Collins committee to probe FEMA fraud

WASHINGTON – The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will investigate allegations of fraud and waste in the distribution of disaster aid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said Thursday.

After the series of hurricanes that hit Florida and the southern Atlantic coast last year, local emergency management officials and members of Congress expressed concern that disaster aid had been granted in localities that may not have qualified for assistance, according to the senators. There have been reports of similar fraud and abuse after disasters in other parts of the country.

Collins and Lieberman are the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the committee, which has jurisdiction over FEMA as part of the Department of Homeland Security.