Norton Calls Special FEMA Hearing Friday to Ensure Most Katrina Victims Have Housing (5/22/09)
Norton Calls Special FEMA Hearing Friday to Ensure Most Vulnerable Katrina Victims Are Not Expelled from Housing with No Place to Go
May 22, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), chair, Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, tomorrow will convene a special hearing to resolve deep concerns that as many as 18,000 families, some of the most vulnerable victims of Hurricane Katrina, may be put out of transitional housing without adequate places to go. The hearing will be held, Friday, May 22, 10 a.m., Rayburn House Office Building, room 2167.
The Congresswoman said, "The situation we now face was both predictable and predicted. I have long expressed concern that those left in emergency housing would be the most vulnerable members of society, who may have had prior difficulties that have been exacerbated by the disaster. These residents cannot simply be turned out of FEMA housing. We must help them." The testimony that will be presented tomorrow paints a conflicting picture. Norton said, "Our federal and state witnesses describe a much improved situation on the ground in the Gulf from what we have seen in the past. However, other testimony and recent disturbing media reports indicate that there are families without a long-term housing solution facing eviction from emergency housing. In the hearing, we hope to ascertain whether these are isolated cases that may be symptomatic of broader issues still outstanding after the disaster."
Norton said that, by law, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) cannot make transitional housing assistance permanent, and people may have to go to whatever available housing is available and suitable. But, she added, "we don't turn people out of there emergency housing with nowhere to go."
Witnesses at the hearing will include David Garratt, acting deputy administrator, FEMA; Fred Tombar, senior advisor to the Secretary for Disaster Recovery Programs, Department of Housing and Urban Development; Paul Rainwater, executive director, Louisiana Recovery Authority; and Rt. Rev. Charles e. Jenkins III, 10th Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana.