[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          FEMA'S RESPONSE TO PENNSYLVANIA'S NATURAL DISASTERS

  (Mr. GEKAS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, just as Pennsylvania was emerging from a 
series of natural disasters that lasted over a period of 10 days, snow 
and then more snow and then rain, and then flood, the Governor of the 
Commonwealth, our former colleague, Tom Ridge, decried the slow 
response of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He did so 
because FEMA seemed to not be able to make the connection between flood 
and rain and snow and all the tragedies that occurred all at one time.

                              {time}  1245

  Then, of course, the Governor received a nasty rebuttal from the 
White House, and nothing was then accomplished in trying to address the 
problems of the disaster. Since that time the Governor convened a 
meeting in Harrisburg of the FEMA officials, Secretary Pena and others. 
We were able to resolve the methodology by which the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency will respond in the future. In the meantime, I aim to 
bring to the committee process an examination of the FEMA procedures.

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