The Department of Transportation is taking extraordinary steps to ensure fiscal accountability in spending to support repair and reconstruction work in the Gulf Coast region in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, HUD, the Judiciary and the District of Columbia today.

"Oversight and accountability of taxpayer funds is a top priority for me," Secretary Mineta said. "Relief aid must be spent wisely and well."

Mineta testified that the Department has created a special financial integrity team that will ensure all Hurricane Katrina spending is thoroughly documented and there is an accounting for every dollar spent.

The Secretary also noted that the Department has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a detailed Hurricane Financial Stewardship Plan that outlines existing and additional internal controls intended to safeguard taxpayer funds.

Mineta added that the Department is working closely with its Inspector General to prepare for planned comprehensive audits of expenditures connected with the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort. Secretary Mineta announced that the Department has taken the extra precaution of hiring the Defense Contract Audit Agency to help monitor and oversee some Katrina-related spending.

In addition to outlining details of the Department's fiscal accountability measures, the Secretary reviewed the steps taken by the Department both before and after Hurricane Katrina to evacuate citizens, move supplies and begin making critical repairs to damaged transportation systems. These steps included:

Airlifts and Airport Repairs

* Coordinating the largest civilian airlift operation in United States history out of New Orleans that led to the evacuation of over 24,400 people from the city.

* Providing over $18 million in Airport Improvement Funds as a first installment in federal support for repairing hurricane damage to airports in New Orleans, Gulfport-Biloxi and Bay St. Louis.

* Repairing and restoring navigational and air traffic equipment so commercial air service could return to all of the region's commercial airports.

* Helping reopen all of the general aviation airports in the affected region with the exception of the New Orleans Lakefront Airport, which was under water for a week.

Reopening Pipelines

* Facilitating location and transportation of emergency generators to allow key oil pipelines to resume operations within a week of Hurricane Katrina. Not only did Katrina-related power outages affect oil supplies throughout the East Coast, but they also threatened to hinder recovery and relief efforts in Mississippi, Mineta noted.

Ships and Ports

* Activating, for the first time ever in a domestic disaster, the U.S. Ready Reserve Force, so ships could be sent to the Gulf Coast to house and feed displaced workers as well as power shore-side equipment.

Repairing Highways and Bridges

* Releasing a total of $10 million in emergency relief funds to Louisiana and Mississippi as a first installment of federal support for highway repair work.

* Approving financial incentives so the I-10 Pascagoula Bridge in Mississippi could reopen on October 1st, more than a week ahead of schedule.

* Working with Louisiana officials to approve an incentive contract to repair and reopen the I-10 Twin Span Bridges between New Orleans and Slidell in two phases, with temporary lanes open by the end of October and all lanes open by the end of the year.

* Working with Mississippi officials to support their efforts to repair and rebuild US 90 along the Mississippi coast line.

Expanding and Repairing Transit Systems

* Making $47 million in federal emergency funds available to help restore transit service in New Orleans and to expand existing services in Baton Rouge.

Trucks, Supplies and Buses

* Providing since the onset of Hurricane Katrina 11,377 trucks that moved 14,097 truckloads of goods, including 25 million liters of water, 19 million meals ready to eat, 13 million pounds of ice, 11 thousand generators and 2,000 mobile homes.

* Arranging for over 1,355 buses and 15 helicopters to support the evacuation of residents from the New Orleans area in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the flooding that followed.

Mineta noted that the Department is making more than $2.6 million available in funds for short-term lending to help get small, disadvantaged firms back up and running in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Mineta added that more work will be needed over the coming months and years to repair and rebuild areas along the Gulf Coast devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

"There's a lot of work ahead and I pledge that we will continue to be partners every step of the way in making sure that the Gulf region has a transportation system that meets the needs of the local community and of the nation," Mineta said.