03/06/2009

Cabinet Members Take Tour of New Orleans 03-06-2009 8:31 AM (New Orleans, LA) -- U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Sean Donovan toured the New Orleans area by bus Thursday to get a look at the status of recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Napolitano told reporters she wondered why the recovery process has taken so long and knows it's the same question being asked by local residents. Napolitano expressed dismay at the bureaucratic red tape involved in getting federal recovery dollars to areas that need rebuilding after the 2005 storm. She announced FEMA's agreement to fully fund replacement costs for storm-damaged police and fire stations in the Crescent City, as well as more funding to repair a local high school and the water treatment facility in St. Bernard Parish. Accompanying Napolitano and Donovan was President Obama's nominee to head FEMA, Craig Fugate [[FEW-gate]].