"The President addressed some of the major recovery issues that we are facing right now. I applaud and support his efforts to reunite families and to comfort and care for the hundreds of thousands of displaced families. I am very interested in his proposal to provide inspectors general to review the more than $60 billion in emergency spending that the Congress has already appropriated. In fact, Senator Lieberman and I introduced legislation today to put an inspector general in place now to help ensure that the money is spent for its intended purpose. This is a reconstruction effort of unprecedented proportions - we need do to all we can to prevent fraud and abuse so that as much of the funding as is possible goes to caring for the victims and reconstructing the Gulf region.
"I also commend the President for his initiative to have the Department of Homeland Security work with local officials to review the security plans of our cities. This type of planning is a critical part of our ability to respond to emergencies and should be done in communities nationwide.
"Finally, I appreciate the President's offer to work with Congress to investigate the response to Katrina. Senator Lieberman and I held our first hearing this week in the Senate Homeland Security Committee's inquiry into the disaster. Our Committee intends to conduct a thorough, deliberate, and fair review of the preparation for and response to this devastating hurricane - at all levels of government. It is critical that we learn from this experience so that we will be better prepared in the future."