Washington Watch for Oct. 27, 2008

• By GERARD SHIELDS
• Washington correspondent
• Published: Oct 27, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced last week it has approved a disaster housing plan for Louisiana, including temporary housing for people affected by hurricanes Ike and Gustav in Cameron, Calcasieu, Terrebonne, Lafourche and Jefferson parishes.

The plan includes housing those with damaged homes in available rental units and in some cases in temporary FEMA housing, including mobile homes. The agency has ruled out using FEMA trailers for the displaced.

“FEMA officials have assured me that they will work with individuals on a one-on-one basis to determine the best housing situation for their families and we will hold them to that,” Louisiana Recovery Authority Executive Director Paul Rainwater said in a statement.

Better late than never

Louisiana will receive additional shipments of household goods meant for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

After holding onto the items for two years, FEMA gave them away to the government surplus office to be redistributed to states wanting them.

Earlier in the year, a CNN investigation estimated the worth of the items at $18 million.

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor recently agreed to return items ranging from pillows to dinnerware to social services agencies in Louisiana.

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and her staff have been working to track down the items disbursed across the nation.

“Slowly but surely, Louisiana is recouping the supplies our residents still desperately need to re-establish their homes following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” Landrieu said in a statement.

National defense champ

U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., was recently named a Champion of National Defense, by the Center for Security Policy, a national policy organization.

The designation was made after the group released its National Security Scorecard, ranking Congress members on their support of, or opposition to, policies sustaining U.S. national defense.