The Bush Administration: Criminally Negligent or Negligent Criminals?

Some things never change with George W. Bush and his corporate cronies. Prepare to be literally sickened reading this, as the following residents of New Orleans post-Katrina were, by the Bush Administration.

Chairman Waxman: "Another FEMA official wrote, the office of general counsel has advised 'We do not do testing, because it would imply FEMA's ownership of this issue.' Early in the process, due to the perseverance of a pregnant mother with a four month old child, FEMA did test one occupied trailer. The results showed that their trailer had formaldehyde levels 75 times higher than the maximum workplace exposure levels recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The mother evacuated the trailer. FEMA then stopped testing other trailers."

Paul Stewart, a travel trailer occupant from December 2005 to March 2006, gives opening testimony: "One morning I found our pet cockatiel was very lethargic, unable to move, he was regurgitating, unable to keep his balance. I immediately called a veterinarian who told us to get him out of the camper immediately... The veterinarian told us that the camper was probably making him sick. He said there are many chemicals inside the camper, especially a new one. He said that formaldehyde was the likely cause. He said if we don't get the bird out of there, the bird will probably die. He explained to us that birds, much like children, breathe much more rapidly than adults, and they take in much more of the toxins that are inside the camper, and that he's going to show symptoms before we do, but that we should also get out."

James Harris, Jr., travel trailer occupant from April 2006 to the present, gives opening testimony: "We noticed a pungent, and overpowering odor that permeated through the whole FEMA travel trailer...Our eyes burned and watered as we tried to inhabit the trailer facility. We were told by the person who gave us the keys to the trailer initially, that if we opened the doors and windows of the trailer and allowed the trailer to air out for a couple of hours, that all the odors and the burning sensations of our eyes would pass and not come back. Over a period of time and to this day, we have found that this remedy did not remove the strong odors that we now know to be formaldehyde."