Madam Speaker. Floridians living near Lake Okeechobee in communities that I now represent experienced a devastating loss of life when the hurricane led to extensive breaches of the levees surrounding the lake. Of the more than 3.000 casualties in the continental United States. more than 75 percent were migrant workers near Lake Okeechobee who were overwhelmingly African American. The lack of capacity to respond to the devastation of the storm and racial overtures of the era led to extensive disparities in the treatment of victims of this hurricane. Many African Americans were buried in poorly marked mass graves. including one site in West Palm Beach where over 670 unfortunate souls were laid to rest.