Tancredo: Don't let Louisiana broker aid

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Tancredo: Don't let Louisiana broker aid

By Dick Foster, Rocky Mountain News

September 8, 2005

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., asked House Speaker Dennis Hastert not to send federal disaster aid to officials in Louisiana, calling state and local government there incompetent and corrupt.

In a letter to Hastert on Wednesday, Tancredo urged the speaker to create a "bipartisan select committee" of members of Congress to oversee federal disaster spending in Louisiana.

"Given the abysmal failure of state and local officials in Louisiana to plan adequately for or respond to the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the city of New Orleans, and given the long history of public corruption in Louisiana, I hope the House will refrain from directly appropriating any funds . . . to either the state of Louisiana or the city of New Orleans," Tancredo wrote.

Tancredo lashed out at New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, both Democrats, as having "demonstrated mind-boggling incompetence in their lack of planning for and response to this disaster."

He issued a milder rebuke to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, accusing it of "bureaucratic ineptitude."

"It's a shame. Instead of offering constructive advice and assistance, a United States congressman is wasting our time with stereotypes and accusations," Brian Richardson, a spokesman for Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., told The Associated Press. "Louisiana will rebuild with or without Mr. Tancredo's help."

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