| Washington, DC – Congressman Bill Shuster has been selected by Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert to serve on the select committee investigating the response to Hurricane Katrina and playing a leading role in Congress’ relief and funding efforts.
“I am excited to be on this committee and I am prepared to ask the tough questions that get answers and better prepare us for future disasters,” said Shuster.
“This investigative team, put together by Speaker Hastert and leadership, will perform a top-down and bottom-up review of the entire emergency response – including local, state and federal,” said Shuster, who is representing the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on the Katrina panel. “Hurricane Katrina caused unprecedented destruction to the Gulf Coast region and I saw how unimaginable it really is during my trip to the region on Sunday. I have heard a lot of knee-jerk reactions and seen a lot of finger pointing, but the focus needs to be on helping the victims, making smart policy decisions during the relief efforts and preparing our officials at all levels for future disasters.”
The 20-member bipartisan panel was put together to investigate the preparation and response by all levels of government before, during and following Hurricane Katrina. The committee will hold hearings, examine witnesses and has subpoena power.
Shuster is the chairman of the subcommittee that oversees emergency management and economic development. He will play an important role as the sole representative from the Transportation Committee. Shuster is the most junior member of this select committee.
There is a similar committee in the Senate and the two panels will work together to get a full understanding of what went wrong and how to better prepare for the future. The House panel will report its findings no later than February 15, 2006. The select panel was established by House Resolution 437. |
