FEMA Chief Struggling to Hire More Staff

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON - The nation's beleaguered disaster response agency is frantically trying to fill hundreds of vacant jobs as the next hurricane season looms less than three months away, top officials said Thursday.

The staffing concerns, voiced by Federal Emergency Management Agency acting director R. David Paulison, came as Congress cleared the way to extend disaster unemployment benefits by 13 weeks to victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Paulison said "a couple hundred" jobs are open at FEMA, and he feared the vacancies could cause current staffers to burn out.

"It's a big push right now to make sure those positions that are vacant, and have been vacant for a while, would get filled," Paulison said. "Staffers have been working pretty much seven days a week, and we need to make sure we have enough people here to do the job so we can continue to move into this hurricane season."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060302/ap_on_go_ot/katrina_washington

[barbaraann]

1. That's a total lie.

If they really wanted to fill the jobs, THEY COULD.

[rocktivity]

2. The least Yahoo could have done was provide a link to the jobs site.

Well, here it is--no pushing, no shoving!

:eyes:
rocknation

[European Socialist]

3. Hey, Brownies lookin.

[MichiganVote]

4. Bush cronies step right up