Taking Steps to Protect Hurricane Victims from Price Gouging & Bankruptcy

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http://www.conyersblog.us/archives/00000227.htm

Taking Steps to Protect Hurricane Victims from Price Gouging and Bankruptcy

When Congress returns next week, I am planning to introduce several important bills. First, I plan to introduce legislation explicitly giving the federal government authority to pursue price gouging actions -- price gouging is a national problem, and it warrants a national response. Second, I am introducing a law to amend the Bankruptcy Code so that the most onerous provisions of the new law, scheduled to take effect October 17, do not inflict damage on the millions of victims of Hurricane Katrina and their families. Rawstory has the story on these bills.

What we have before us is an unvarnished human catastrophe, and it will require an unprecedented national effort to save lives and rebuild. There is no sugarcoating how we got here. There is little doubt the Administration has underfunded flood protection in New Orleans. There is little doubt FEMA and the military not only did not prepare adequately for the likelihood of flooding in a city below sea level that is in a hurricane prone area. There is little doubt that even after the Hurricane hit, our government was slow and unimaginative in its response.

While we will need to study those mistakes at some point, the task before us today is alleviating the ongoing hardship we see every day. At some point the president will also need to reevaluate the individuals he has placed in charge of FEMA. Clearly, it is unacceptable to have a director who is unaware that the New Orleans Convention Center is being used to house hurricane victims, and a deputy director who asserts that FEMA’s performance is "probably one of the most efficient and effective responses in the country’s history."

Our nation can and must do better for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Blogged by JC on 09.02.05 @ 06:57 PM ET

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1. 9/3 update

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2060926&mesg_id=2060926