Pelosi and Reid Demand End to Culture of Cronyism and Corruption That Has Hindered Relief Efforts for Katrina Survivors

Pelosi and Reid Demand End to Culture of Cronyism and Corruption That Has Hindered Relief Efforts for Katrina Survivors

Thursday, September 29, 2005
Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider

Washington, D.C. - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi joined Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid at a news conference this afternoon to discuss how the Republicans' culture of corruption has contributed to their failed efforts to provide relief to survivors of Hurricane Katrina:

"Today, exactly one month after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Leader Reid and I are here to say that after a failed initial response to Katrina, the Bush Administration and Republican Leadership in Congress continue to fail to provide for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. The priority of Republicans has been to help their friends at the expense of helping people. They are out of touch with the people of the Gulf Coast region who struggle to find housing, jobs, and schools for their children.

"Today, a month after the storm, less than a quarter of the relief money appropriated by Congress has reached the hundreds of thousands of families in need. Shamefully, 100,000 households have received absolutely no assistance from FEMA at all. The needs of the Katrina survivors - health care, housing, economic security and education - are not being met.

"Meanwhile, the Katrina response remains plagued by cronyism; cronyism that gives jobs to the friends of the Bush Administration without qualifications for those jobs and cronyism that gives contracts to their corporate friends without bidding. In fact, in the days following Katrina, Republicans teamed up with Halliburton and other contractors to have a ‘Katrina Reconstruction Summit' in the Hart Senate Building to help government contractors profit from relief funds. Shouldn't this be under different auspices?

"In terms of health care, instead of cutting red tape to help victims get the health care they need, the White House is pursuing a confusing and limited bureaucratic approach that leaves many survivors without access to care at all. Democrats support a bipartisan, simple, and fair solution to cut red tape and allow Medicaid to provide temporary health care coverage to survivors in whatever state they are living in now.

"In terms of housing, a full three weeks after Katrina hit, fewer than 13,000 of the 200,000 families in need of housing assistance have received any assistance at all. Victims need housing now. We cannot allow families to continue to live in emergency shelters. Democrats have proposed using emergency housing vouchers to get people in homes immediately, and we support funding for construction and repair of affordable housing in the disaster area to ensure families have homes in the long-term.

"In terms of economic security, instead of giving hope to the families of Katrina and now Rita, that have been hard hit in this area, the Bush Administration is making it harder for Hurricane victims to make ends meet. Instead of paying the prevailing wage, which is standard for the region, they have waived that requirement so contractors can pay a lower wage. Poverty was central to some of the tragedy, and instead of alleviating poverty, this Administration, by Presidential decree, has said they can pay a lower wage to these workers to rebuild the area.

"Democrats want to give people the opportunities and security they need to rebuild their lives - by requiring federal contractors pay prevailing wage, increasing and extending Unemployment Insurance benefits, and ensuring that the burden does not fall upon hard-hit states by providing 100 percent federal funding.

"In terms of education, rather than helping get children back to school, the Bush Administration is using this tragedy to advance its controversial agenda for education vouchers. The Gulf Coast Region is no place for political opportunism or ideological experimentation.

"Democrats instead, have proposed a comprehensive plan to get children back to school by providing resources and assistance to school districts and by providing student loans for relief.

"One month after Katrina, Republicans are out of touch with the needs of the Hurricane survivors. The American people expect better of us.

"Republicans in Washington D.C. are plagued by a culture of corruption. An ethical cloud hangs over the Capitol. The House Republican Leader has been indicted, the Senate Republican Leader is under investigation, the President's chief political adviser is under investigation, the White House's chief procurement officer was arrested last week, and the web that entangles the Republicans in the House, the Senate, and in the White House, Jack Abramoff, has been investigated and indicted. This culture or corruption must stop.

"Together, America can do better."

http://democraticleader.house.gov/press/articles.cfm?pressReleaseID=1204