The Bush administration was more concerned with getting good publicity from the media than with protecting the health of people affected by Hurricane Katrina, said the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee on Friday.
Rep. Bennie Thompson’s (D-Miss.) comments come in the wake of a report released this week by the Inspector General (IG) of the Homeland Security Department that faults the Bush administration for not moving families out of government-issued housing trailers with high levels of formaldehyde sooner.
“The Bush administration’s delayed action on testing these trailers is absolutely unacceptable,” said Thompson. “Clearly, the old FEMA
was more worried about media relations than they were about the health of the families they are charged with serving.”
Officials announced in early 2008 that nearly one-third of the trailers provided to the hurricane victims, two years prior, had significant formaldehyde problems. By allowing so much time to pass, the report states, the people in the trailers could experience health concerns.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/rep.-thompson-bush-cared-about-good-pr-after-katrina-2009-07-25.html