Congress To Give $10 Billion to Underfunded FEMA

The US Senate will convene briefly tonight, Thursday, September 1, at 10:00 p.m., to vote on the emergency supplemental bill in support of relief efforts due to Hurricane Katrina. Vote will be done by Unanimous consent because most members are not in DC.

The bill provides an extra $10.5 billion for FEMA and $500,000 to the Defense Department to provide for relief efforts. The House of Represntatives will vote on the bill tomorrow morning.

FEMA needs the additional funds, as it has been significantly weakened by the Bush Administration over the past few years. Per the Independent Weekly newspaper in Durham, NC in September 2004....

"Bush administration policy changes and budget cuts, they say, are sapping FEMA's longterm ability to cushion the blow of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tornados, wildfires and other natural disasters.

Among emergency specialists, 'mitigation'--the measures taken in advance to minimize the damage caused by natural disasters--is a crucial part of the strategy to save lives and cut recovery costs. But since 2001, key federal disaster mitigation programs, developed over many years, have been slashed and tossed aside.

FEMA's Project Impact, a model mitigation program created by the Clinton administration, has been canceled outright. Federal funding of post-disaster mitigation efforts designed to protect people and property from the next disaster has been cut in half, and now, communities across the country must compete for pre-disaster mitigation dollars."

As I write this at about 8:30 PM EST, CNN is broadcasting live interviews from New Orlean's SuperDome in which people say they have not yet seen FEMA or any federal aid or rescue workers. No one has arrived to help. Thousands in the SuperDome have had no food or water for four days, and people are dying.

I have to tell you as I watch this.....it's hard not to weep over this tragedy, and get angry over the horribly misplaced moral and fiscal priorities of the Bush Administration.
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Related Articles: Article in 2004 Predicted New Orleans Storm Devastation - bush Budget Cutbacks Blamed for Flooding and The Bush Budget - Misplaced Priorities of a Compassionate Conservative.