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Congressman Cohen Holds FEMA Accountable

July 18, 2007
Floor Statements
(Click HERE to watch the video.)

Mr. Speaker, on the 3rd of July in my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, I discovered there was ice being disposed of by being dumped on a driveway, more or less, at Spottswood and East Parkway. What that was about was FEMA dropping and disposing of ice.

FEMA had purchased thousands and thousands and thousands of pounds of ice after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita when they didn't have enough ice. To try to compensate, they bought way, way, way too much ice.

I have discovered that FEMA spent in purchasing, in transporting and in storing ice in 23 different American cities, Mr. Speaker, $67 million of our taxpayers' money, and FEMA is now spending nearly $4 million to dispose of that ice over a period of 11 months. That means over $70 million of American taxpayer dollars going down the drain. That is not the way an American government or any government should work, any business should work, or what Americans should expect of their government.

Fortunately, this Democratic Congress is doing what legislative branches are supposed to do; oversight. We have lacked oversight for the last 6 years, Mr. Speaker, and faults of the administration have gone unnoticed. But as I deal on the subcommittee that deals with FEMA, I will see to it on August 29th when that subcommittee meets in New Orleans on the second anniversary of that horrendous event, Hurricane Katrina, that we will ask the director of FEMA and the others about their programs, of why they buy excess commodities and excess ice, of why they spent $70 million of American taxpayers' money on an ice folly, and why they didn't try to dispose of that ice during the period of time when it had a useful shelf life and give it to 501(c)(3) charities, Federal, State or county institutions, so it could be used and utilized by American people who could have used that ice to save some money.

The same thing happens with commodities. Chairman Eleanor Holmes Norton, the chairman of that subcommittee, had a hearing on food distribution of commodities where FEMA had wasted other precious commodities and dollars.

Mr. Speaker, this needs to stop. Our tax dollars are valuable and people expect their government to do right with their tax dollars. I will not stand by. When I see incompetence, when I see inefficiencies, when I see ineffective use of tax dollars, I will speak up. I am fortunate to be on the subcommittee to ask the questions on August 29th of FEMA.

It seems like the horrendous events that we had when Brownie didn't know what he was doing and the people in New Orleans were left in a tragic circumstance are replicating themselves. FEMA has not been cleaned up.

We will try to see that FEMA spends our money properly and responds properly. They haven't responded to the American people and they haven't responded to Congress. This is a wrong that needs to be righted.