Jon L. Christensen: “all of the talk in the media these last few days has been about the fraud in the FEMA individual and housing assistance…”

“all of the talk in the media these last few days has been about the fraud in the FEMA individual and housing assistance program. Now, I am not saying that those who perpetrated the fraud should not be dealt with appropriately, or that FEMA and the Red Cross do not have to clean up their act. But, folks, this is a disaster the likes of which we have never seen. What would you have had them do in such an emergency, apply miles and miles of red tape and risk not giving service to those who need it quickly? Colleagues, do not let this be a smoke screen that would cause us to lose sight of the contracting and the purchasing waste, fraud and abuse that the big corporations have perpetrated on our government and all of us, while businesses in the Gulf Region went bust for lack of work. It is always the little guy who bears the blame while the big ones get away. Our relevant committees in this Congress need to turn our focus to the Halliburtons of the world. When we look at the waste, the fraud, and abuse of these giants, that $1 billion will look like chump change. ____________________”