A half-dozen questions were asked within 15 minutes at the event by FEMA staff members posing as reporters.

The news was aired by US-based television stations. After the Washington Post disclosed the farce, FEMA tried to defend itself for staging the fake briefing.

The report says that the deserved economic, social and cultural rights of American citizens have not been properly protected.

Poor population in the United States is constantly increasing.

According to statistics released by the US Census Bureau in August 2007, the official poverty rate in 2006 was 12.3 percent.

There were 36.5 million people, or 7.7 million families living in poverty in 2006. In another word, almost one out of eight American citizens lives in poverty.

The wealth of the richest group in the United States has rapidly expanded in recent years, widening the earning gap between the rich and poor. The earnings of the highest one percent of the population accounted for 21.2 percent of American total national income in 2005, compared with 19 percent in 2004.

The earnings of the lowest 50 percent of the population accounted for 12.8 percent of the total national income in 2005, down from 13.4 percent in 2004, according to Reuters.

Hungry and homeless people have increased significantly in US cities. The US Department of Agriculture said in a report released on November 14, 2007 that at least 35.5 million people in the United States, including 12.63 million children, went hungry in 2006, an increase of 390,000 from 2005.