Queens Congressman Says Bush ‘Asleep at the Wheel’
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A Queens congressman who represents one of the largest South Asian communities in America accused the Bush administration of being “asleep at the wheel” in its initial response of sending $35 million for victims of the earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 75,000 lives.
Rep. Joseph Crowley, a Democrat, said yesterday that the Bush administration was slow in making a full assessment of the disaster, which he characterized as one of “biblical proportions.”
“I think the administration is asleep at the wheel,” he said. “I am frustrated right now because anyone can tell this is a massive disaster.”
Mr. Crowley said he wanted “to be grateful” for the money President Bush already has sent.
“But when you look at what we are spending in other areas of the world, especially in Iraq today, $35 million is a drop in the bucket given the enormity of the loss of life here,” Mr. Crowley said at a meeting of leaders of the South Asian community in Jackson Heights, Queens, to discuss raising money and collecting supplies to send to the ravaged areas.
Mr. Crowley said he planned to fight to get additional earthquake funding into the supplemental budget for the Iraq war, which Congress is due to begin considering.
Subhash Kapadia, of the Jackson Heights Merchants’ Association, met with Mr. Crowley and said he also was disappointed in the American government’s response.
“They are not doing enough,” said Mr. Kapadia, a native of Bombay, India, who came to America 32 years ago. “They send money everywhere in the world. Why not help our country?”
Mr. Kapadia, an American citizen and owner of an electronics store, said he and other merchants in Jackson Heights have organized a campaign to raise at least $35,000 to send to south India.
But Siv Das, president of the Jackson Heights Merchants’ Association, which represents more than 100 stores, said he doesn’t blame Mr. Bush.
“Bush is good,” Mr. Das said. “He is helping enough. We need to work together to help our people.”
The community in Jackson Heights comprises some 40,000 residents from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan and is among the largest South Asian communities in America, a Crowley aide, Gregg Sheiowitz, said.
Mr. Bush announced yesterday that America, India, Australia, and Japan have formed a coalition to coordinate relief and reconstruction of the 3,000 miles of Indian Ocean rim hit by Sunday’s earthquake and the tsunami it unleashed.
He pledged a multifaceted response that goes far beyond the initial American pledge of $35 million, including American military manpower and damage surveillance teams.
He said it was important to build an early warning system for tsunamis worldwide, and he directed his interior and commerce secretaries to check if the American West Coast is adequately protected.
“Clearly, there wasn’t a proper warning system in place for that part of the world,” he said. “And it seems like to me it makes sense for the world to come together to develop a warning system that will help all nations.”