Yesterday, I voted for H.R. 152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act. This emergency spending will provide money to repair damage in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut from Hurricane Sandy. I voted to strip out $173.8 million in non-emergency spending from the bill, and I voted to require a state match for federal grants so that local communities are not funding projects solely with federal dollars.
I strongly opposed the $60.4 billion bill that the Senate passed late last year because it contained projects completely unrelated to Hurricane Sandy. The House-passed bill that I supported is specifically limited to compensating victims of Hurricane Sandy and strengthening weather monitoring and forecasting. The one piece of the House bill that causes me concern is $16 billion for disaster relief through the Department of Housing and Urban Development for a declared major disaster in 2011, 2012, and 2013. I intend to vigorously pursue strong oversight for the use of these funds through the Appropriations Committee to ensure that it is narrowly targeted to compensate victims of hurricanes in those years as the author intended.
I would have preferred House leadership offset every dollar of this emergency spending with specified cuts in other programs, but they did not give us this option in the series of votes. National disasters require prompt national response and the people of the Northeast have waited longer for federal aid than any other hurricane victims. A day will come when the Gulf Coast will be hit by another bad storm, and we will be in the same boat as the people of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. I will continue to work hard to cut spending everywhere I can and to ensure this money is only spent on hurricane disaster relief.
I am sick and tired of paying to rebuild for people who build in the flood zones. When will we learn?
I think your decision to vote to aid the Eastern states affected by Sandy is just and appreciated. We remember what it is like to wait forever for assistance. Aid to stomn ravaged areas is not hostage to spending cuts.
I am sending you a link to an article which illustrates exactly why I have serious concerns about the amount of the aid awarded in the bill for victims of Hurricane Sandy. In it you will find that the state of New York actually fired an independent auditor after he found significant waste of funds meant to help the victims of Sandy.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/01/17/New-York-Fires-Auditor-Who-Found-Abuse-of-Federal-Hurricane-Sandy-Funds
Sadly, too many times, it seems a major disaster is used as a way to game the system by too many, and that includes some parts of government!
Do not get me wrong. As someone who has weathered many hurricanes, I certainly understand that there was dire need and they deserved help. However, for some time now I have had serious questions as to whether the federal government is really best suited to coordinate all of the aid, and I certainly do not think that FEMA is adept at dealing with the logistics and immediate need following a big disaster. It seems that they always have to re-invent the wheel for each natural disaster. And this type of inefficiency leaves the “system” too open to fraud, involving massive amounts of loss and waste. As an out of work taxpayer, I find a great deal of this to be unacceptable.
Why not let major companies, which already have supply lines and transportation set up, provide the immediate relief that is needed in such circumstances. Walmart, Target, K-Mart, Kroger, and other major grocery stores all are well equipped to re-supply their stores very quickly after a major disaster. The federal government could easily contract with such companies to provide direct relief to hard hit areas, and give FEMA some time to get set up and running. Local authorities can monitor the disbursement areas to ensure equitable and safe procedures are followed. I would be very surprised indeed, if private companies could not provide the relief faster, more efficiently, and more than likely, for less money than the federal government. These companies tend to have very small profit margins and very good auditing practices, so I really believe that their charges would be less than what taxpayers pay for the initial government led aid.
I do understand that most government employees are hard working and want to provide the help that the victims are seeking. But as a longtime taxpayer, I am really tired of reading about huge waste and fraud committed by both government employees and disaster relief recipients. I understand that all taxpayers work hard to meet the ever growing tax liabilities and we do not do so in order to line others pockets.
Thank you for your consideration of these points.
Sincerely,
Carol Kitson
Houston, TX
Precinct 135
77027