Lieberman, Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano Tour Hurricane Damage in Connecticut

Press Release

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., joined Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano Thursday in an aerial tour of coastal towns hard hit by Hurricane Sandy.

Lieberman, Napolitano, Governor Dannel Malloy, and other members of the Connecticut Congressional delegation also joined the Secretary at a FEMA operated Disaster Recovery Center in Bridgeport.

"We appreciate the Secretary's attention to Connecticut and other states experiencing flooding, power outages, and other hardships due to Hurricane Sandy," Lieberman said. "As the department's leader, Secretary Napolitano oversees FEMA, which has been so instrumental in helping communities up and down the eastern seaboard prepare for and recover from the storm.

"Since its disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, FEMA has steadily rebuilt itself into a stronger, more capable agency, as envisioned by the Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, which originated in our bipartisan Homeland Security Committee and was later enacted by Congress.

"FEMA's turn-around is a good news story of a troubled federal agency that bounced back with the help of its Congressional overseers. Secretary Napolitano's leadership has been instrumental in FEMA's revitalization."

Source