Johnson Blasts FEMA
Johnson Blasts FEMA
Senator told Empty Trailers to Remain Vacant in Arkansas Field
U.S. Senator Tim Johnson today received word that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will keep unused trailers sitting in a Hope, Arkansas airport field instead of moving them to Indian Country, where 90,000 families remain homeless or under-housed. Johnson had requested the trailers be relocated so they could provide for some immediate good rather than remaining vacant.
"I'm disappointed that FEMA would choose to leave these trailers literally stuck in the mud," said Johnson. "Bureaucracy is getting in the way of simple common-sense. We could use these trailers in Indian Country and by doing so, make lemonade from lemons. FEMA apparently prefers rotten fruit."
In March, Johnson wrote to the head of FEMA, Under Secretary David Paulison, asking them to send the new mobile homes where they can be used.
"FEMA must begin doing intelligent problem-solving for distressed Americans. Providing these homes to Native communities would be a much-needed step towards serving communities in crisis and a thoughtful deployment of federal resources. Rather than allow these homes to go to waste they can be used immediately in Native communities not only for housing but also as additional classrooms for reservation schools, whose facilities are in desperate need of repair," Johnson said in his March letter to Paulison.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has estimated that the backlog in repair and construction needs for Bureau-funded school facilities is nearly $1 billion -- approximately the same amount spent by FEMA on homes that cannot be used in the states hit by Katrina.
Approximately 90,000 Native American families are homeless or under-housed. An estimated 200,000 housing units are needed immediately in Indian country to fill their housing needs. The approximately 20,000 homes purchased for Katrina relief that are currently unused present an opportunity for FEMA to turn a problem into much needed assistance to other Americans in distress. Johnson contends FEMA should deliver these homes to Native American communities where they can be used immediately.
More than 32% of households on American Indian reservations are overcrowded, compared with just 4.9% of all American households. Native communities lack funds and infrastructure to build or rehabilitate needed homes.
http://johnson.senate.gov/~johnson/releases/200605/2006522B21.html