Sen. Landrieu Responds to the President's Budget Release
February 6, 2006
U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., responded to the President's release today of his Fiscal Year 2007 Budget proposal.
Sen. Landrieu said:
"It has been said that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The White House budget proposal today reflects an administration that has still not learned from its dysfunctional response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the levee breaks that followed.
"Little is proposed to improve upon the organizational deficiencies of agencies like FEMA, whose mismanagement stood at the heart of our federal government's failings. Further, assistance to our nation's first responders, civil engineering projects to protect and restore our coasts, and programs to help devastated communities recover, already under-funded before, now continue to be so - and continue to undermine our preparedness for the next catastrophe.
"My team and I are currently scouring the proposal for indications that the Administration has absorbed any substantive lessons from the hurricanes' aftermath, and regret to say there is very little to report. It appears that a long fight remains ahead to ensure that our tax dollars are committed to protecting our nation and its citizens, and are not wasted on dysfunctional bureaucracies."