Deborah Koff Ross: “Number four, require agencies to put their fiscal houses in order. Again, 16 of 23 major Federal agencies cannot issue a…”

“Number four, require agencies to put their fiscal houses in order. Again, 16 of 23 major Federal agencies cannot issue a simple audit of their books. The Federal Government cannot account for $24.5 billion it spent in 2003. The Blue Dogs propose a solution, to put a budget freeze for any Federal agency that cannot properly balance its books. You are talking about waste. You are talking about a government agency that cannot get it together. If the gentleman will pause with me for just a second here, I want to point out something. You know, all of us all across America, our hearts went out for the people when the hurricanes hit in places like Louisiana and Mississippi and I know the gentleman from Florida has experienced this in the past as well. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, has purchased over 20,000 manufactured homes, they are 14 feet wide, 60 foot long. You can see some of them right here. For some reason, they are not getting them, FEMA is not getting these homes to the people who need them, the people who lost their home and everything that they owned. In fact, I was with Congressman Gene Taylor from Mississippi earlier tonight, and my heart goes out to him and his family. He has done all he knows how to do to help his constituents while also trying to rebuild his life. He even lost his own home in that horrible tragedy in August with Hurricane Katrina.…”