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THE ROLE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY IN GULF COAST REBUILDING AND RECOVERY EFFORTS FULL HEARING OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MAY 22, 2007 Serial No. 110–39 Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpoaccess.go/congress/index.html U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 48–914 PDF WASHINGTON : 2009 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 07:45 Jul 06, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 H:\DOCS\110-HRGS\110-39\48914.TXT HSEC PsN: DIANE Congress.#13 COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi, Chairman LORETTA SANCHEZ, California, PETER T. KING, New York EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts LAMAR SMITH, Texas NORMAN D. DICKS, Washington CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut JANE HARMAN, California MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana PETER A. DEFAZIO, Oregon TOM DAVIS, Virginia NITA M. LOWEY, New York DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of MIKE ROGERS, Alabama Columbia BOBBY JINDAL, Louisiana ZOE LOFGREN, California DAVID G. REICHERT, Washington SHEILA JACKSON-LEE, Texas MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN, U.S. Virgin CHARLES W. DENT, Pennsylvania Islands GINNY BROWN-WAITE, Florida BOB ETHERIDGE, North Carolina MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee JAMES R. LANGEVIN, Rhode Island GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida HENRY CUELLAR, Texas DAVID DAVIS, Tennessee CHRISTOPHER P. CARNEY, Pennsylvania YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York AL GREEN, Texas ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado JESSICA HERRERA-FLANIGAN, Staff Director & General Counsel ROSALINE COHEN, Chief Counsel MICHAEL TWINCHEK, Chief Clerk ROBERT O’CONNOR, Minority Staff Director (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 07:45 Jul 06, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6646 Sfmt 6646 H:\DOCS\110-HRGS\110-39\48914.TXT HSEC PsN: DIANE C O N T E N T S Page STATEMENTS The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress From the State of Mississippi, and Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 1 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 2 The Honorable Peter T. King, a Representative in Congress From the State of New York, Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland Security ............... 48 The Honorable Christopher P. Carney, a Representative in Congress From the State of Pennsylvania .................................................................................... 43 The Honorable Donna M. Christensen, a Representative in Congress From the U.S. Virgin Islands ........................................................................................ 50 The Honorable Charles W. Dent, a Representative in Congress From the State of Pennsylvania .......................................................................................... 37 The Honorable Bob Etheridge, a Representative in Congress From the State of North Carolina ................................................................................................. 38 The Honorable Al Green, a Representative in Congress From the State of Texas ..................................................................................................................... 46 The Honorable Bobby Jindal, a Representative in Congress From the State Louisiana .............................................................................................................. 59 The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, a Representative in Congress From the State of Texas ....................................................................................................... 52 The Honorable Nita M. Lowey, a Representative in Congress From the State of New York .......................................................................................................... 48 The Honorable David G. Reichert, a Representative in Congress From the State of Washington ............................................................................................. 42 The Honorable Ginny Brown-Waite, a Representative in Congress From the State of Florida ..................................................................................................... 3 WITNESSES Ms. Lezli Baskerville, Esq., President and CO, National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 17 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 19 Mr. John J. Castellani, President, Business Roundtable: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 4 Prepared Staement .............................................................................................. 6 Mr. Jeff Johnson, President and CEO, Truth is Power: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 32 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 33 Mr. Bryan McDonald, Director, Office of Recovery and Renewal, State of Mississippi: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 25 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 27 APPENDIX Additional Questions and Responses: Responses from Mr. John J. Castellani .............................................................. 63 Responses from Mr. Bryan McDonald ................................................................ 65 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 07:45 Jul 06, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\DOCS\110-HRGS\110-39\48914.TXT HSEC PsN: DIANE VerDate Nov 24 2008 07:45 Jul 06, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\DOCS\110-HRGS\110-39\48914.TXT HSEC PsN: DIANE THE ROLE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY IN GULF COAST REBUILDING AND RECOVERY EFFORTS Tuesday, May 22, 2007 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:10 a.m., in room 311, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Bennie G. Thompson [chair- man of the committee] presiding. Present: Representatives Thompson, DeFazio, Lowey, Jackson Lee, Christensen, Etheridge, Carney, Clarke, Green, Perlmutter, King, Lungren, Jindal, Reichert, McCaul, Dent and Brown-Waite. Chairman THOMPSON. The committee is meeting today to receive testimony on the role of Department of Homeland Security in the gulf coast rebuilding and recovery efforts. We are quickly approaching the 2-year anniversary of the Hurri- cane Katrina, and it has been over a year since Congress author- ized the bulk of its rebuilding aid for the region. The status of the affected gulf coast region is not encouraging. More than 350,000 homes were destroyed and another 140,000 or so sustained major damage, primarily in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. By one estimate, more than a million homes were damaged in Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. In New Orleans alone, the U.S. Corps of Engineers executed an average of 360 residential demolitions a month in 2006 but, in 2007, to date is still executing an average of 150 a month. As of July1, 2006, the U.S. Bureau of Census estimated only that about three-quarters of the pre-storm population has been restored to the New Orleans metropolitan region. School enrollment has continued to be far below storm levels. Public transportation recovery has been limited, with less than half of all routes open in New Orleans and less than one in five pre-Katrina busses operational. The labor force is only three-quarters of pre-storm levels in the New Orleans metro area. Many problems remain in the region, and for that reason, there is much work left to be done. The Federal Government’s response to Katrina varied. The Fed- eral Emergency Management Agency provided housing, rentals and trailers to more than 700,000 persons, though only one-fifth of the trailers requested by Orleans Parish was provided. FEMA also fur- nished hotel rooms through February 7th, 2006, for some of the new homeless. (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 07:45 Jul 06, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\DOCS\110-HRGS\110-39\48914.TXT HSEC PsN: DIANE 2 In early September of 2005, Congress authorized 62,000 and $3 billion for Katrina and Rita victim assistance. There have been numerous and bitter criticisms of the Federal response. In one of the most sobering ones, the Government Ac- countability Office said that Federal programs were in some ways flexible but sometimes not well coordinated and were not well co- ordinated with State governments. Non-governmental organizations responded promptly to citizens impacted by Katrina. The American Red Cross, Southern Baptist Convention, Salvation Army, Common Ground Collective and a number of others provided victims with food and water, raising more than $4 billion in donations from the public. There are a number of other people who have participated in that, and so we will continue to include them in the record, but we have a number of witnesses here today who

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