Friday, December 31, 2004
Damn, I'm on fire now ...
See what happens when I take a day off of work and spend time in front of my puter? This blog thing is getting funner and funner!
Here's an article posted by the AP courtesy of FoxNews . I wonder how many people are still going to bitch and continue to argue that the US is stingy?
U.S. Boosts Tsunami Aid to $350M
Friday, December 31, 2004
WASHINGTON — The United States is pledging $350 million to help tsunami victims, a tenfold increase over its first wave of aid, President Bush announced Friday.
Bush also is sending Secretary of State Colin Powell to areas ravaged by earthquake and tsunami to assess what more the United States needs to do. The president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, will travel with him.
The newly announced aid came after some critics claimed that the initial U.S. contribution of $35 million was meager considering the vast wealth of the nation.
France has promised $57 million, Britain has pledged $95 million, Sweden is sending $75.5 million and Spain is offering $68 million, although that pledge is partly in loans.
"All Americans are shocked and saddened by the tragic loss of life and the destruction around the Indian Ocean," Bush said Thursday in a statement read by White House deputy press secretary Trent Duffy in Crawford, Texas. Bush is on vacation there.
"To coordinate this massive relief effort, first-hand assessments are needed by individuals on the ground."
A congressional delegation headed by Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, a former U.S. foreign service officer, is scheduled to visit Thailand and Sri Lanka next week.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who often travels to blighted areas, said Thursday he plans to visit India to try to help victims of tsunamis that have left millions of people at risk of disease.
"I feel like I've been hit in the stomach," Frist, R-Tenn., said in an e-mail to friends and supporters. "It is like 9/11 but so different. There is no one to blame."
Powell was traveling to New York on Friday to discuss the crisis with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The United Nations was added Thursday to the core group of countries and organizations planning relief efforts. The others are the United States, Japan, India and Australia, which raised its pledge to $27 million, just $8 million below the initial U.S. pledge.
The U.S. death toll rose to 14, with seven dead in Thailand and seven in Sri Lanka. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said some 600 Americans who were listed as missing have been found, but several thousand had not been located four days after the disaster struck.
In Sri Lanka, Boucher said, Americans have been showing up at U.S. consular offices wearing bathing suits, with no money and no clothes.
Responding to persistent criticism that U.S. pledges have been slow to materialize and deliveries of aid not fast enough, Boucher ticked off a string of relief flights and declared: "Any implication we are not leading the way is wrong."
The Pentagon is also spending millions on relief, but that figure could not be calculated quickly. The relief included the arrival of four C-130 cargo planes in Thailand loaded with food, water and sheltering material, and a large supply of rice and other food and assistance was due to arrive in Indonesia by Friday.
The World Bank announced it would make $250 million available as an initial contribution for emergency reconstruction. The amount is for the next six months.
With the global death toll rising above 117,000, European governments discussed holding an international donors conference Jan. 7. Boucher said the United States would participate in any such gathering, but he did not give details.
Powell, visiting the Embassy of Thailand on Thursday to extend condolences, vowed that the administration would follow through on promises of substantial financial assistance.
"You can be sure that the president is determined to do what is necessary to deal with this challenge," he said. "We're working very closely with the international community."
On Capitol Hill, House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde said he was drafting legislation to help victims and planned to introduce it early next year.
"The infrastructure of daily life is simply gone," said Hyde, R-Ill.
Here's an article posted by the AP courtesy of FoxNews . I wonder how many people are still going to bitch and continue to argue that the US is stingy?
U.S. Boosts Tsunami Aid to $350M
Friday, December 31, 2004
WASHINGTON — The United States is pledging $350 million to help tsunami victims, a tenfold increase over its first wave of aid, President Bush announced Friday.
Bush also is sending Secretary of State Colin Powell to areas ravaged by earthquake and tsunami to assess what more the United States needs to do. The president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, will travel with him.
The newly announced aid came after some critics claimed that the initial U.S. contribution of $35 million was meager considering the vast wealth of the nation.
France has promised $57 million, Britain has pledged $95 million, Sweden is sending $75.5 million and Spain is offering $68 million, although that pledge is partly in loans.
"All Americans are shocked and saddened by the tragic loss of life and the destruction around the Indian Ocean," Bush said Thursday in a statement read by White House deputy press secretary Trent Duffy in Crawford, Texas. Bush is on vacation there.
"To coordinate this massive relief effort, first-hand assessments are needed by individuals on the ground."
A congressional delegation headed by Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, a former U.S. foreign service officer, is scheduled to visit Thailand and Sri Lanka next week.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who often travels to blighted areas, said Thursday he plans to visit India to try to help victims of tsunamis that have left millions of people at risk of disease.
"I feel like I've been hit in the stomach," Frist, R-Tenn., said in an e-mail to friends and supporters. "It is like 9/11 but so different. There is no one to blame."
Powell was traveling to New York on Friday to discuss the crisis with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The United Nations was added Thursday to the core group of countries and organizations planning relief efforts. The others are the United States, Japan, India and Australia, which raised its pledge to $27 million, just $8 million below the initial U.S. pledge.
The U.S. death toll rose to 14, with seven dead in Thailand and seven in Sri Lanka. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said some 600 Americans who were listed as missing have been found, but several thousand had not been located four days after the disaster struck.
In Sri Lanka, Boucher said, Americans have been showing up at U.S. consular offices wearing bathing suits, with no money and no clothes.
Responding to persistent criticism that U.S. pledges have been slow to materialize and deliveries of aid not fast enough, Boucher ticked off a string of relief flights and declared: "Any implication we are not leading the way is wrong."
The Pentagon is also spending millions on relief, but that figure could not be calculated quickly. The relief included the arrival of four C-130 cargo planes in Thailand loaded with food, water and sheltering material, and a large supply of rice and other food and assistance was due to arrive in Indonesia by Friday.
The World Bank announced it would make $250 million available as an initial contribution for emergency reconstruction. The amount is for the next six months.
With the global death toll rising above 117,000, European governments discussed holding an international donors conference Jan. 7. Boucher said the United States would participate in any such gathering, but he did not give details.
Powell, visiting the Embassy of Thailand on Thursday to extend condolences, vowed that the administration would follow through on promises of substantial financial assistance.
"You can be sure that the president is determined to do what is necessary to deal with this challenge," he said. "We're working very closely with the international community."
On Capitol Hill, House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde said he was drafting legislation to help victims and planned to introduce it early next year.
"The infrastructure of daily life is simply gone," said Hyde, R-Ill.
Kicknit 12/31/2004