House Majority Leader Tom DeLay also spoke with the Buzz today from the Texas Department of Public Safety. I started by asking Congressmen DeLay how he feels the response to Hurricane Rita has been so far:

“I think the response has been pretty spectacular in Texas. I can’t speak for Louisiana because I haven’t been there myself. But here in Texas, local, state and federal officials did exactly what they were trained to do.”

Up and down the Texas highway leading to Houston there are road-warning signs discouraging residents from returning. I asked DeLay when he thinks residents will be able to return to their homes:

“People will really start to be able to return tomorrow, though I think quite a few have started already.”

There is an ongoing debate within the Republican Party as to how to best response to the financial costs for the recovery effort after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Many Washington politicians from both parties have proposed massive spending on the relief effort. But DeLay doesn’t necessarily think this is the best route:

“My first feeling is to get the facts. Many who are claiming there is going to be a $200 billion price tag for Hurricane Katrina relief are just wrong. On top of that, private charities and local authorities are already spending great amounts of money on the relief effort.”

“At the same time, you have to respond appropriately to a disaster. And that is exactly what this is. But cutting from essential programs is not the answer. We need to continue to focus on growing the economy. Those who are advocating a rollback of the Medicare bill are the same ones who opposed it in the first place. John McCain has been advocating that we throw out the Highway Bill. That took us two years to complete. I don’t agree with him on his plan there. He was already voted against the Highway Bill, so I think you have to look at the facts.”

“We are looking at reconciliation and entitlement reform for the first time since 1997. We’ve already passed $35 billion in savings. And that’s real savings, not just slowing the cost of growth. We’ve cut 98 programs through discretionary spending. Right now, the deficit is 2.7% of the GDP. Overall spending is the lowest it’s been since Ford, Carter, Reagan or Bush 41. I don’t mention Clinton. That’s because the Republican Party was in charge then and we pushed through a lot of savings. It’s not as if we aren’t already constantly looking for ways to cut the fat in government.”