WASHINGTON – The Homeland Security Appropriation bill that is headed for the president’s desk includes a provision permitting the Federal Emergency Management Agency to negotiate the transfer of approximately 12,000 emergency housing trailers, many of them to tribes.
The FEMA trailers were meant for Hurricane Katrina relief, but by law they could not be placed in a flood plain. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., approached the agency in March, only to learn the trailers could not legally be dispatched to a non-emergency setting. The need for housing in Indian country is severe, and the unused trailers have proved costly for the government to guard and maintain, according to Johnson’s communications director, Julianne Fisher.
The new law authorizes FEMA to enter discussions with the Interior Department about transferring the trailers to appropriate tribes, Fisher added.
Johnson stated in a release, “While these trailers are not ideal housing, they fill a need and give people a place to hang their hat. I’m glad my colleagues included this in the Homeland Security funding bill. It’s about time these trailers move out of Hope, Ark., and find a new home.”
The Homeland Security Appropriation is considered “must pass” among congressional leadership and it cannot be amended, having been through the conference committee process for ironing out differences between the Senate and House of Representatives versions of a bill. By all but unanimous consent on Capitol Hill, President Bush is considered certain to sign it.
