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The article reports that the U.S. House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee demanded an accounting from administration officials of approximately $20 billion already dished out by the Homeland Security Department. Panel members also expressed concern about the ability of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cope with the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The Senate is expected to take up the House-Senate Conference agreement on October 7, 2005. Lawmakers allocated most of the funding for border security and preventing weapons of mass destruction from entering the country.

This article focuses on financial aspects of the disaster relief system of the U.S. revealed after the occurrence of Hurricane Katrina and Rita. The federal fiscal policy has increasingly employed budget-busting emergency spending bills coupled with ideologically driven tax cuts that together have propelled the national debt to astronomical levels. The debt owed by American taxpayers is likely to reach $8 billion when the fiscal year ends at midnight Friday. Of that sum, about 22 percent is owed to foreign creditors such as China, another 40 percent is owed by one arm of government to another and the rest is in private hands. Senate Budget Chairman Judd Gregg remarked earlier this month that the administration is preparing to ask for another $50 billion, on top of the $62 billion already approved with as much as $40 billion to $65 billion still to come.

This article reports that the independent 9/11 Commission in the U.S. is expected today to assign poor to average marks for the administration's efforts to improve the federal government's preparedness and response to national emergencies. Although mindful of the response to Hurricane Katrina, the panel plans to issue a report card based on its analysis over the summer of the government's actions to implement the 41 recommendations it made in its final report. This comes a day after some lawmakers and U.S. President George W. Bush himself conceded that the hurricane exposed their failure to strengthen the government's emergency response capabilities. The commission issued a statement Friday asserting the government might have responded faster to Hurricane Katrina if Congress and Bush had addressed specific proposals.

This article reports that U.S. lawmakers approved a $51.8 billion emergency aid package, as Republican leaders in both chambers were preparing to formally announce as early as today a delay of budget reconciliation deadlines to give the Congress even more time to focus on Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. The Senate approved the aid package Thursday night, 97-0, following House passage earlier in the day, 410-11. Conservatives in both chambers argued that the money should have been offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget. The Katrina relief package, the second, brings total aid appropriated to $62.3 billion; another request will be arriving in the coming weeks.

The article reports that House and Senate Republicans shoved their tax cut agenda into the background as they focused on emergency legislation designed to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina. But key Republicans still expect to act on $70 billion in tax cuts protected under reconciliation at some point in the coming weeks. The House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees have been operating under a September 23 deadline to produce tax cuts totaling $70 billion that would be protected from filibuster under reconciliation rules.

The article reports that U.S. President George W. Bush formally submitted his request for an additional $51.8 billion in emergency funds for the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort--and signaled further aid will be forthcoming--beyond the $10.5 billion Congress appropriated as a down payment last week. The $50 billion included in this latest request for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) brings to more than $60 billion the total requested so far, and Bush asked for the ability to transfer $100 million to FEMA's National Disaster Medical System to provide immediate hospital care for hurricane victims.

This article reports that the U.S. federal government is asking more than 7,600 Floridians in 60 counties to return $30.3 million in emergency hurricane aid dispensed last year when a record four hurricanes slammed the state. Most of the payments the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) wants back stem from cases in which insurance settlements were reached after the government aid was doled out. By law, FEMA cannot duplicate insurance coverage. Residents there are being asked to return $3.7 million. In Palm Beach County, FEMA is seeking nearly $3.4 million. In a small number of cases, FEMA wants to recoup money because of processing errors or duplicate approval of funds.

This article reports that Michael Brown, the ousted director of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, blamed Louisiana officials for the government's tardy response to Hurricane Katrina. His biggest mistake was not recognizing by August 27, 2005, that Louisiana was dysfunctional, Brown said at a U.S. House select committee hearing on the matter. Brown was pulled from the Gulf Coast region on September 9 and resigned three days later. Brown said the decision by Governor Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin not to evacuate the area until August 28--the day before Katrina struck--was the tipping point for all the other things that went wrong or disintegrated.

The article reports that U.S. President George W. Bush has made plans to fly to Texas on Friday to review the preparations for Hurricane Rita, which is expected to hit the state's Gulf Coast by Saturday. The U.S. Department of Defense and other Federal agencies are continuing to gear up for Rita, reflecting the Federal government's efforts to avoid criticism that it once again was too slow to respond to an impending disaster.

This article reports that the for-profit hospitals in the U.S. are hoping that the federal largesse being extended in the wake of Hurricane Katrina will include them. Louisiana lawmakers are already lining up to support a change the industry has long sought, making for-profit facilities eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief under a 1974 law that provides for the rebuilding of hospitals. The for-profit hospital industry, led by its trade association, the Federation of American Hospitals, tried in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, to change the Stafford law.

This article reports that the U.S. House approved two bills extending disaster relief employment and student financial aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina. One bill, sponsored by Representative Charles Boustany, would authorize the Labor Department to make National Emergency Grant (NEG) payments to displaced workers located outside the hurricane disaster area. It also permits previously awarded NEG funds to be used wherever needed, allows workers to get public sector jobs not directly related to the disaster and expands eligibility to those workers who were unemployed or have no prior work history. The second bill, sponsored by Representative John Kline, extends for two years through September 30, 2007, the authority of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to waive requirements of student financial assistance for students dislocated by the hurricane.

This article reports that as members of the U.S. Congress clamor for tough oversight of the federal response to hurricane Katrina, a number of states are testing and evaluating their own disaster plans to avoid similar missteps. There's going to be an enhanced awareness and an eagerness to better prepare, said Havidan Rodriguez, director of the Disaster Research Center. He said state residents can expect more drills, more rehearsals and more talks about coordination, cooperation, communication in coming weeks.

This article reports that James Lee Witt, the former Federal Emergency Management Agency director, hired by Louisiana to help lead its Hurricane Katrina recovery effort, has registered to lobby for an insurance company that wants the U.S. Congress to create a natural disaster catastrophe fund. Louisiana Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco hired Witt earlier in September 2005 as a consultant to advise her on the state's hurricane relief work.

This article presents results of a public opinion poll, according to which three-fourths of Americans support an investigation of the federal handling of Hurricane Katrina by a panel similar to the 9/11 Commission. But nearly as many say the panel is likely to get bogged down in partisan politics. The Republican leaders of the Congress have called for a full-scale congressional investigation of the government's hurricane preparedness and response effort.

This article reports that U.S. President George W. Bush today took responsibility for the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, acknowledging that the effort by federal, state and local officials was inadequate. The president, who spoke during a news conference at the White House with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, suggested he wanted a detailed analysis of the response. The president will address the nation from Louisiana at 9 p.m. Thursday about the disaster recovery efforts and long-term plans to rebuild. Asked today whether a special inspector general should be appointed to oversee Katrina-related expenses, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan noted that the Homeland Security Department already has an inspector general who has sent teams to the Gulf Coast states to review major relief contracts.

This article focuses on the opposition of U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, to a joint House-Senate committee to investigate the response to Hurricane Katrina and said they will not appoint Democrats to the panel. Instead, Reid and Pelosi called for the creation of an independent commission using the 9/11 Commission as a model. Reid insisted that an independent commission be created that includes an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. Democrats were not included in discussions about how to create the investigative panel, and Pelosi said she was informed of decisions mainly through press reports.

This article reports that U.S. President George W. Bush unveiled a new federal effort to ensure that Gulf State residents dislocated by Hurricane Katrina receive government benefits, while Treasury Secretary John Snow announced the extension of deadlines for filing tax returns and paying taxes. The program announced by Bush is designed to ensure that childcare, housing and Medicaid benefits are given to individuals where they are on the ground after fleeing their homes. Bush said that every household would be granted $2,000 in emergency disaster relief. Snow said that tax deadlines will be extended until January 3, and that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service will forgo any interest or late filing fees that would have applied.

The article reports that Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana continued to dominate the congressional agenda today as the White House sent up a $51.8 billion supplemental aid request, while House and Senate GOP leaders acknowledged the budget reconciliation process will be delayed as a result of more pressing matters. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Congress will clear the hurricane aid this week, which will be enough to last the Federal Emergency Management Agency--which is burning through money at an extraordinary rate of nearly $2 billion per day--until the end of this month. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the request would focus on immediate needs, with more funding to be sought at a later date for longer-term disaster relief projects.

The article reports that the top two U.S. senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have said they plan to hold as early as next week the first public hearing on the government response to Hurricane Katrina. On the House side, the Homeland Security Committee is likely to hold investigative hearings as well, but a committee aide said the schedule has not been determined. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee also has jurisdiction over Federal Emergency Management Agency. A House GOP leadership aide said Majority Leader Tom DeLay has asked House chairmen to propose ideas for a legislative package that could come to the floor as early as this week.

The article reports that David Paulison, Director, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency has reinforced an organization and said that they were in a better situation to respond to the disaster victims during this year's hurricane season. The supply of water and ice has been increased and the staff of disaster assistance employees has been doubled from approximately 4,000 to about 8,000.

This article reports that the U.S. House Judiciary Committee today approved a bill granting legal immunity to unpaid volunteers performing relief services during and after declared national emergencies, such as the hurricanes that ravaged the Gulf Coast last summer. Citing the fears of some physicians and suppliers who were reluctant to join the ranks of volunteers during the Hurricane Katrina crisis, House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner said that the bill was meant to clear up the uncertainty among potential volunteers about whether they might be held liable for any unintended mistakes in assisting survivors or in cleanup efforts. But Democrats complained that the bill goes too far in excusing volunteers or their sponsors from negligent actions.