House Republicans may investigate the debacle in Maui, where more than two weeks after massive wildfires raged on the island, hundreds are missing amid questions over the effectiveness of the federal response.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, during a visit to Syracuse, New York, said the tragedy cannot be forgotten.
āWe saw the devastation that happened in Maui. ⦠Iām very concerned about the response,ā McCarthy said, according to the Washington Examiner.
āWe still have hundreds of individuals that are missing. I think thereās going to have to be a congressional Investigation into the response on Maui. How could you lose that many Americans?ā he said.
āThe presidentās response ā āno commentā ā thatās unacceptable,ā he continued.
āSo I am going to work with committees to look at investigating what went on so that never happens again,ā he said.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said President Joe Biden did nothing to help when he visited Maui on Monday, according to Fox News.
āI think thisĀ visit to Maui, frankly, is just plain frightening. How can you have a commander-in-chief who is totally out of touch with reality? Who makes up a story which is a lie? Who has no understanding of the scale of the disaster which has occurred? Who has literally has no empathy for the human beings around him,ā he said.
āNow, I think that people need to look at this not as a political problem, but as a national problem. We have a commander-in-chief⦠makes you wonder whoās making the decisions in the White House,ā he said.
āAnd you have to wonder, how is the system running in a real crisis? How could Joe Biden decide anything? It would all be delegated. And frankly, as an American, Iām ashamed,ā he said.
Maui resident Allisen Medina told the U.K. Daily Mail she was just plain angry.
āOne hundred percent not enough is being done so people are doing it themselves. The Government, relief organizations ā theyāre not doing anything,ā she said.
āWe have the right to know whatās going on. FEMA came here to help with the recovery , but we donāt see them,ā she said, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Medina said not every possible asset has been used on the island.
āWeāre only 100 miles from Oahu, which has several military bases. Why is the response so lacking? Why are they doing so little? Why is nothing else being done?ā she said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
