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amulPolitical post follows under the cut.
Dear Amul,
This past weekend I continued my "Give 'Em Hell Harry Red State
Tour" heading to Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.
The Americans I met repeatedly expressed to me their frustration with
the Bush Administration and the Republican-controlled Congress for
their dangerous incompetence that has made all Americans less secure
and less safe. Like American across the country, Gulf Coast
residents are frustrated with a President who has repeatedly pursued
flawed policies that fail to protect America and a rubber stamp
Republican Congress that refuses to do its job and hold the President
accountable.
Today I want to tell you what I saw in Arkansas.
At the Hope Airport there is a sea of 11,000 mobile homes set up for
the victims of Hurricane Katrina. These dwellings are costing FEMA
hundreds of millions of dollars; yet they remain empty even as
thousands remain homeless. FEMA has been unable to use the trailers
because regulations prohibit placing them in flood plains. Seeing
those trailers I was mystified, disappointed and appalled. And this
is just one example of dangerous mismanagement and costly
incompetence.
Last week, I wrote to President Bush urging him to sign an executive
order for a temporary exemption from the flood-plain regulations.
With the stroke of his pen, he could give flood victims homes, yet he
chooses to do nothing. In fact right now in Pass Christian,
Mississippi, more than 100 hurricane victims are living in tents. Are
they better off?
For the past two weeks I have written you about the lack of oversight
that Republicans in Congress conduct on this administration. The
shocking situation in Arkansas is yet another example of this unmet
need. Last week you wrote more than 13,000 letters to the editor.
Lets bring that number up to 20,000.
Write a letter to the editor demanding that the Republican Congress
conduct more oversight of the administration by visiting:
http://giveemhellharry.com/page/speakout/NSA
Good Congressional oversight protects America and it is long past
time that the Republican Congress, in particular the House and Senate
Intelligence Committee stop protecting the Administration at the
expense of the security of the American people. On matters of
national security, Americans expect their government to have a record
of accomplishment, but today, sadly, our government is known more for
its consistent misleading dangerous incompetence and leaders who have
fallen asleep at the switch.
We saw it with Katrina, where warnings about the storm's potential
devastation were ignored at the highest levels. We saw it in the
Dubai ports deal, where such an important national security decision
was left to underlings and bureaucrats. And we see it in the
decisions made in Washington about Iraq, where our troops are bravely
fulfilling their mission but their civilian leaders are letting them
down.
These mistakes have had severe consequences for our nation.
Incompetence has made our country less safe and less secure. It has
stretched our military too thin and taken a great toll on our troops,
active as well as guard and reserve, and their families. It has
weakened our homeland defense, and along the Gulf Coast, uprooted
millions of lives and devastated the economy.
Thank you,
Harry Reid
</lj-cut
Dear Amul,
This past weekend I continued my "Give 'Em Hell Harry Red State
Tour" heading to Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.
The Americans I met repeatedly expressed to me their frustration with
the Bush Administration and the Republican-controlled Congress for
their dangerous incompetence that has made all Americans less secure
and less safe. Like American across the country, Gulf Coast
residents are frustrated with a President who has repeatedly pursued
flawed policies that fail to protect America and a rubber stamp
Republican Congress that refuses to do its job and hold the President
accountable.
Today I want to tell you what I saw in Arkansas.
At the Hope Airport there is a sea of 11,000 mobile homes set up for
the victims of Hurricane Katrina. These dwellings are costing FEMA
hundreds of millions of dollars; yet they remain empty even as
thousands remain homeless. FEMA has been unable to use the trailers
because regulations prohibit placing them in flood plains. Seeing
those trailers I was mystified, disappointed and appalled. And this
is just one example of dangerous mismanagement and costly
incompetence.
Last week, I wrote to President Bush urging him to sign an executive
order for a temporary exemption from the flood-plain regulations.
With the stroke of his pen, he could give flood victims homes, yet he
chooses to do nothing. In fact right now in Pass Christian,
Mississippi, more than 100 hurricane victims are living in tents. Are
they better off?
For the past two weeks I have written you about the lack of oversight
that Republicans in Congress conduct on this administration. The
shocking situation in Arkansas is yet another example of this unmet
need. Last week you wrote more than 13,000 letters to the editor.
Lets bring that number up to 20,000.
Write a letter to the editor demanding that the Republican Congress
conduct more oversight of the administration by visiting:
http://giveemhellharry.com/page/speakout/NSA
Good Congressional oversight protects America and it is long past
time that the Republican Congress, in particular the House and Senate
Intelligence Committee stop protecting the Administration at the
expense of the security of the American people. On matters of
national security, Americans expect their government to have a record
of accomplishment, but today, sadly, our government is known more for
its consistent misleading dangerous incompetence and leaders who have
fallen asleep at the switch.
We saw it with Katrina, where warnings about the storm's potential
devastation were ignored at the highest levels. We saw it in the
Dubai ports deal, where such an important national security decision
was left to underlings and bureaucrats. And we see it in the
decisions made in Washington about Iraq, where our troops are bravely
fulfilling their mission but their civilian leaders are letting them
down.
These mistakes have had severe consequences for our nation.
Incompetence has made our country less safe and less secure. It has
stretched our military too thin and taken a great toll on our troops,
active as well as guard and reserve, and their families. It has
weakened our homeland defense, and along the Gulf Coast, uprooted
millions of lives and devastated the economy.
Thank you,
Harry Reid
</lj-cut