Sun Herald, Biloxi
States know better than FEMA after disaster, Tulsi Gabbard tells South MS crowd
By Anita Lee
Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard represented President Donald Trump at the 20th anniversary commemoration of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, stressing the need to cut out the middleman, namely FEMA, for disaster recovery.
Former Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, serving his first term when Katrina hit, preceded Gabbard as a speaker before a crowd of hundreds, including U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, both Republicans.
After Katrina, Barbour worked with then-Sen. Thad Cochran, now deceased but then head of the Appropriations Committee, to secure $25.5 billion in federal funding for Mississippi’s recovery.
Gabbard told the crowd: “President Trump recognized this, and he’s driven these changes in FEMA to say to those of you who are here on the ground, who know what’s happening the best, you know what is needed more than any bureaucrat in Washington.
“And so the federal government should provide that direct support and that direct aid to the state, cut the bureaucracy and the red tape so that the right things and the right priorities and the right people are being served with those federal resources.”
Gabbard made the only mention of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. After 60,000 people lost their homes in Katrina, FEMA provided emergency relief funds for households and temporary housing. The agency also funded restoration or reconstruction of public buildings, piers and other destroyed structures, including the Gulfport harbor, where the commemoration was held.
When the Katrina commemoration ended, Gabbard descended the dais and spoke with members of the crowd. She huddled for a while with Barbour and the former first lady, Marsha Barbour, who spent the first 70 of 90 days after Katrina on the ground along the Mississippi Coast helping survivors.
Gabbard was not giving interviews, but did say in response to a quick question from the Sun Herald about FEMA. “The president’s position is very clear,” she said, “providing direct aid to states.”