GAO and Congress Agree: Katrina Recovery Mismanagement Abounds

GAO and Congress Agree: Katrina Recovery Mismanagement Abounds
Select Committee Report Calls Recovery Efforts "a Failure of Initiative"

Washington, Feb 16 -

Congressman Scott Garrett (R-Sussex) called yesterday's report by a bipartisan House panel "a revealing and valuable tool for planning future responses to both natural disasters and terrorist attacks."

"It appears that Congress' efforts to send aid to New Orleans and other affected Gulf Coast cities last September while well-intentioned, lacked the accountability and oversight to be effective," said Garrett, one of 11 House Members who voted against a second aid package last September. "It is a real shame that so many people have had to suffer and so many taxpayer dollars were wasted before we turned serious attention to our responsibilities for oversight."

Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Congressman Garrett joined Congress in sending $10.5 billion in emergency aid to the Gulf Coast to begin recovery and relief efforts there. Shortly thereafter, Congress passed an additional $52 billion aid package. Garrett voted against that package on the grounds that it lacked the necessary accountability and oversight to ensure that the aid would be used effectively and get to the people who needed it most.

"Regrettably, it turns out that my worst fears have been realized. Six months after the storm, hundreds of thousands of citizens remain without homes or jobs, without their most prized personal possessions or even hope," said Garrett. "Reports this week by the General Accounting Office and the House Select Committee demonstrate that hundreds of millions of dollars that could have been used to help them put their lives back together have been squandered because of a lack of government oversight."

A GAO audit of the recovery efforts this week revealed "weak or non-existent controls in the process that FEMA used to approve assistance payments that leaves the federal government vulnerable to fraud and abuse." Amongst other reports of fraud, the GAO reported that:

5,000 of the 11,000 people who got $2,000 debit cards from FEMA incorrectly got additional $2,000 credits by applying over the phone or Internet

Nearly $8 million was spent to refurbish an old Army base that was then determined to be too costly to operate as emergency housing and in the end only housed 20 people

More than 10,000 mobile homes are sitting empty in Hope, Arkansas and are now sinking into the soft ground

Up to 900,000 people who received aid under the emergency cash assistance program based their requests on duplicate or invalid Social Security numbers or false addresses or names

Instances of abuse of the debit cards intended for food and shelter include $400 massages, a $450 tattoo, and $150 worth of products at "Condoms to Go"

"Fraud and waste in the process are likely to cost the American taxpayers tens to hundreds of millions of dollars - this is money that could have been used to help real people in dire straits. Had there been appropriate oversight there would likely be far more Gulf state residents further along in putting their lives back together."

http://garrett.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=39631