9/11 Recovery Case Study

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The terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 were not only a horrendous act but, one the United States has never seen. The events of 9/11, posed many challenges from coping with the extensive loss of life, to the tremendous recovery phase that consumed America well into the future. As with any disaster, New York City was looking toward the federal government for assistance. Prior to receiving any federal financial assistance, many Americans began donating money to assist the victims with estimates of over 2.2 billion donated (Wolfe, 2003). President Busch requested Congress to appropriate $20 billion dollars to New York City to aid in recovery and building (US House of Representatives, 2006). The US House of Representatives (2006) also …show more content…
Although, passing this act was supportive to the families of the victims but, other impacts began to affect the long-term recovery process. President Bush had initially requested $20 billion dollars however, less than two years post attack New York City had only received 8.8 billion (Wolfe, 2003). Considering that 9/11 was the worst disaster to impact the United States and the devastation was far greater than other incidents, the amount of financial assistance was very high. Over the next 11 months, Congress passed several bills to provide an estimated $20 billion in direct funding and tax benefits (US House of Representatives, 2006). It was further explained in the report by the US House of Representatives (2006) that the $20 billion allotted to assist New York City was disseminated through four channels, FEMA, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, US Department of Transportation, and the Liberty Zone tax benefit to restore the economy in Manhattan which resulted in 96% of the $19.63 billion of dedicated federal assistance.
Obviously, a revisit by congress to allow the appropriate money to be disseminated through the appropriate sources so that economic and other recovery could be obtained. FEMA also provided 100 percent of all public assistance costs for New York City, this was the first instance in the public assistance operations that allowed for a full cost, typically it is 75 percent (USGAO, 2003). I believe FEMA made a wise decision allowing for public assistance reimbursement cost at 100 percent opposed to the traditional 75 percent based on the severity and total devastation as result of a terrorist