Scalise says FEMA Delays are Unacceptable

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise today submitted a statement for the record to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

“The delays we are experiencing with project worksheets and community disaster loans are unacceptable,” Scalise said. “We must find answers so our citizens, as well as our state and local governments can move forward and complete their recovery. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress and our partners back home to make sure that we reform the process to resolve the issues we have now and prevent them in future.”

Congressman Scalise’s submitted statement is as follows:

Ms. Norton and Mr. Diaz-Balart, thank you for having this important hearing.

I also want to thank Paul Rainwater with the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the officials from FEMA who are today. I look forward to working with you as we resolve the issues that are delaying Louisiana’s recovery, and identify reforms that will improve disaster response in the future. 

The goal for today’s hearing should be to evaluate FEMA’s current activities in the Gulf Coast and throughout the country, to identify successes as well as reasons for continued recovery delays, and to find solutions for fixing these problems. I hope this hearing also evaluates the lessons FEMA has learned from Katrina and Rita and other disasters, develops a clear picture of how to reform and expedite the recovery process in the State of Louisiana and establishes concrete objectives to prevent these same delays from occurring again.

It has been over three and a half years since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck Louisiana, yet we are still experiencing recovery delays. Local governments and other organizations who serve the public continue to wrangle with FEMA over the approval of thousands of project worksheets, which is delaying crucial federal assistance from Washington to the local level.

In addition, FEMA has yet to establish loan forgiveness regulations for special Community Disaster Loans (CDLs) that were issued in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to local governments and other organizations that serve the public. In 2007, Congress passed legislation authorizing FEMA to issue regulations for CDL forgiveness. While FEMA officials have continued to assure the Louisiana delegation that these regulations are being drafted, these rules have yet to be finalized and issued. It has been almost two years since Congress passed this authorization and it is imperative that these regulations are finalized as quickly as possible. Our local governments, fire departments, universities, and hospitals continue to face large debts and struggle with their recovery as a result.

The delays we are experiencing with project worksheets and community disaster loans are unacceptable. I am extremely concerned about the delays and am disappointed that we continue to revisit these same problems three and a half years after these storms devastated South Louisiana. We must find answers so our citizens, as well as our state and local governments can move forward and complete their recovery. And we must cut through the red tape that hinders the funding and progress of recovery projects. I hope states like Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas, and Iowa that have recently experienced disasters are not experiencing these same delays.

I am committed to working with my colleagues, FEMA, local governments, and officials from other states to resolve these delays. This is not a partisan or regional issue. I know that Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are committed to making the necessary reforms so our citizens and local governments can move forward and preventing these problems from occurring again. 

Wherever the fault is, we need to fix it. Louisiana does not need more discussion and delays – the citizens of our State need, and deserve, solutions. One which has been brought up before is reforming the Stafford Act. Clearly, this law does not adequately meet the recovery needs of a major catastrophic disaster, and I have been working with other members of Congress from across the county to identify the necessary improvements we need to make to the Stafford Act.

I would like to hear from FEMA, the LRA, and officials from other states who are hear today and have you identify regulatory or legislative barriers preventing Public Assistance projects from being completed. If there are statutory changes that need to be made, I would like FEMA and the LRA to submit concrete proposals detailing where these changes should be made.

These problems we’ve encountered over the past three and a half years are not issues exclusive to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. They are issues that any community and any state would face if confronted with a catastrophic disaster of the magnitude we’ve faced. We all understand that we are working toward the same goal. We should leave this hearing with clear steps that we can take to improve the process and prevent similar delays in the future.

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Contact: Luke Bolar
202-226-4309