Hurricane puts spotlight on Romney's FEMA remarks

Aamer Madhani and Jackie Kucinich, USA TODAY | USATODAY

With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the East Coast, comments that Mitt Romney made during the GOP primary about federal disaster relief are facing fresh scrutiny.

Back in December 2011, Romney commented during a GOP debate that it was "immoral" for the federal government to unnecessarily spend money on disaster relief in the face of yawning deficits.

"Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction," Romney offered. "And if you can go even further, and send it back to the private sector, that's even better. Instead of thinking, in the federal budget, what we should cut, we should ask the opposite question, what should we keep?"

Debate moderator John King then asked if that included disaster relief.

"We cannot -- we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we'll all be dead and gone before it's paid off," Romney responded. "It makes no sense at all."

Some liberal commentators, including Matthew Yglesias of Slate, said the comments underscore that Romney wants to cut funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but the Romney campaign has pushed back against the assertion.

"Gov. Romney believes that states should be in charge of emergency management in responding to storms and other natural disasters in their jurisdictions," Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said in a statement. "As the first responders, states are in the best position to aid affected individuals and communities, and to direct resources and assistance to where they are needed most. This includes help from the federal government and FEMA."

During his time as governor in Massachusetts, Romney requested federal emergency aid for the Commonwealth on several occasions:

-- In December 2003, he requested funds from the George W. Bush administration for 12 of 14 Massachusetts' counties following a massive snowstorm there;

-- In January 2005, Romney requested FEMA funds for snow removal after record snowfalls there, according State House New Service;

-- In June 2005, his administration requested FEMA funds to deal with the Red Tide outbreak.

As governor of Massachusetts Romney received mixed reviews when it came to disaster preparedness and at least one state Senate committee issued reports that indicated Romney left the state vulnerable at the end of his term.



An October 2006 report by the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight, made up of six Democrats and one Republican, said the state was woefully unprepared for a major disaster due to lack of communication and oversight by the Executive Office of Public Safety, underfunded first responders and a lack of a comprehensive emergency plan for the Commonwealth.



During the Romney administration, the report said, homeland security grants decreased by 34% and municipalities lacked the necessary funding to upgrade their level of preparedness.



The report said if there were a natural disaster or a homeland security emergency in "over 90% of the municipalities in the state" the police would have inadequate equipment to respond.



In a second report in May 2006, the same committee also faulted Romney for failing to bring various dams owned by the state up-to-date and underfunding efforts to fix them during his tenure.





