mr. speaker , i thank the gentlewoman from new york ( ms. slaughter )  , the distinguished ranking democratic member on the house committee on rules , for yielding me this time .  a footnote right there , mr. speaker .  i hope the irony is not lost on the house that the gentlewoman , a new york member , is being lectured to about homeland security issues and why there is no need for an independent katrina commission .  new yorkers were told 3 and 4 years ago that there was no need for an independent commission on 9/11 .  i note peripherally that the distinguished chairman of the committee on rules has other business and has left the floor ; but i was prepared to ask him , and perhaps his replacement in the chair for the majority can answer for me , what did the house of representatives do in the last 3 years with reference to the tragedy of 9/11 ?  what we wound up doing , because the victims and new york pressed forward , was establishing an independent commission .  the chairman pontificates that we should exercise our constitutional mandate ; and so does his replacement , my friend and colleague on the committee on rules , say what our constitutional duty is .  every one of us is mindful of our constitutional duty .  but are you then prepared to admit that we did not exercise it correctly in the 9/11 commission period and that is why the 9/11 commission came into existence in the first place ?  last year , as we all know , four hurricanes ravaged my home state of florida and some of the gulf coast .  three of them literally destroyed parts of the district that i am privileged to represent .  in the immediate and long-term aftermath , our communities saw fema 's shortcomings .  we saw that a once-reliable agency had been placed on the back burner as an afterthought in the department of homeland security .  natural disaster preparedness and response programs have become trapped in a homeland security bureaucracy .  fema has lost its focus , and floridians and others know that .  our delegation literally begged the committees of jurisdiction to hold hearings on what we saw in florida .  i even introduced bipartisan legislation in march with our colleague on the majority side , the gentleman from florida ( mr. shaw )  , to address what we perceived to be fema 's largest problems .  yet every time we took our concerns to the committees , we were told it is not a big enough problem to consider on its own .  our staff was told we do not think that an oversight hearing is needed .  well , mr. speaker , what america saw in the gulf coast resembles the federal government 's absolute incompetence that florida saw last year .  despite a whole lot of lip service , nothing has changed .  the 9/11 commission was created to provide a full and complete accounting of the 2001 terrorist attacks .  implicit in this mandate is the simple fact that congress alone would not or could not provide such a full and complete accounting .  there is no reason to expect that the republican katrina commission will do any better .  that is why i and the gentleman from new jersey ( mr. menendez )  and 156 of our colleagues yesterday introduced h.r. 3764 , legislation establishing a real independent commission , immune from political influence and absolute partisanship .  and while they can not officially cosponsor our bill , a significant part , 76 percent , of the american people agree with us .  they question this congress ' ability to exercise real oversight and are calling for an independent and bipartisan katrina commission .  supporting the american people 's concerns , you , mr. speaker , said at one point , and i quote , `` our party controls the levers of government .  we 're not about to go and look beneath a bunch of rocks to try to cause heartburn. '' put another way , mr. speaker : we helped create this mess , and we are not going to be able to investigate it ourselves .  so forgive me , mr. speaker , if i question the majority 's ability to conduct effective oversight with this type of political candor .  substantively , the republican plan is partisan .  and because my colleagues say it is bipartisan does not make it so .  it is inadequate .  in stark contrast to the 9/11 commission , republicans outnumber democrats on the majority 's partisan katrina commission .  in contrast to the 9/11 commission , which was given 18 months to do its job , the majority 's partisan katrina commission is only given 5 months .  as the chairman put it last night , do it quick , do it fast .  quickly , he said .  despite the 9/11 commission 's $ 15 million budget to do its job , the majority 's commission they propose is only given $ 500 , 000 .  footnote right there .  what about the committees of jurisdiction already in existence in congress ?  and what about creating a circus atmosphere that drains resources from this congress do you not understand ?  shamefully , the house will not have an opportunity to vote on the hastings-menendez independent katrina commission legislation , because republicans have blocked us from offering it .  just as they always do , republicans block what they can not defeat .  despite what republicans will suggest , today 's debate is not about politics .  it is about the need for truth to assure the american people that we all know their needs .  for my constituents , it is about the failures of this congress , and for others it is about the failures in new orleans and in the states and at the federal government .  it is about saving lives and rebuilding communities .  