[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 142 (Tuesday, November 1, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H9450-H9451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE MYRIAD OBSTACLES OF DEALING WITH FEMA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania). Under a 
previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, at the end of this month, most Americans 
will celebrate Thanksgiving, and we always look forward to being with 
our families. On our minds this year, however, are the thousands and 
thousands of Americans who have been uprooted as a result of the 
hurricanes in the Gulf region who really need a Thanksgiving; and, as 
we celebrate, we ought to remember them. We ought to ask ourselves how 
we can really have a Plymouth Rock weekend and find a way to extend a 
helping hand to our fellow citizens in the South.
  Today, the newspaper USA Today had a lead story talking about the 
lack of help that these Americans are receiving from the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency and thousands and thousands scattered 
across over 18,700 zip codes in all 50 States, people whose footing 
will not be firm come Thanksgiving this November.
  It talks about how the lack of FEMA support has hindered the local 
groups, the church groups, the not-for-profits, that are trying to help 
these Americans, our fellow citizens, reposition. They talk about how 
relief groups have been stymied by the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency's failure to

[[Page H9451]]

provide basic information about the evacuees.
  I would like to place on the record this evening efforts our office 
has been making to try to connect housing from the North in communities 
that we represent, whether that housing is inspected mobile homes, 
manufactured homes and trailers, to move those units south, to move 
that excess supply south to the Gulf to people who need the help.
  Do you know FEMA does not even have a central Web site yet where we 
can offer these available units? I represent the longest coastal 
district in Ohio. We have mobile home courts, manufactured housing, 
fishing trailers, we have all kinds of units that are sitting empty now 
that are on the list for sale. They could be easily inspected by Ohio 
inspectors or taken down to Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, 
places where people have been displaced. FEMA cannot even create a 
central records system.
  The article this morning talks about the National Low Income Housing 
Coalition and all the trouble they are having getting basic information 
about who needs help, who needs shelter as we approach Thanksgiving, 
how many people have been displaced, where are they living. How is it 
possible this many months after these tragedies we do not have this 
information?
  FEMA spokeswoman Nicol Andrews said she could not explain why at 
least three relief groups did not get the data. And, by the way, even 
our government's Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are waiting to receive this basic 
information.
  Douglas Culkin of the National Apartment Association, one of the most 
recognized organizations in our country, says that his association, 
anxious to be helpful, cannot get information on where evacuees are 
staying; and at an October 17 meeting here in Washington, Mr. Culkin 
said he was told someone would get him the information. Guess what? He 
still does not have it. He says it is unconscionable, and I agree.
  What could be so hard about linking supply from the North, for 
example, with people who need help in the South? Why do I have to come 
down here to the floor of the Congress and let the country know that, 
again, FEMA just cannot seem to get its act together?
  I had to call the office of the new director of FEMA, R. David 
Paulison, who did return my phone call, and I appreciate it very much, 
simply to let him know that I wanted somebody in that agency who knew 
something about housing, or I said, lacking that, get us somebody from 
the Department of Defense who is used to putting up field housing. 
Let's get an interagency transfer and someone who can work with us to 
move supply, excess supply from the North to those who need supply in 
the South. Even if it is temporary, it is better than nothing as we 
approach Thanksgiving season. Why should this be so hard?
  All you have to do is talk to the people who run the manufactured 
housing parks, the mobile home parks, the trailer parks. Let us get 
those units inspected. We can even put them on trains.
  I represent a major rail center. We can get them down into Memphis 
and take them right into Gulfport, Mississippi. What is the problem? 
Why cannot FEMA help us?
  Plenty of stories have been written about Mississippi. The 
Manufactured Home Association down there says they have sent notices to 
FEMA offering housing, never receiving a reply. That is from people 
inside of Mississippi. Then they found out that Mississippi's 
government, the government of Mississippi, made purchases from outside 
Mississippi rather than inside Mississippi.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I will place this article in the Record this 
evening; and, please, we are begging FEMA, let all Americans have a 
blessed Thanksgiving this year.

                     [From USA Today, Nov. 1, 2005]

                     Lack of FEMA Data Slows Relief

                             (By Mimi Hall)

       Relief groups trying to help Hurricane Katrina evacuees 
     find new homes and reunite with families say they have been 
     stymied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's failure 
     to provide information about evacuees.
       ``It's scandalous,'' said Sheila Crowley of the National 
     Low Income Housing Coalition. ``Congress should have hearings 
     about the lack of information that's available.''
       Crowley said her organization has been trying for weeks to 
     get information that FEMA collected on how many people were 
     displaced from low-income housing and where they are living. 
     She said the group needs the information to ``understand the 
     various situations that evacuees find themselves in.''
       FEMA spokeswoman Nicol Andrews said she couldn't explain 
     why at least three relief groups didn't get the data. She 
     said FEMA is ``happy to share'' the information except with 
     groups trying to profit from the evacuees.
       Most groups that have complained are non-profits. Others 
     that requested but didn't immediately receive the data were 
     the government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
     and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
       The complaints have sparked the latest wave of discontent 
     against the beleaguered disaster-relief agency. Since Katrina 
     hit the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, FEMA has been widely assailed 
     for its response.
       PICO National Network, a coalition of 1,000 churches, 
     including 100 in New Orleans, also has been trying to collect 
     information about evacuees' whereabouts to help pastors find 
     parishioners and help them contact relatives and friends.
       ``It's critical that we rebuild all these social 
     networks,'' PICO's Gordon Whitman said.
       Many of the groups are seeking updates to data that FEMA 
     had given to USA TODAY. On Sept. 29, the newspaper published 
     a map showing that tens of thousands of evacuees were 
     scattered across 18,700 ZIP codes in all 50 states.
       Douglas Culkin of the National Apartment Association said 
     he wants the information so his association can determine how 
     much apartment stock is available in towns and cities where 
     evacuees are staying. At an Oct. 17 meeting with FEMA 
     officials in Washington, D.C., Culkin said he was told 
     someone would get him the information.
       He still doesn't have it. ``It's unconscionable,'' Culkin 
     said.

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