Bush to Seek $40B for Next Katrina Phase
Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Bush to Seek $40B for Next Katrina Phase: "WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush intends to seek as much as $40 billion to cover the next phase of relief and recovery operations from Hurricane Katrina, congressional officials said Tuesday as leading lawmakers and the White House pledged to investigate an initial federal response widely condemned as woefully inadequate.
One week after the hurricane inflicted devastation of biblical proportions on the Gulf Coast, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the total tab for the federal government may top $150 billion.
Relief and recovery needs will be the ``number one priority for the foreseeable future,'' pledged House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas as Congress convened after a five-week vacation.
Republicans and Democrats alike heaped criticism on the Federal Emergency Management Administration, the government's front-line responder agency for national disasters. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi told Bush to his face at the White House that he should fire the agency's director, Michael Brown. ``The president thanked me for my suggestion,'' the California Democrat told reporters afterward.
Stung by earlier criticism, Bush invited congressional leaders to the White House for an afternoon meeting, their first since the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast and left much of New Orleans underwater."
One week after the hurricane inflicted devastation of biblical proportions on the Gulf Coast, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the total tab for the federal government may top $150 billion.
Relief and recovery needs will be the ``number one priority for the foreseeable future,'' pledged House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas as Congress convened after a five-week vacation.
Republicans and Democrats alike heaped criticism on the Federal Emergency Management Administration, the government's front-line responder agency for national disasters. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi told Bush to his face at the White House that he should fire the agency's director, Michael Brown. ``The president thanked me for my suggestion,'' the California Democrat told reporters afterward.
Stung by earlier criticism, Bush invited congressional leaders to the White House for an afternoon meeting, their first since the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast and left much of New Orleans underwater."
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