Political Quotes

“many people responded admirably and effectively in New Orleans and throughout the Gulf Coast. But the fact is that a natural disaster was turned into a human travesty because of incompetence, disorganization, and misplaced priorities. And the answer does not lie in the firing of Michael Brown. It has been apparent to many who have watched what has happened within the Department of Homeland Security that FEMA has been unvalued within this administration, and as a result became a dumping ground for political hacks. The fact is that 75 percent of FEMA's money has had to go to terrorism-related situations, such as paying overtime for TSA airport screeners, which means that preparation for the possibility of flooding in New Orleans or an earthquake in San Francisco get very low priority. In fact, we are not even preparing adequately now for an earthquake in San Francisco when two out of three of FEMA's highest priorities have already occurred with New York and New Orleans. Mr. Speaker, another natural tragedy cannot be allowed to become another human travesty. We have to get into the guts of this organization, weed out the incompetents and fund it adequately and appropriately. ____________________”