[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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