On the recordMarch 24, 2010
I rise, Mr. Speaker, to voice my disappointment with this bill. First, the sheer cost of the disaster relief section of this bill has largely resulted from the administration's own reluctance to be forthright on true disaster costs. When the administration knew full well that they were looking at an immense shortfall for disaster relief costs for fiscal year 2010, they all but stuck their heads in the sand, refused to get off the dime and submit an official request or budget amendment, and that's after continued inquiries and even congressional direction--congressional direction--to be more forthcoming with known costs. To add insult to injury, FEMA's inability to accurately assess the costs of certain damages have led to several large arbitration rulings and settlements, rulings in which FEMA was admonished for having no sound basis for its estimates. FEMA's ineptitude has resulted in an additional $1.2 billion in costs to the taxpayers. Ineptitude. These failures amount to an expensive and now hurried bill. It goes without saying that the administration and FEMA must do better in estimating and budgeting for the real costs of disasters. We have been on this broken path for too long.
