Ted Poe: “When the First Lady of the Gulf, Katrina, unloaded her wrath on Louisiana and Mississippi, thousands of people fled to…”

“When the First Lady of the Gulf, Katrina, unloaded her wrath on Louisiana and Mississippi, thousands of people fled to my home State of Texas. This evacuation brought in not only good folks but it brought in registered sex offenders to the communities and neighborhoods of southeast Texas. Now, 2\1/2\ months later, many child molesters remain unaccounted for, lurking in the shadows, some waiting to attack again innocent children. The Houston Chronicle reported yesterday that almost 300 known sex offenders from Louisiana have moved to the Houston area alone since Hurricane Katrina. None of them have been accounted for. Some of these sex offenders registered with FEMA and received Federal disaster assistance. So FEMA has an address and a location of these registered sex offenders, but they will not release the names to local law enforcement. They are citing privacy reasons. This defies common sense. Sex offenders gave up their privacy rights when they decided to rape and molest children. It is for this reason today I am filing legislation giving FEMA the authority and the duty to release this information about registered sex offenders to local law enforcement officials. The public has a right to know who these people are. Our children are in danger, and there should be no red tape when it comes to their safety. That's just the way it is. ____________________”