Bobby Jindal: “I have an amendment to reduce FEMA waste, fraud, and abuse. In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, FEMA provided…”

“I have an amendment to reduce FEMA waste, fraud, and abuse. In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, FEMA provided $2,000 in individual and household program payments to affected households. Individuals could apply for disaster assistance using the Internet or telephone. As of mid-December, such payments totaled $5.4 billion with almost half of that, $2.3 billion, in the form of expedited assistance. According to Social Security Administration data, FEMA made millions of dollars in payments to thousands of registrants who submitted false Social Security numbers. According to a GAO study, 165 of 248 sampled registrations contained false Social Security numbers, and 80 of 200 alleged disaster addresses were false. This amendment says that FEMA should implement a fully tested process that can provide real-time access to data required to validate identities and addresses for those seeking disaster assistance. While FEMA has taken certain steps to curtail waste, fraud and abuse within its program, more needs to be done. The intent of my amendment is to direct FEMA to implement an identity verification system that assures disaster assistance payments are made only to qualified individuals. In a statement I will submit for the Record, I have some specific criteria that will be used.…”