
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
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| https://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/barbara-lees-statement-in-response-to-president-bushs-speech-on-hurricane-katrina | Barbara Lee's Statement in Response to President Bush's Speech on Hurricane Katrina | 2005-09-14 | 2005 | 2005-09 | Democrat | House | CA | Barbara Lee | L000551 | lee.house.gov | legacy | 09.14.05 Barbara Lee's Statement in Response to President Bush's Speech on Hurricane Katrina (Washington, DC) Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) issued the following statement in response to President Bush's speech about relief and reconstruction efforts in the wake of hurricane Katrina: "I am glad that the President has indicated that he will commit significant federal resources to rebuilding the Gulf Coast. "However, if the President means to make good on his commitment to take responsibility' for his administration's failures in responding to Katrina, then he must demonstrate an equal commitment to tackling the systematic problems of poverty and institutional racism that contributed to the magnitude of this tragedy. "The problem with the administration's response was not simply the failure to react to the hurricane in a coherent or competent manner. It was the tragic, longstanding failure to acknowledge the massive structural crisis that poverty and inequality pose for our nation and the stubborn refusal to conceive of any constructive role for our government in addressing it. "Americans have shown enormous generosity and courage in responding to this tragedy, and we are committed to rebuilding America as one country. Katrina revealed how different our fates can be, depending on our means and the color of our skins. This moment should galvanize us the way 9/11 did, and we should be recommitting ourselves to making America a united country, where everyone has a genuine chance of achieving the American dream. "Unfortunately, the President has given no indication that he committed to doing the work to create such a united America, and without a commitment to address systematic problems of poverty and inequality, I fear that all the federally funded reconstruction will be built on a rotten foundation." ### Next Article | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |