[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2354]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    THE THIEVES OF KATRINA AND RITA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, in the disturbing days following Hurricane 
Katrina there was much confusion and chaos and catastrophe. Isaac 
Carloss and his wife, Debbie Anderson, used this tragedy to take 
advantage of innocent victims of this hurricane. Their deceptive and 
lawless journey was only recently halted by the Department of Justice.
  According to the DOJ, Carloss' wife, Debbie, met an evacuee at a 
rescue shelter following the hurricane. Since the evacuee was unable to 
return to his home, Debbie gave the individual permission to use her 
address and receive mail. The evacuee then applied for FEMA assistance, 
and an express mail package addressed to the evacuee was sent to 
Debbie's residence. Debbie signed for the package with a fictitious 
name, opened the mail, and started her illegal spending spree across 
Louisiana.
  The package included two FEMA disaster assistance checks totaling 
over $4,000 intended for the evacuee. But Diane, Isaac and Debbie took 
these checks and went directly to the local car dealership where they 
used one of the checks to purchase a car. She then took the other check 
to a bank in Louisiana where she persuaded the teller to cash the check 
because they were victims, or she was a victim of the hurricane.
  Just last week, in Louisiana, her husband, Isaac, was found guilty of 
one count of conspiracy, one count of theft of mail and two counts of 
theft of public money. He faces a sentence up to 5 years in prison. His 
wife, Debbie, has already pleaded guilty in January to a count of 
conspiracy. This is just one of the many examples of the vagrants that 
cheated the government and the victims of Hurricane Katrina and Rita.
  Six months ago, when the ladies of the gulf, Katrina and Rita, 
pounded the gulf coast, thousands of people were left dismayed. They 
were distressed and in desperate need of aid. In the days following the 
hurricanes FEMA quickly began disbursing money to suffering victims. 
However, amidst all the confusion and chaos, fraud started. Now, 6 
months later and millions of dollars wasted later, the winds have 
subsided, but the deception continues and the shady scams are getting 
more disturbing every day.
  According to a recent Government Accounting study, Federal 
investigators have learned 1,000 people who applied for aid used Social 
Security numbers of dead people; 1,000 used bogus, nonexistent numbers, 
and tens of thousands have used names, birth dates and Social Security 
numbers of people that did not match.
  The report also found that up to 900,000 of the 2.5 million 
applicants to receive aid under FEMA's emergency assistance program 
were based upon duplicate or invalid Social Security numbers or false 
addresses. Additionally, duplicate payments were made to some people 
who applied first with debit cards then again by electronic bank 
transfer.
  The GAO reported another example where one person used 15 different 
Social Security numbers and received payments totaling $41,000, money 
he has stolen from the victims and from the taxpayers.
  The corruption is chilling. With FEMA debit cards an individual in 
Jefferson, Louisiana, spent $1,300 on a pistol. An individual in 
Houston, Texas spent $1,200 at a gentleman's club with his FEMA debit 
card. And the list goes on: diamond engagement rings, gambling, bail 
bondsmen, tattoos, massages, alcohol and adult erotic products.
  We also have learned that hotel rooms in New York City have cost the 
taxpayers $500 a night, beachfront apartments being rented in the same 
amounts were all paid for by FEMA, which really means paid for by other 
taxpayers. Reports have even surfaced about emergency meals being sold 
on eBay.
  Legitimate, law-abiding citizens are suffering because of these 
disgraceful and despicable delinquents that have chosen to take 
advantage of this tragedy.
  These criminals should be found and they should go to jail, and 
anyone in the Federal Government that has helped them should be in jail 
as well. These crimes took place at the detriment of real victims, and 
they have cheated the system and deserve to be punished. There must be 
a zero tolerance policy for these scam artists and it must be stopped.
  Then, Mr. Speaker, we hear of the other abuses in the system where 
FEMA has spent millions of dollars for 10,000 brand-new, fully 
furnished trailers, but they are not being used for any victims of this 
disaster. They are being stored in Hope, Arkansas, because FEMA 
regulations prevent those trailers from being in flood plains. Of 
course, it is the flood plains that were affected by these hurricanes. 
And according to a Fox News report, the cost of these trailers is $367 
million.
  And now we learn that these 10,000 trailers sitting in Arkansas, 
because of the weather, are starting to sink in the mud. This is 
ridiculous, how FEMA has abused the system by not being prepared for 
this disaster.
  Mr. Speaker, it has been over 6 months since Hurricane Katrina, 4 
months since Hurricane Rita. There are still people that are suffering. 
We have got to take control of this situation. We have to remove the 
incompetence, and people who have committed crimes must be punished and 
sent to jail. There need to be no excuses because of inefficient red 
tape or lawlessness. These people need to be held accountable, both 
those in the Federal Government and others.
  Mr. Speaker, that's just the way it is.

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