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January 24, 2005
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Bush:
I respectfully request that you immediately remove Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response from his current position at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) given his failure to address agency fraud including a massive misallocation of recovery aid funds in Florida. As you are aware, there are several ongoing Federal investigations into disturbing reports of fraudulent reimbursements given to residents in Miami-Dade County, Florida following hurricane Frances. The reported fraud has cost the government over $30 million and can be described only as a debacle for an agency that was primarily responsible for helping the citizens of Florida rebuild their lives from one of the most destructive hurricane seasons in history.
As the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Under Secretary Brown coordinates federal disaster response and recovery operations and coordinates disaster activities and oversees the agency that has refused to accept responsibility for its glaring mistakes. While Mr. Brown and FEMA admit to $12 million in overpayments, they continue to refuse to own up to serious mistakes, blaming instead a "computer glitch" or un-attributable weather reports. Rather than leading the charge to correct the problems and help clear his agency's name, Under Secretary Brown has stymied investigations and inquiries into the fraud allegations. I am sure you agree that such a gross waste of taxpayer monies can not be taken lightly. This debacle has detracted from the invaluable work FEMA has carried out in areas that were actually affected by the hurricanes. Since he has been unwilling to take responsibility for the actions of his agency, I hope you will hold Under Secretary Brown responsible yourself.
I thank you in advance for your thoughtful consideration of my request.
Sincerely,
Robert Wexler
Member of Congress
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