$150 Billion Is Seen in Federal Outlays Following Katrina

WASHINGTON – President Bush intends to seek as much as $40 billion to cover the next phase of relief and recovery from Hurricane Katrina, congressional officials said yesterday 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 of Nevada, said the total tab for the federal government may top $150 billion. At the same time, senators in both parties said they suspect price gouging by oil companies in the storm’s aftermath.Relief and recovery needs will be the “no. 1 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 Mr. 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 said afterward.Stung by earlier criticism, Mr. Bush invited congressional leaders to the White House for an afternoon meeting, then dispatched several Cabinet officials to the Capitol to brief rank-and-file members. “Bureaucracy is not going to stand in the way of getting the job done for the people,” Mr. Bush told reporters.House and Senate committee chairmen announced investigations, while House Speaker Dennis Hastert suggested a bipartisan House-Senate probe. “We’re ready to get going,” he said.Whatever their plans, lawmakers took largely symbolic actions on their first day in the Capitol since the storm – the Senate expressing condolences to victims of the storm and the House observing a moment of silence.Mr. Bush did not specify at the meeting with congressional leaders how much he would request for additional relief. A $10.5 billion down-payment approved last week is “being used at an increasingly rapid pace. We’re readying a second installment now, and a precise number is currently being determined,” an Office of Management and Budget spokesman, Scott Milburn, said.The congressional officials who said the total could be as high as $40 billion from Congress did so on condition of anonymity because it was not clear when the formal announcement would be made. Mr. Reid said he expected a request in the range of $40 billion to $50 billion.The unprecedented scope of the destruction swiftly shot relief and recovery items to the top of Congress’s autumn to-do list.Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican of Tennessee put off planned votes on elimination of the inheritance tax, a GOP priority, and Senator Grassley, a Republican of Iowa, said the need to address hurricane-related difficulties would further postpone action Mr. Bush’s long-delayed call for overhauling Social Security.At the same time, Mr. Frist, like Mr. Bush, made clear Republicans want John Roberts confirmed as the nation’s 17th chief justice in time to take his seat before the October 3 opening of the Supreme Court’s term.Individual lawmakers outlined numerous suggestions to ease the burden caused by the storm and ensuing New Orleans-area flood. Many are poor and normally receive welfare. Others are sick and are now cut off from their health care and prescription medication. Still others are school-age and will suddenly find themselves enrolled in classrooms not built to accommodate them.Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said efforts now focus on rehabilitating the battered coast and helping displaced residents find housing, education, and jobs.Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Mr. Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on August 29. Mr. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to “convey a positive image” about the government’s response for victims.Mr. Grassley said he favors loan relief for farmers whose grain harvest may not reach market on schedule because of difficulties at the New Orleans port. Senator Baucus, a Democrat from Montana, called for help with Medicaid costs in states that take in storm victims. Senator Stevens, a Republican of Alaska, said he favors tax relief for airlines hard hit by a spike in fuel costs.In the House, Mr. DeLay said the GOP leadership hoped to have legislation on the floor this week dealing with Pell grants, reducing red tape for the newly unemployed and making it easier for FEMA to transfer money to private organizations.The storm disrupted oil drilling and distribution along the Gulf Coast, and the Senate Energy Committee convened a hearing into the rising cost of gasoline. Republicans and Democrats said they suspect price gouging in the aftermath of the storm, but said the government lacks the ability to adequately investigate or prevent such abuses.

$150 Billion Is Seen in Federal Outlays Following Katrina

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