Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Republican Leader John L. Mica (R-FL) and Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management Subcommittee Ranking Member Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) sent this letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) highlighting the high costs FEMA is paying to store and maintain over 100,000 tainted housing units and the need for the agency to improve management of its disaster housing program.
The letter urges FEMA to:
- Expedite the disposal of excess housing units;
- Reduce costs and improve the management and accounting of actual expenditures;
- Evaluate more cost-effective housing strategies for future disasters; and
- Provide the committee with any recommendations on changes to law that would assist FEMA in cutting costs and improving accountability with the current or future inventories of temporary housing units.
Committee Republicans today also released a staff report on the need to improve and prevent further government waste in the FEMA disaster housing program. The release of the staff report coincided with a similar report to FEMA by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.