Norton to Hold First Full Hearing on Post-Katrina Mississippi

Press Release

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, will hold a hearing tomorrow, Thursday, June 19, 2008, entitled, Moving Mississippi Forward: Ongoing Progress and Remaining Problems, to examine recovery programs and policies the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has used to provide federal relief and outreach to the people and communities of Mississippi, since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The hearing, at 10:00 AM in room 2167 of the Rayburn House Office Building, is the first full hearing devoted to Mississippi alone, since the Katrina devastations. It is a follow-up to Norton's investigative hearings held last year, to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of FEMA.

"Understandably since Katrina, much of the press coverage has been about Louisiana, and New Orleans, in particular," Norton said. "When a big, legendary American city gets wiped out, many will focus there. However, our Subcommittee has been focused on the entire Gulf region and all parts of it that were hit. Entire sections of Mississippi, too, were devastated and Mississippi deserves and needs its own hearing." Norton said that the Subcommittee is particularly concerned about reports that 67 of Mississippi's 82 counties still are using trailers and whether funds are being used to help residents recover permanent housing.

H.R. 3247, the Katrina and Rita Recovery Facilitation Act that Norton introduced last year, passed in the House and is headed for the floor of the Senate. The bill was designed specifically for the Gulf Coast in order to provide additional federal relief for the continuing problems that make day-to-day life difficult for Gulf Coast residents and prevent them from returning to permanent homes. Witnesses scheduled to testify before the committee include: Rep. Gene Taylor; Rep. Travis Childers; Rep. Bennie Thompson; Rep. Chip Pickering; Michael Womack, Director, Mississippi State Emergency Management Agency; Sidney Melton, Director, Mississippi Transitional Recovery Office, FEMA; Tommy Longo, Mayor, City of Waveland; Marsha Meeks Kelly, Executive Director, Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service; Sherry-Lea Bloodworth; Michael Huseth, Executive Director, Lutheran Episcopal Services.

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