On March 23, the first meeting of the DPJ Tohoku Pacific Earthquake Recovery and Reconstruction Study Committee was held inside the Diet.
Committee Chair, DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada made an opening address. He stated, “The most important thing is to provide assistance to survivors of this disaster, and that matter is being dealt with by the Response Headquarters. However, at the same time, we must think of the future and start to make preparations for recovery and reconstruction, and so this committee has been established. I would like you to think of this committee as a central command tower which will set forth the main direction for such efforts, while running four separate study teams on the topics of special measures legislation, review of public expenditure, a vision for reconstruction and a supplementary budget. The most important thing we can do now is to provide hope for the survivors. I believe it desirable for us, as the ruling party, to set forth a clear direction by providing a detailed vision for the future, and for an interim supplementary budget so that people can feel such hope.”
Meetings of the committee are to be held on a weekly basis for the time being, and will receive progress reports on the activities of each of the four study teams, as well as discussing other matters.
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