Religions > Atheism > OT: Mississippi Senator says 'we should never have put' FEMA in DHS
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"stoney" |
| Date: |
16 Sep 2005 09:56:25 AM |
| Object: |
OT: Mississippi Senator says 'we should never have put' FEMA in DHS |
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9353838/
Lott on Miss. recovery, FEMA mistake
Mississippi Senator says 'we should never have put' FEMA in DHS
TRANSCRIPT
MSNBC
Joe Scarborough
Host, ‘Scarborough Country’
BILOXI, Miss. -- In Mississippi, since the landfall of Hurricane
Katrina, things have been very bad. Unfortunately the feds have still
yet to arrive. FEMA still isn't here, again, with any real presence.
The first day I came to Mississippi, I was expecting to see aid
workers. I was expecting to see the National Guard. I was expecting
to see FEMA all across this region.
They still aren't out in full force. And, again, all I can do is
compare it to what I saw in my hometown of Pensacola, Florida, where
there were troops and boots on the ground almost immediately after
Hurricane Ivan passed through our region this time last year.
Well, another person that is very concerned, upset, almost angry,
about what has been going on in Mississippi over the past several
weeks is Mississippi Senator Trent Lott.
And I asked Senator Lott on Wednesday in an interview how he and his
fellow Mississippi citizens were handling the crisis.
To read an excerpt from the interview, continue to the text below. To
watch the video, click on the "Launch" button to the right.
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R) MISSISSIPPI: Well, first of all, we are doing OK.
But, more importantly, we are concerned about the people there in
Biloxi and Pascagoula and all along the Gulf Coast.
In fact, as you go further and further west, Joe, as you know, it gets
really bad. But that point in Biloxi where you have been good enough
to come -- and we appreciate the fact that you have come and made sure
that the country understands that Mississippi is hurting and needs
help, and we need it quickly. And it's helped us. And you have
worked with us, working with church groups. And they have gotten a
lot of good things to the people.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Senator, it's not-it's not time to play the blame
game right now.
LOTT: No.
SCARBOROUGH: I agree with that.
LOTT: Yes.
SCARBOROUGH: A lot of people have said that.
At the same time, what bothers me is that we have seen, by getting
supplies over here from our group from Florida, the best way to do it
is not through governmental groups or huge bureaucracies. It's
through faith-based groups.
LOTT: Absolutely.
SCARBOROUGH: I talked to your wife on the phone.
LOTT: Oh, yes.
SCARBOROUGH: She is a real trooper.
LOTT: Yes.
SCARBOROUGH: But this group that she is working in has a rule. It
doesn't stay on the floor more than three hours.
LOTT: Absolutely.
SCARBOROUGH: Why is it that church groups can do this so much more
effectively than our federal or state or local governments?
LOTT: Because that's the uniqueness of America.
The first-responders really are always the American people. They will
rise to the occasion, any occasion. There are trucks headed from Ohio
and Illinois today to help the people there. And, basically, they are
coming through church groups, to church groups, where they are quickly
moved to the people that need it. I don't know why the federal
government can't do the same thing.
But it is a problem. And we have learned over the past, certainly the
last week, we are going to try to find where the problems are by
talking to the mayors, the supervisors, individuals. Then we are
going to find the solution to getting it direct to the people. And we
are going around a lot of the bureaucracy.
But the federal government is going to have to come to terms with
doing a better job. One other point. Last night, I want to a
reception to thank a group called Diageo. It's an international
company from London. They moved a giant generator into Pass
Christian, Mississippi, within 24 hours after the hurricane winds died
down. And they have been running the water system in Pass Christian
ever since, private company. Nobody told them where to go. They
came. They did the job.
And when I asked the chairman of the company, how can you do that, but
the government hasn't been able to do it, his response was, I can't
answer that, because it would incriminate too many people. But it can
be done. And we are learning. We are getting the bureaucracy, the
wheels turning a little bit. We made a little progress on the mobile
home issue. But we still need a lot more, and we need to get them to
the people.
'We should never have put FEMA in the Department of Homeland Security.
We went along with that. And I guess we will have to go back and try
to rewrite the history, but that should be an independent agency
reporting only to the president of the United States.'
— Trent Lott
Mississippi Senator
SCARBOROUGH: Let me ask you about the president. I was really
pleased to see yesterday he stepped up. He said, the buck stops here.
He is going to be talking tomorrow night to America. What do you want
to hear from President Bush?
LOTT: I want him to, you know, show the kind of compassion that I
know he feels. I want him to reassure the people that the big part of
this fight is ahead of us, and he is going to make sure that the
federal government does a better job, does its part. Look, we are all
to blame to a degree. Part of the problem, we found out, is the laws
on the books that Congress passed. We should never have put FEMA in
the Department of Homeland Security.
We went along with that. And I guess we will have to go back and try
to rewrite the history, but that should be an independent agency
reporting only to the president of the United States. We let it kind
of slip off the edge of the board there, and he needs to also make
sure that we understand he is going to help us in the short term, the
mid term, and we are going to do some really important things to make
this not just reconstruction, but renaissance, and how he is going to
make sure that happens.
I think that would buoy the spirits of the people of Mississippi,
Louisiana, Alabama, and America.
Catch 'Scarborough Country' each weeknight at 10 p.m. ET
© 2005 MSNBC Interactive
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Hello, theocracy with a fundamentalist US Supreme
Court who will ensure church and state are joined
at the hip like clergy and altar boys.
America 1776-Jan 2001 RIP
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
desire at last and the White House will be adorned
by a downright moron." --- H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
Religion is the original war crime.
-Michelle Malkin (Feb 26, 2005)
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| User: "Mark K. Bilbo" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Mississippi Senator says 'we should never have put' FEMA in DHS |
16 Sep 2005 10:06:59 AM |
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In <hvmli1hjphreot9l10e8ma8ohj3red95c2@4ax.com>, stoney <stoney@the.net>
wrote:
The first
day I came to Mississippi, I was expecting to see aid workers. I was
expecting to see the National Guard. I was expecting to see FEMA all
across this region.
Yeah? So were a lot of people...
--
Mark K. Bilbo
--------------------------------------------------
"We're angry, Mr. President, and we'll be angry long
after our beloved city and surrounding parishes have
been pumped dry. Our people deserved rescuing.
Many who could have been were not. That's to the
government's shame."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?F2D511CBB
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| User: "stoney" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Mississippi Senator says 'we should never have put' FEMA in DHS |
18 Sep 2005 04:05:24 PM |
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On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 10:06:59 -0500, "Mark K. Bilbo"
<alt-atheism@org.webmaster> wrote:
In <hvmli1hjphreot9l10e8ma8ohj3red95c2@4ax.com>, stoney <stoney@the.net>
wrote:
The first
day I came to Mississippi, I was expecting to see aid workers. I was
expecting to see the National Guard. I was expecting to see FEMA all
across this region.
Yeah? So were a lot of people...
But Bush deliberately engineered a larger disaster.
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Hello, theocracy with a fundamentalist US Supreme
Court who will ensure church and state are joined
at the hip like clergy and altar boys.
America 1776-Jan 2001 RIP
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
desire at last and the White House will be adorned
by a downright moron." --- H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
Religion is the original war crime.
-Michelle Malkin (Feb 26, 2005)
.
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Mississippi Senator says 'we should never have put' FEMA in DHS |
19 Sep 2005 12:15:16 AM |
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In article <ujlri1d3m1ho0n87h8rrkq8o0btck9gsh2@4ax.com>,
stoney <stoney@the.net> wrote:
On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 10:06:59 -0500, "Mark K. Bilbo"
<alt-atheism@org.webmaster> wrote:
In <hvmli1hjphreot9l10e8ma8ohj3red95c2@4ax.com>, stoney <stoney@the.net>
wrote:
The first
day I came to Mississippi, I was expecting to see aid workers. I was
expecting to see the National Guard. I was expecting to see FEMA all
across this region.
Yeah? So were a lot of people...
But Bush deliberately engineered a larger disaster.
Bush is the Master of Disaster.
--
John Hachmann aa #1782
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"
-Voltaire
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| User: "Adam H." |
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| Title: Re: OT: Mississippi Senator says 'we should never have put' FEMA in DHS |
16 Sep 2005 11:48:13 AM |
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On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 10:06:59 -0500, "Mark K. Bilbo"
<alt-atheism@org.webmaster> wrote:
In <hvmli1hjphreot9l10e8ma8ohj3red95c2@4ax.com>, stoney <stoney@the.net>
wrote:
The first
day I came to Mississippi, I was expecting to see aid workers. I was
expecting to see the National Guard. I was expecting to see FEMA all
across this region.
Yeah? So were a lot of people...
See, the problem is you guys got a Management Agency and what you
actually needed what a Response Agency.
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