[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 76 (Wednesday, June 14, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H3911-H3912]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        FEMA IS ``THE'' DISASTER

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, when hurricane disaster hit Louisiana and 
Texas, many people suffered, and many people profited on this 
misfortune. To the rescue was FEMA. But the phrase itself

[[Page H3912]]

brings fear and trepidation into the hearts and souls of those affected 
by this disaster.
  Why? Many people that needed help never got it and never will. But 
some people did get help, and they profited on this disaster, and FEMA 
paid for it. The GAO says FEMA wasted $1.6 billion of taxpayer money, 
or 16 percent of all funding.
  Thieves used unlawful money to get season football tickets, vacation 
at Hawaiian resorts for 2\1/2\ months, paid for a divorce lawyer, go to 
topless clubs, and, get this, even pay for a sex change operation. FEMA 
even sent money to prison inmates pretending to be hurricane victims.
  Mr. Speaker, this ought not to be. FEMA should only be responsible 
for passing out toothbrushes to these thieves, because that is all they 
will need when they go to prison. If employees at FEMA are accomplices 
they should go to jail too. Hurricane season is back. But do not expect 
FEMA to help in the next disaster, they are the disaster.
  And that's just the way it is.

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