Lawmakers Criticize Red Cross Over Relief Fund Disbursement

Lawmakers criticized the American Red Cross on Tuesday for its handling of a Sept. 11 relief fund and questioned whether families of the victims have benefited enough from the $1.2 billion in donations received by charities to help them cope with the tragedy.

At a sometimes emotional House hearing, victims said their efforts to claim some of the flood of money that has poured into more than 200 charities for attack relief have been hindered by burdensome requirements and a lack of coordination among agencies.

“The system is not working the way I believe it was intended,” said Elizabeth McLaughlin of Pelham, N.Y., whose husband was killed in the World Trade Center attack. “It has not been easy, and many people are not getting the help they need.”

Bearing the brunt of the criticism was the American Red Cross, which said about $300 million of the more than $550 million in donations it has received will go immediately to families of the victims.

The rest will be used for related projects such as preparation of a frozen-blood inventory, telecommunications improvements to aid processing of donations and a reserve fund to be used for relief in any future attacks, Red Cross President Bernadine Healy said.

Healy, who resigned last month (effective at the end of the year) after a dispute over her decision to separate the Sept. 11 Liberty Fund from other Red Cross disaster funds, said the agency had helped 25,000 families but needed to be ready for more attacks.

Lawmakers said the Red Cross was taking advantage of the situation by not speeding all the money to victims and their families.

“I don’t think anybody who wrote a check for the Red Cross expected it would be used for frozen blood,” Rep. Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.) said.

New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer said his office was trying to help coordinate the process, developing a Web site of charities with information on their programs and developing a victims database.

He urged development of a single application for all charities so victims would not have to face overwhelming paperwork.

Healy said no Red Cross appeals ever said donations would be used only to aid the families of those who died Sept. 11.