Nicol Andrews

Marty has a huge heart, he is hardworking, a lover of FEMA, a lover of the mission of the agency.

It was the right thing to do. We helped thousands of families who were forced from their homes without basic necessities. To slow down that process in order to find out who is trying to cheat the system would have hurt those who the system is designed to help.

So far, FEMA has provided rental assistance for more than 500,000 families and housed more than 40,000 in travel trailers.

It's amazing that every state in the union embraced Katrina evacuees except the folks in Louisiana.

It's unfortunate that threats of violence would be made against anyone, as we all work together to recover from this disaster. The first priority is to protect and ensure the safety of FEMA workers. There are a lot of employees working hard . . . to help folks return to their homes and ensure they are receiving the assistance they are eligible for under the law.

We are doing what we can to help people keep close to home that want to stay close to home.

The challenge of moving people from short-term to long-term housing is one that we take very seriously. As the Dec. 15 deadline approached, we are aware of folks whose eligible applications are still in process and obviously we are not going to be putting anyone out on the street.

no automated way to coordinate quantities of commodities with the people available to accept and distribute them.

I think anyone whose life has been turned upside down by a disaster has been traumatized. We want to help as many people as we can and that's what we're trying to do.

The information that people provide us when they are in the midst of, or recovering from, a life-altering event includes Social Security number, income levels, very personal information. We take our charge to protect that information very seriously.

from 30 years' experience that these hurricanes are still largely unpredictable and can turn at a moment's notice.

We were under the assumption that in Louisiana, they would need substantial housing support and would be willing to receive manufactured housing. It's not a big mistake. We've been trying to give these away for six months.

I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that we're designed to make people whole when our job is to get them back on their feet.

We've been working around the clock sending FEMA personnel to the Scotia Prince and other cruise ships to make sure that every single family staying on board has received long-term housing assistance, or if they haven't, to get them signed up right away.

The occupants should be able to make the rent on their own with the federal assistance that is provided to them by FEMA.

There will not be a situation where folks in Rhode Island are having to scramble to find a new place to live by March 1.

As far as people can get away from the storm there will be places for them to go.

Since an effort like this has not been undertaken in the modern history of this country, I think we are about to learn how it will truly move forward. Historically, local decision makers have been the lead, and the federal government picks up the tab where the law allows.

Even FEMA, which is ostensibly coordinating the reconstruction effort, is hedging on who will pay for the effort and who will make the critical decisions. Since an effort like this has not been undertaken in the modern history of this country, I think we are about to learn how it will truly move forward, ... Historically, local decision makers have been the lead, and the federal government picks up the tab where the law allows.

We received a letter from the National Apartment Association in September making FEMA aware that more than 1 million apartments were ready to occupy across the country, so apparently there is plenty of supply.

We look forward to working with all of our partners in states across the country as we continue to help families in hotels and motels find longer-term housing solutions.

We're required by law to send the letters. We're required by law to receive 25 percent of this cost share, and obviously, we're going to be working closely with the state of Louisiana because of the circumstances.

They apparently just overlooked the fact that the veterinarians and the accommodations had to be written into the contract that the state was undertaking.

Everything from parishes not willing to accept trailers at all, to local rules and ordinances that we don't have authority to override, or the delay in getting power hook-ups, all impact the pace of getting trailers on the ground and occupied. The supply of trailers is not the issue we have plenty of trailers.

FEMA has a substantial challenge in balancing the need to get the money out quickly to those who are actually in need and sustaining public confidence in disaster programs by taking all possible steps to minimize fraud and abuse.