Appropriations Bills

WASHINGTON – The second report to Congress on how FEMA is spending $60 billion in Katrina disaster relief funds has no more details than the first.

Which is to say, virtually no details at all.

By law, the Secretary of Homeland Security must provide Congress weekly reports detailing how FEMA is spending Katrina relief funds. The second was sent last night.

“We don’t know what the administration is doing because they don’t know what they are doing,” said Obey. “We don’t know where the nearly $16 billion FEMA’s allocated went, we don’t know what they’re planning to do with the $44 billion they’ve got left.”

“We asked for specific information on how they are awarding contracts and who contracts are going to,” Obey continued. “Instead of telling us who is doing what and how, we got a few spreadsheets.”

Last week, Rep. Obey and Sen. Robert C. Byrd, Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, sent a letter to OMB Director Josh Bolten requesting the reports include specific information on how FEMA was spending money for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. They have received no response.

View the Obey/Byrd letter: http://www.house.gov/appropriations_democrats/pdf/fema-katrina-report.pdf.

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