mr. speaker , i thank the gentlewoman for yielding me time .  my heart and the hearts of those i represent are with all who have been devastated by hurricane katrina .  we know a bit about what it is like to have devastating loss in a flood .  the city of grand forks flooded in 1997 .  fifty-seven thousand people were evacuated , but the federal response was immediate and lives were saved .  here , the federal response failed and lives were lost .  we need to know why .  this is about learning what happened so it never happens again ; and no republican controlled , no congressional , partisan hearing process could ever get to the bottom of it .  we need an independent commission .  it literally is a matter of life and death , no partisan whitewash .  we need an independent commission so we learn what happened so it never happens again .  lives are at stake .  