U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Conducts Hearing on Next Phase of Recovery After Hurricane Katrina
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 14, 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Bingham McCutchen attorney and former California Governor Pete Wilson testified today before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs at the hearing “Recovering from Hurricane Katrina: The Next Phase.” A copy of Wilson’s testimony is attached. Wilson, currently with the international law firm of Bingham McCutchen and its subsidiary Bingham Consulting Group, served as governor of California from 1991 to 1999. He led the state through recovery efforts following significant natural disasters, among them the 1994 major Northridge earthquake in greater Los Angeles, measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale. The earthquake killed 61 people and caused more than $20 billion in damage.
“As daunting as it seems, recovery from Katrina is not just possible, but essential. New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast are simply too important to the well-being of the nation,” said Wilson, a former U.S. Senator and Mayor of San Diego who joined Bingham in February 2004. “Our job must be to dispense with business as usual and procedures that will delay and impede recovery. Instead, we must devise practical incentives to accelerate the return to health of this vital region. It has been done in other places. It can and must be done in response to Katrina.”
Also scheduled to testify before the committee were: Patricia Owens, former mayor of Grand Forks, North Dakota; Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans; and Iain Logan , operations liaison, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. With more than 850 attorneys in 11 offices worldwide, Bingham McCutchen (www.bingham.com) serves clients involved in complex financial transactions, a full range of corporate and technology matters, and high-stakes litigation.
Bingham Consulting Group, a subsidiary business of the firm, helps national and global companies create and execute effective multi-state political strategies that are particularly essential in state-regulated industries, such as energy, financial services, health care, information technology and telecommunications.
