Political Quotes

“Mr. President, it is important that we begin the long overdue process of reforming the way the Federal Government responds to catastrophic disasters. Too often Federal disaster relief has been reactive, bureaucratic, arbitrary, and billions of dollars are spent. Sometimes that happens with little or no accountability. Resources go unused, goals are not met, and redtape delays recovery. In the end, it seems Washington focuses sometimes solely on the price tag rather than on the people we are trying to help. The current model assumes that politicians and bureaucrats in Washington are best suited to decide where, when, and how best to allocate resources during an emergency, but common sense and decades of experience tell us otherwise. It is the people on the ground--local officials and emergency responders, of course, but also individuals, families, and voluntary organizations--who are best equipped to help communities respond and recover from disasters. As I looked into these issues, it became clear to me that even as the Federal Government has distributed billions for recovery with the right hand, regulations and bureaucracy have choked the recovery process with the left hand. Our recovery policy needs to be both more flexible and more consistent. Flood victims on the east coast deal with the same issues as flood victims in the gulf. Yet they are often faced with different rules and requirements.…”