[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 20452-20453]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        STORMS DO NOT RECOGNIZE STATE BOUNDARIES, WHY DOES FEMA?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Davis of Kentucky). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman 
Schultz) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, first of all, to 
thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), the gentleman from 
California (Chairman Thomas) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. 
McCrery). It is because of their flexibility and sensitivity that the 
residents of Florida who suffered damage as a result of Hurricane 
Katrina are one step closer to getting emergency tax relief for those 
affected by the hurricane.
  Today, we provided emergency tax relief for Floridians affected by 
Hurricane Katrina as well as for those affected in our neighboring 
States to our west. I am so pleased to have been able to come together 
with my Florida colleagues, Messrs. Foley, Diaz-Balart, and Shaw to 
make this possible.
  As a Member of Congress that represents South Florida, I can 
empathize with the victims of Hurricane Katrina because my home, South 
Florida, has been struck by numerous hurricanes and is threatened by 
them every year.
  The scenes of the destruction throughout Louisiana, Mississippi and 
Alabama have reminded South Floridians of the devastation of Hurricane 
Andrew, a Category 5 hurricane which struck South Florida 13 years ago.
  The pain of those who lost loved ones, their homes, their pets, and 
who now find themselves in temporary housing, thousands of miles from 
home, their pain is palpable and every Floridian's heart goes out to 
them. However, I rise tonight to call the Nation's attention to 
something that I think has been overlooked, understandably, by the 
Nation, and that is the plight of those residents in Florida who 
suffered damage because of Hurricane Katrina.
  Hurricane Katrina's first victim was Florida as it struck the Broward 
and Miami-Dade counties as a Category 1 storm on August 25, leaving 
hundreds of damaged or destroyed homes in its wake. Many of the farmers 
and agricultural workers that grow and tend these crops that were 
damaged will be out of jobs or will lose significant income this year 
as a result of this storm.
  Craig Fugate, Florida's emergency management chief, told FEMA 
officials last week that the State expects the loss of over 2,000 farm-
related jobs in Miami-Dade County alone. Okra, malanga, sweet potato 
and cassava crops have been destroyed, he said, resulting in about a 
$492 million loss.
  That is why it came as a surprise to many homeowners in Florida when 
FEMA announced that it would not be providing individual assistance to 
residents of Florida who suffered damage as a result of Hurricane 
Katrina. I want to make it very clear what the effect of this decision 
means to the residents of South Florida who suffered damage in 
Hurricane Katrina.
  This year, this is what FEMA will not pay for after Hurricane Katrina 
struck Florida. This woman here, who has had the roof ripped off her 
house and most of her possessions water damaged: FEMA's response to 
her, You are on your own, good luck.
  How about this family here? This woman is standing in water up to her

[[Page 20453]]

knees. Her cars are halfway submerged. These are not fancy cars. These 
are later model, 10-year-old cars. What was FEMA's response to her 
family's request for assistance? The same as it was to the people in 
New Orleans during the first days following Hurricane Katrina's 
aftermath when it hit the Gulf States: You are on your own.
  My question to FEMA is this: Storms do not know State boundaries, so 
why does FEMA?
  FEMA has set an arbitrary and discretionary threshold of 800 homes 
that have been destroyed or badly damaged as a result of Hurricane 
Katrina. Let me reiterate this is a purely discretionary number. Title 
44 in the Code of Federal Regulations states, ``There is no set 
threshold for recommending individual assistance.''
  It is estimated that more than half of the residents who need 
assistance with storm recovery in Broward and Miami-Dade counties live 
on less than $20,000 a year. Yet FEMA denied Federal aid to those who 
qualified. Most of the mobile home residents in Broward impacted by 
Katrina are primarily uninsured or underinsured.
  My State has been hit by six hurricanes over the past year and a 
half. This is a constant plague that the residents of Florida deal 
with, and the denial of aid to those in need is irresponsible and 
unconscionable.
  I introduced legislation last week that calls on FEMA to provide the 
much-needed assistance to the residents of Florida who are victims of 
Hurricane Katrina. I plead with my colleagues, as we did today with the 
Katrina Tax Relief bill, let us make sure we do not turn our backs on 
the first victims of Hurricane Katrina and give help to those in need, 
regardless of State line.

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