[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6123-6124]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HOLDING FEMA TO HIGH STANDARDS

  (Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share 
my concern regarding continued abuses by the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, or FEMA as we know it. As my colleagues know, 
Florida suffered devastating blows when an unprecedented four 
hurricanes struck down in our State last year.

[[Page 6124]]

  My colleagues and I in the Florida delegation have been fighting with 
FEMA on its hurricane policies for the past few months. We have battled 
them about paying for debris removal in front of properties on a 
private road. These people pay taxes, too.
  Now a new abuse has come to light. FEMA apparently paid funeral 
expenses for an estimated 315 deaths in Florida, although only 123 
fatalities were actually recorded. Once again, it has a disregard for 
accuracy, efficiency, and its responsibility, I believe, to the 
citizens of Florida and the United States' taxpayers.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in holding FEMA to 
the high standards that our citizens require.

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