In the week following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Congress essentially ignored the mutterings of a President who is increasingly being described as "dangerous," "unable to deal with reality," and in "deep denial," and began action on aggressive bipartisan measures aimed not only at providing immediate humanitarian relief for the victims of Katrina, but also at launching reconstruction of the entire region.Echoing the approach outlined by Lyndon LaRouche in his emergency Sept. 3 webcast, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid (Nev.) moved upon the start of Senate business Sept. 6 with a proposal for $150 billion for reconstruction. Despite some initial sniping from the Republican caucus, Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, not only defended Reid's proposal, but raised it to $200 billion. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Republican leader Bill Frist (Tenn.) also endorsed the proposal.

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This Week in History

September 13 - 19, 1797.

Lafayette Gains His Freedom from the Prison of Olmutz

"We left for Hamburg on September 19th, 1797. It was five years and one month since my father's arrest and twenty-three months since we joined him. The prisoners were accompanied by an Austrian major till they arrived at Hamburg, who usually drove in a carriage ahead. Our road, particularly at Dresden, Leipzig, Halle, and Hamburg, was one continual triumph. Throngs gathered to see my father and his companions. The prisoners, who at first could not bear [being] outdoors, grew stronger every day, but my mother's health prevented any real joy. The fatigue of the journey was too great in her state of exhaustion and illness; nevertheless, she made efforts to take part in the general joy and to respond to the numerous marks of respect shown to her."

So wrote one of Lafayette's daughters of the events which followed the release of the famous "Prisoners of Olmutz." Lafayette's incarceration as a political prisoner had become the cause célèbre of Europe and America, but the heavy hand of British Prime Minister William Pitt kept the hero of the American Revolution and his two companions incarcerated in Austrian dungeons for as long as could possibly be managed. British vengeance against Lafayette had begun to bear fruit in August of 1792, when the British-sponsored Jacobin faction in France succeeded in charging Lafayette with rebellion and treason, and put a price on his head, dead or alive. Lafayette and a group of his officers who supported the ideals of the American Revolution fled north toward Holland, hoping to sail to America.

But they were captured by the Austrians, and Lafayette was shifted from prison to prison, so that his friends and supporters would not know where to find him. When it was finally learned that he and two fellow officers were held at Olmutz, an unsuccessful rescue attempt was made. After that, Lafayette's conditions of imprisonment became even more stringent and unbearable. The two would-be rescuers, American medical student Francis Huger and German doctor Erich Bollmann, after themselves suffering eight months' captivity at Olmutz, sailed to America and briefed George Washington on the terrible conditions at the prison.

Lafayette's wife, Adrienne, who remained in Paris, was targetted by the Terror. She sent their son, George Washington Lafayette, to America to be protected by President George Washington, who sent the boy to live with Alexander Hamilton in New York. After retiring from the Presidency, Washington brought his namesake to live at Mount Vernon, and tried to help Adrienne by sending money to her via Holland, but it never reached her.

Adrienne managed to send her two daughters to safety with relatives before she was arrested and imprisoned by the Terror in November of 1793. Her mother, grandmother, and sister were sent to the guillotine, but even then, the name Lafayette gave her captors pause. The American Minister to France, the future President James Monroe, worked unceasingly to have her released. He and his wife Elizabeth, whom Paris had dubbed "La Belle Americaine," designed an operation to gain the good will of the fickle Parisians in Adrienne's favor. They had a coach painted with bright colors, and Elizabeth dressed in her most stylish clothes. She set out for Adrienne's prison, but took a long, slow route to attract attention. When she arrived, followed by a curious crowd, she asked for Adrienne to be brought out to see her, and when the two greeted each other, the onlookers applauded and wept at the sight.

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