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Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005

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WASHINGTON -- Following emotional pleas from Gulf Coast lawmakers, the Senate approved $29 billion in aid Wednesday night for Hurricane Katrina victims that could mark one of the last major relief packages for the battered region.

The funding was part of a massive defense bill that initially included a controversial plans for oil drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge - a measure that nearly derailed the entire bill. The House, approved the bill earlier, but is reconvening Thursday to vote on it again after the Senate stripped the oil drilling measure out of the legislation.

Calling the spending package "probably the biggest and most important bill of this year," Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., reminded lawmakers of victims living in still tents and trailers after losing nearly all possessions in the Aug. 29 storm.

"Many of them lost their job," Lott said. "Some of them lost loved ones. Some of them lost their truck and their dog. And they have hit the wall. Right now they're at that moment of exhaustion, frustration, indecision. If we don't provide this help now - if it's put off another month or two months or three months - heaven help us."

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said the money will give Gulf Coast residents "hope that this region can be rebuilt."

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"Without this it will be impossible, and they cannot wait another day," she said.

Most of the hurricane aid - $24 billion - has already been authorized by Congress as part of a federal Disaster Relief Fund. The money now will be diverted from the fund, overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and sent directly to Gulf Coast states and victims.

The funding package was negotiated by Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., and represents a down payment of billions of dollars annually that Congress will likely have to supply in future years to help the region recover.

But Walter Isaacson, vice chair of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, said the $29 billion package is probably one of the last all-encompassing funding requests that the region will make.

"Everybody's got to rebuild their own homes, and rebuild their own businesses," Isaacson said. "We can't ask the country to come in and do it for us. But this package of legislation would give us some tools we need."

In a reference to an earlier and unsuccessful $250 billion budget request for the region by Louisiana's two senators, Isaacson said: "When we spoke with one voice and got our priorities straight, it paid off. We got a reasonable package that will help us get back on our feet."

The $29 billion aid package is the result of two weeks of negotiating among lawmakers to nearly double President Bush's initial funding request. It includes: