September 16, 2005: NORTON TO GULF COAST TO SEE KATRINA DAMAGE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2005

NORTON TO GULF COAST TO SEE KATRINA DAMAGE

Washington, DC—The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said that she will travel to New Orleans and Mississippi on Sunday to see the damage from Hurricane Katrina with 15 other Members of Congress. Norton, who greeted hundreds of evacuees from the Gulf Coast region last week when they arrived at Dulles Airport on their way to the D.C. Armory, wants to the see the devastation resulting from the hurricane first-hand. “I saw the sadness and brutality of Katrina in their eyes and listened to their stories,” she said. “Going to the scene of what they left behind will put me in a better position to make an informed judgment not only about what the evacuees will need to rebuild their lives but also about what our country needs to avert future disasters.”

Norton will travel with Members of three committees on which she sits—Homeland Security, Government Reform, and Transportation and Infrastructure. Details of the congressional tour are still being worked out, but Members are expected to leave Andrews Air Force Base early Sunday morning and return here that evening.