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Bayou BuzzWASHINGTON – Three Senate chairmen today asked the State Department for an update on its efforts to reform its methods for receiving and managing international aid following domestic disasters. In a joint letter, Senators Joseph R. Biden, Jr., D-Del., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., requested that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice provide a status report addressing ten specific concerns no later than June 28, 2007.
“As you know, the Department of State’s responsibility is not limited solely to advancing our nation’s interests abroad,” the Senators wrote. “Its duty extends to representing the American people to the international community when the interests in question are right here at home.”
The Washington Post reported earlier this year that the United States turned down $854 million in offers of foreign assistance from 151 countries following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the devastating failure of the federal levee system. According to the April 29 article, only $126.4 was accepted.
“The hurricanes of 2005 united the world in a spirit of goodwill for Americans rebuilding their lives along our Gulf Coast,” the Senators wrote. “This spirit should not be laid to waste, and should another disaster tragically befall our nation, we must do better to ensure that such helping hands are not unjustifiably turned away again.”
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http://www.bayoubuzz.com/News/US/Politics/US_Senators_Ask_Condoleeza_Rice_For_Report_On_Disaster_Giving__4025.asp