mr. speaker , once again , it is an honor to come before the house of representatives ; and , also , we would like to thank the gentlewoman from california ( ms. pelosi ) xz4003140 , the democratic leader ; and also the gentleman from maryland ( mr. hoyer ) xz4001890 , the whip ; and the gentleman from new jersey ( mr. menendez ) xz4002720 , the caucus chairman ; and the gentleman from south carolina ( mr. clyburn ) xz4000750 who is our vice chair , and all of the hardworking members of this congress . 
i think it is important for us to remember , and i think in a few short minutes the president will address the country from new orleans and the french quarter , about the federal commitment to the hurricane-devastated areas . 
he will be in louisiana , but i would assume he will also be addressing mississippi , alabama and some of the other surrounding areas that were affected by katrina . 
i will tell you , mr. speaker , that i think it is important that we look at the contrast of what exactly the federal commitment will be . 
there has been a lot of words , a lot of federal jet fuel burned of the president and the vice president going down to the affected area . 
there has been a lack of organized congressional visits for us to even understand what those people are going through in the south . 
we are going to be talking a little bit about , the 30 something working group , the federal commitment and the response not only to rescue and recovery but also the response to a national tragedy . 
there have been some good statements and some very disturbing statements , and i think the members need to realize what has been said , what has been done and what has not been done . 
i think it is important , if we are going to follow through on some of these statements that have been made here on this floor , if we are going to follow through on what the president would say tonight in another 20 minutes to the country , are we going to be here for the long haul or are we going to give the people affected in the south what we call here in washington , d.c. , the potomac two-step ? 
are we going to try to ride this media cycle out ? 
are we going to allow big-time contractors to go down , make a bucket of money on the back of tragedy and cut the wages for those very same people that were victims ? 
are we going to allow that to happen ? 
are we going to allow this house , in a vote that we took today , that i voted against , not that i am not in solidarity of the reason why we wanted to put together a select committee of the oversight of what happened in hurricane katrina , but the fact that the people of the south are not getting what the 9/11 families got and the american people got after 9/11 . 
so there is a reason i think why we are heading off , and there are strange votes that are taking place . 
we say we do not want to politicize the process , but we step out on politics . 
we say we want to get to the truth , either it be city or parish or state or federal government , but , better yet , we take congressional action that does not even carry the language to allow us to get to the truth , does not have the bipartisan not only flavor but bipartisan language . 
if we are going to do something in the congress to find out where government failed , where nonprofit failed and not have a 50-50 relationship with the majority side to be able to get to the truth , we are going to see partisan votes on that select committee . 
i stand with the democratic leader and i know many of the 30 something working group stand with the democratic leader as it makes to not even making an announcement now , even if we are going to appoint members to that select committee because i will tell you 710 lives that have been lost . 
better yet , we are going to appoint a committee just like it is regular business here in the congress . 
also , the largest supplemental , i must add , in the history of the congress and this country , outside of a war supplemental . 
some are saying it will go to $ 200 billion . 
well , if it goes to $ 200 billion , what will be the federal commitment in the end ? 
a , we know the people that will be working in the rebuilding process that are victims of this hurricane will not receive the prevailing wage because davis-bacon has been waived . 
they will not receive what other federal contractors will receive using federal money . 
we know that from the beginning . 
we are going to shortchange them from the beginning . 
we know they need money to rebuild , yet we are going to do that . 
the whole issue , when it comes right down to it , i say to my colleague from ohio , is that the federal commitment is about tomorrow , a national day of prayer over at the cathedral , and that is fine , we can pray for them . 
but we are the congress . 
we are supposed to act on behalf of those individuals that can not stand for themselves . 
so i want to come out tonight and say that individuals that are in the affected area , i believe the country needs to rally around them and demand a 9/11-like commission . 
we are going to let politicians stand in judgment of politicians ? 
we are going to let a majority party stand in judgment of the majority in the executive branch ? 
the same party that says , oh , we will get to the bottom of this , even if it is embarrassing ? 
well , people have lost their lives , yet we are going to sit around here as though it is another day at the office ? 
i think not . 
there are individuals right now that have mold in their homes , and individuals right now that still do not have even the simple opportunity to bury their dead . 
there are children right now that are lost in the hundreds , and yet it is just another day at the office ? 
excuse me , but i have a problem with that . 
over in the other body across the hall yesterday there was a vote that went down on a partisan party line . 
one individual from the state , one of the affected states , did not even vote on the amendment , and that amendment called for , down to the last sentence , a 9/11-like commission . 
it is very , very unfortunate that partisan politics has found its way into this national tragedy . 
the only reason why this congress is getting away with it is the fact that these individuals who have lost their lives are poor . 
the individuals ' homes that are still under water are poor . 
that is the reason why . 
so who are we , as a country , to go somewhere else and start talking about what other people should be doing when we are not doing it ? 
now , i am not saying the american people are not doing it . 
i am saying the leadership here in this congress is not doing it . 
and if they can sleep well by doing that , so be it . 
but i will say this , that i believe the american spirit will rise on behalf of these individuals who are living in shelters right now and who do not even know what is happening to them . 
i think the reason why people are saying , well , we are moving expeditiously and we are trying to do this , that and the other , and we want to make sure people get accountability , is that these are poor individuals , who , by the way , work every day but who may not have the education that the brokers and the stock folks and all of those folks had in 9/11 . 
now , i supported that 9/11 commission , and we are better because of it . 
we are better because there was a 9/11 commission . 
there were families that came to this congress . 
it was not the first idea of the congress or the administration to have a 9/11 commission , but thank god that those family members on behalf of their families who had lost their lives took whatever money they had , came to this congress and made it happen . 
the only difference between the 9/11 families and these families down south is the fact they had a little more money and had a little more influence . 
and god bless them for having it . 
but i will say right now , mr. speaker and my colleagues , that we have to stand for these individuals that can not stand for themselves . 
that is why we are here . 
we are not here to represent the haves and haves more ; we are here to represent the individuals that can not afford to come here . 
we are here to represent those who got up early one tuesday morning voting for representation so that they would be represented in this house , so that democrats and republicans alike would be represented in this house and independents would be represented and those that are too young to vote would be represented . 
we come here and stand as though it is business as usual while the body count still goes up , the death toll and the misery . 
so i do not know how long this media cycle is going to go on . 
i just do not know . 
i do not know how long the press will stick with this issue to keep it in the forefront , but we can not leave these individuals behind . 
we have to be resilient ; and we have to make sure , even if it costs criticism from individuals who may say , well , what do you want us to do ? 
we want you to do the right thing . 
we want you to pass a resolution that has some teeth in it . 
mr. speaker , this resolution 437 is a select committee that we can not even get people to come and talk to us . 
we have to ask them to come talk to us . 
so i say to my colleague that this is going to be one of those things , like the committee on ways and means , with partisan votes up and down ; like the committee on armed services , partisan votes up and down ; like the committee on appropriations , partisan votes along party lines . 
we can not allow that to happen . 
