[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11191]
[From the U.S. 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 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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