Congressman Harold Ford today said that the decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to pay the hotel costs for Hurricane Katrina evacuees until January 7, 2006 rather than cutting them off at December 1st is the right thing to do."With the holidays approaching, it was wrong for the Bush Administration to even think about ending this assistance in the first place. This should be the first step in making government work for Hurricane Katrina victims as they work to make their lives whole again," Ford said.
FEMA announced today that it will extend the deadline for Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Tennessee and seven other states contingent upon the state providing a plan outlining how it will evacuees into long term housing. Tennessee is one of the states with the largest number of Hurricane Katrina and Rita evacuees.
The decision comes the day after Ford asked the House and Senate leadership to bring legislation to the floor as soon as possible to extend the December 1, 2005 deadline to find new housing or lose their government assistance. Ford proposed paying for the assistance with a tax on oil companies that the Senate recently approved.
