Date: 2005-09-07
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

They have proved they would not be able to be there in a disaster. in a disaster of any major proportion. Let me just detail. because I have another chart here that is going to outline a couple of things that I think are important. FEMAs failures. Let us talk about cleanup. and let me just acknowledge that "personnel" is spelled wrong on this chart. I want to make sure the people knew that I know how to spell "personnel." Cleanup: FEMA has failed for pay for debris removal from private property. This has resulted in many homeowners incurring large expenses paying for the removal of not only their own fallen trees and other damage. but also rubble blown onto their lots from other locales. Let us talk about Federal aid. So we give them an "F" in cleanup. because they are basically ignoring Florida as if a -storm never hit our State. FEMA must be more responsible in allocating Federal aid. We are talking about the things that FEMA should have been doing already and must do going forward. About $30.8 million in FEMA money has been awarded to residents in MiamiDade. a county that I represent and that Congressman MEEK lives in. much of it for replacement of appliances such as televisions and air conditioners. although the storms last year in Florida barely grazed the county. Meanwhile. this year. when the storm hit the county directly. now they are not reimbursing people who have legitimate damage and roofs ripped off their houses. Meanwhile. other stormravaged areas still have many families who continue to be displaced because of the severe damage to their homes. So they get an "F" in Federal aid. How about personnel? Subsequent reports detailed how FEMA inspectors received little training. that FEMA approved millions in assistance to other areas of the country largely unaffected by disasters. that government scientists said that FEMA misrepresented wind data that it used to justify the payments in MiamiDade County last year. and that the agency paid 315 hurricanerelated funeral claims in Florida. even though the official death toll was only 123. So they get an "F" in personnel. Fourth. the shocking statistics in terms of their preparedness. Florida officially recorded 123 fatalities last year from hurricanes. as I outlined. but were paid for 315 deaths. including those of a man who shot himself and a stroke victim who was hospitalized more than a week before the last storm hit. and that was documented by the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. In one case. a FEMA worker tried unsuccessfully to persuade a coroner to count among the hurricane casualties a morbidly. obese heart attack patient who purportedly was scared to death. This is the kind of thing that went on in FEMA before Katrina. These are the people that we are putting our confidence in and that people in the gulf coast States are having to put their confidence in. who are going to come in and rescue them and clean up this mess. Most recently. disaster aid earmarked for hurricane victims in central Florida paid for funerals for people who died of cancer. a brain aneurysm and. in one case. advanced AIDS. according to the local medical examiner. That was in the Sun Sentinel as well. Asked to comment on payouts in central Florida. FEMA spokesman James McIntyre did not provide a response. He also did not address how many more funerals FEMA has paid for since that time. We have to make sure that FEMA takes responsibility and is held accountable for its mishaps. This Is an organization that gets an "F" in every single thing that they are primarily responsible for. This is the organization that Americans are supposed to be putting their confidence in. that is going to be there for them when disaster strikes. and in advance of disasters striking that they should be ready for. and afterwards when they have to come in and clean it up. It is just absolutely inexcusable and disgusting. For example. with the President. responding to the damage that the gentleman talked about to the levees. he said on Good Morning. America last Tuesday. that no one expected the levees to fail. Yet. he cut the budget that would have shored up those levees just last June. in 2004.