FEMA not the master of disaster

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) submitted a strategy plan which was a year overdue to the Disaster Recovery Subcommittee, according to Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.). Landrieu added that not only was the strategy late but key annexes of the report, required by Congress, were nothing but blank pages.

In a hearing to discuss FEMA’s lack of an effective strategy for housing large numbers of citizens displaced by disaster, Landrieu said that FEMA’s failure to meet strategy needs was “absolutely unacceptable.” Landrieu noted that, after Hurricane Katrina and Rita, FEMA ordered travel trailers for people to live in. She cited reports that the trailers were full of formaldehyde and this caused great concern.

When asked why the strategy report was late and incomplete, Admiral Harvey Johnson Jr., Deputy Administrator of FEMA, said that FEMA would not have produced such a good report a few days ago. Johnson also said that the strategy report was late because of FEMA’s desire to produce a quality product, to be thoughtful in how the strategy could be accomplished and to be “truly collaborative” with agencies such as the National Advisory Council, Federal Departments and Agencies and the general public. Johnson would offer no definite deadline for the submission for the finalized strategy other than “early fall.”

Johnson explained the blank pages in the report were present because Landrieu was looking at a draft of the strategy and promised that the final publication would have all the blank pages filled in. Johnson said that the several other pages in the draft strategy offered a good foundation and compensated for the blank pages of the annex. In what seemed to be a rhetorical question, Landrieu asked why the 325 witnesses called, 22 public hearings and 833,000 pages of information gathered by the Congress were not good enough a foundation to allow for a complete strategy.

White House Gaggle

Briefer: White House Press Secretary Dana Perino

Schedule:

The President had his normal briefings this morning. At 10.30 am, the President and Mrs. Bush will participate in the signing of H.J Res. 93, the Renewal of Import Restrictions on Burman and in the signing of H.R 3890, the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta’s Anti-Democratic Efforts). At 10.45 am, President Bush signs H.R. 1553, the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2008. This afternoon at 1.25 pm, the President departs the White House heading to Ohio. He will make remarks on energy and the economy at the Lincoln Electric Company Euclid, Ohio. At 5.45 pm, President Bush attends a Congressional Trust 2008 Reception at a private residence at Gates Mills, Ohio.

There will no be briefing today

Energy

Perino said that Congress goes on their recess by the end of the week leavening several proposals in the air, including opening energy resources such as ANWR, off shore drilling, oil shale, and streamlining opening refineries. She also said that the President will discuss all of this in his remarks later today. In the President’s cabinet meeting tomorrow they will discuss energy needs, which are the most important needs facing Americans today. Asked several questions about people driving less, Perino said that this shows laws of supply and demand, she also said that the Administration will look for way to bring the prices down. When asked about the highway trust fund, she said that the President has a way to address it in the budget and she does not believe that the way to deal with it is raising taxes.

Iraq

Asked about the uptick in Iraq, Perino said that there was a lot less violence and a need for flexibility with the military, and that we still have a determined enemy. She also said that high profile attacks using female bomber is deplorable.

Housing Bill

Dana said: “ At some time it is going to irresponsible if they don’t sent it [the housing bill]” She continued to say, that they need to send the bill to us and again pushing the White House concept of the- do-nothing-Congress, they are back in town over a long weekend recess. She also said that “you can’t put a timetable when the housing market rebounds”.

Serbia

When asked about US efforts to catch Karadzic, Perino said that over the years we have been supporting of efforts, “that is all I can say”.


Burma

Dana said that sanctions can work and the goal is to squeeze the people that are pressing people and not the people.

White House Gaggle

Briefer: Dana Perino

President’s Schedule:

President Bush had his normal briefings at 8 am this morning. At 11 am the President will make a statement on the 10th Anniversary of the International Religious Freedom Act, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. At 1.30 pm, the President will make a statement in the Rose Garden on the energy needs of the country, and the importance of expanding exploration for resources here at home. The President will announce that he has decided to lift the executive ban on oil exploration in America’s outer continental shelf, and he will again call on Congress to lift its legislative ban.
Perino also made remarks about the news of former Press Secretary Tony Snow who passed away on Saturday. She thanks everyone on behalf of the Snow family for the outpour of support, and quoted the President: “Tony Snow was a great friend to everybody at the White House. “ Perino also announced the funeral services for Thursday July 17, 2008 to be held at 10 am at the Basilica at Catholic University. The President will be attending this service.

Oil Exploration

When asked about what effect lifting the ban will really have, Perino went back to June 18th when the President called upon Congress to come together in finding solutions, “to turn both keys at the same time”, as Perino described it. She talked about the Democratic leaders in Congress who have not shown a willingness to move forward. “They haven’t even held a single hearing,“ Perino said. The White House is now hoping that lifting the ban, will help spur Congress to act. Both the legislative and the executive ban need to be lifted in order to them to be able to move forward and develop more sources of oil in our own country. Perino said that they are aware that it is going to take some time; there is no quick fix, but that we are in a transitional period that requires action. “The sooner they act the sooner, the faster we can send a signal to the market that we are serious, “ she said
When asked if lifting the executive ban in itself does anything, Perino said that it doesn’t; Congress has to act as well.

Perino was asked to go over what the White House position is on what Democrats are saying in terms of the oil fields that are already available to oil companies off shore; in her response she to the “Use it or lose it” provision, she referred to the oil companies and what they have to go through from the time they get a lease through permits and other ordeals in order to see if there is any existing oil all in the ground. “ It doesn’t make economic sense to think that anyone is sitting on extra oil that they have right now, that they could be selling, “ Perino said.

Perino was asked questions in regards to Treasury Secretary Paulson who made a statement yesterday about expanding credit, and if this is propping up share prices for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, that could put taxpayers money at risk; and she said that the announcements yesterday talked about actions that are being taken to prevent any taxpayers money to be at stake. Perino also stated that neither of the companies has taken advantage of the borrowing opportunities and both of their regulators have stated that the companies are well capitalized, so “this is sending message to what is a nervous market that the government will be there if it is needed.” Perino continued to say that the Administration believes that these should continue to be shareholder owned companies and “we hope that the action Secretary Paulson took yesterday will be quickly taken up by Congress.”

Housing Bill

When asked if the White House needs to drop any objections in order to speed up the process for the bill to pass, Perino said that they feel that they are in a good position the way it is. Perino also mentioned a key of the Senate bill where it calls for an independent regulator at the GSE something that the President has been calling for since years back. She said that the Administration got good feedback from members of Congress yesterday so they have hopes that it will get done quickly.

Coming down hard on illegal immigrants

A discussion on U.S. immigration was held at the Library of Congress. According to panelists, two thirds of Americans feel that the administration is not doing enough to deal with the approximate 12 million illegal immigrants residing and working in the U.S.

J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said that the large numbers of illegal immigrants act as a burden on institutions such as courts and overtax border police resources. To put the situation into perspective, Bonner claimed that when a single border patrol agent is taken off the line for three hours to carry out arrests, 25 miles of the border are left wide open. Bonner also noted that illegal immigrants tend to flock to areas which offer sanctuary or ignore the immigrant situation completely.

In addition to the rising crime problem attributed to illegal immigrant gang violence in Prince William County, Corey Stewart, president of the its board of advisers in Virginia, cited problems such as overcrowding in school systems and hospital emergency rooms. When asked about the impact of increasing housing costs if the cheap labor population decreased, Representative Michael C. Burgess (R-Texas) pointed out that the increased housing costs would be a ‘one time thing’ but the costs of education and medical assistance would increase ‘in perpetuity’ if the U.S. ignored the illegal immigrant situation.

Keeping the roof over low income heads

Chairman Barnett “Barney” Frank (D-N.J.) emphasized the importance of affordable housing preservation and protection of low income tenants to curb the rising number of homeless people in America at a hearing held before the House Financial Services Committee.

According to Representative Al Green (D-Tex.), a quarter of all homeless people are veterans. Green said that the Section 8 Rental Voucher Program which seeks to increase affordable housing choices for low income families by letting them choose privately owned rental housing did not meet the needs of the people. He said that authorities would suspend the housing waiting list such that people who urgently needed housing would not have empirical records of how long they had been without housing. Green said that one-for-one replacement was important especially in places like New Orleans and Louisiana.

Witness Shaun Donovan, commissioner of the City of New York Department of Housing Preservation and Development, said that America now faces the problem of housing availability. Donovan called for the commitment of the federal government. He also mentioned that around 35,000 housing units were nationally covered by Rental Assistance Payment (RAP) and Rent Supplement programs but when those contracts expire in the next ten years, that significant number of affordable housing units would be lost.