Louisiana Sen. Landrieu Convenes Katrina, Rita Red Tape Hearing

2007-07-10

Source: Bayou Buzz

One of the major complaints concerning the rebuilding process related to Katrina and Rita have been the very slow mechanism in cutting through the red tape of government. In part, that is one of the reasons for the lack of recovery since the storm, now eighteen months ago.

U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu on behalf of the Senate Homeland Security Disaster Recovery Subcommittee hearing will be convening a hearing on Tuesday to help understand this process and to determine what is going right, and what is going wrong.

In a news release today, Landrieu announced that she will chair a hearing to investigate the process localities must go through to complete Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) project worksheets, a requirement for receiving federal funds. According to Landrieu's office, as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, there are 23,000 public works projects in Louisiana, and each one requires complicated, time consuming steps in order to receive FEMA funds. The title of the hearing is : "FEMA's Project Worksheets: Addressing A Prominent Obstacle To Gulf Coast Rebuilding"

Witnesses scheduled to testify before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Disaster Recover Subcommittee include elected officials from Louisiana, a representative from Governor Kathleen Blanco's office and a FEMA representative.

Scheduled witnesses on Panel One: C. Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans; Kevin Davis, President of St. Tammany Parish; Henry 'Junior' Rodriguez, President of St. Bernard Parish.

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