LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Senate minority leader Harry Reid said Saturday he was “ashamed for our country” after visiting the thousands of FEMA-owned mobile homes lined up at Hope Airport that have yet to be used as shelters for hurricane victims on the Gulf Coast.
“I can’t imagine that we could have a sea of 11,000 mobile homes sitting there rotting while people around the country can’t find a place to live,” the Nevada Democrat said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has said that it was unable to put the trailers to use because federal regulations prohibit placing them in flood plains, and many of those needing shelter after the hurricanes are in areas classified as flood-prone.
Cost estimates for the trailers have ranged from $350 million to $800 million.
“I’m terribly mystified, disappointed and ashamed for our country,” said Reid, who visited the site with Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.
The two senators said they wrote a letter to President Bush urging him to sign an executive order for a temporary exemption from the flood-plain regulations.
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