I’ve seen several suggestions that Dem leaders have not been nearly aggressive enough in holding the White House accountable for the series of failures in response to Hurricane Katrina. I’ve been hesitant to join the bandwagon, in part because I suspect party leaders haven’t felt the need to go on the offensive — administration officials have been plainly embarrassing themselves without Dem criticism.
Still, if you’ve been anxious to see Dem leaders become more aggressive on this issue, you’ll likely be pleased with today’s efforts.
Congress’ top two Democrats furiously criticized the administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday, with Sen. Harry Reid demanding to know whether President Bush’s Texas vacation impeded relief efforts and Rep. Nancy Pelosi assailing the chief executive as “oblivious, in denial.” […]
At a news conference, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush’s choice for head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency had “absolutely no credentials.”
She related that she had urged Bush at the White House on Tuesday to fire Michael Brown.
“He said ‘Why would I do that?'” Pelosi said.
“‘I said because of all that went wrong, of all that didn’t go right last week.’ And he said ‘What didn’t go right?'”
“Oblivious, in denial, dangerous,” she added.
On a related note, Harry Reid contacted Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) about forthcoming hearings before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (which Collins chairs), and asked some unusually pointed questions.
Reid suggested to Collins that her committee “would do the Senate and the country an important service” to explore a variety of important areas of inquiry, including:
Administration inaction to warnings of catastrophic flooding in New Orleans. President Bush, Secretary Chertoff, and other top Administration officials have repeatedly stated that no one “anticipated the breach of the levees.” Yet, public studies and analyses made available to the Administration have long warned that a major storm was inevitable and would lead to the breeching of New Orleans’ levees with catastrophic results. Why, then, was the Administration so unprepared to deal with the breaching of the levees?
Slow Administration response to Hurricane Katrina warnings. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, has stated that both DHS Secretary Chertoff and FEMA Director Brown listened to NHC briefings days before Katrina’s landfall that discussed the strength of the storm and its potential impact. Given these warnings, why did FEMA and DHS fail to adequately prepare for the consequences? Who else received these briefings? Did Secretary Chertoff or Director Brown communicate these warnings to President Bush, Secretary Rumsfeld, Leavitt, Mineta or other key Cabinet officials? If so, what specific actions did each cabinet official take?
FEMA rejection of assistance. Is it true that FEMA turned away offers of assistance from states, nonprofit agencies, and the private sector – including offers for generators, water, fuel, food aid, transportation, and fire control? If so, why?
Absence from Washington of the President and key officials. How much time did the President spend dealing with this emerging crisis while he was on vacation? Did the fact that he was outside of Washington, D.C. have any effect on the federal government’s response? When it became apparent a major hurricane was days away from striking the Gulf Coast, why didn’t President Bush immediately return to Washington from his vacation and why didn’t he recall key officials and staff members back from their vacations? Would the presence of key officials in Washington have improved the response?
Failure to send sufficient number of troops immediately. Why did it take several days for National Guard and active military units to reach positions in New Orleans and around the Gulf Coast? Why did the Secretary of Defense wait until Saturday – five days after the hurricane struck – to deploy soldiers from the nearest Army base, Fort Polk, LA? What effect have extended overseas deployments of National Guard and Reserve forces had on these forces’ abilities to respond to emergencies on U.S. soil?
Lack of interoperable communications. The Wall Street Journal reports that the response effort has been plagued by “a total breakdown of communications systems, an echo of the problems that faced New York officials dealing with the 2001 terrorist attacks and a system the government has been trying to fix for four years,” specifically citing “incompatible radio systems.” Why has the Administration failed to solve this problem? Would the adoption of congressional amendments to increase funds for this equipment helped to mitigate this problem?
Failure to respond to state and local officials. State and local officials indicate that they were asking for immediate and massive federal assistance from the outset, but that the federal government failed to mobilize for several days, dragging its feet and failing to appreciate the impact of the storm. Did this Administration work as closely in this case with state and local officials as did previous Administrations or during previous disasters?
Effects of organizational changes at FEMA. It appears that FEMA suffered from serious systemic failures in virtually every aspect of it response to Katrina. Did these failures stem directly from the decision to strip FEMA of its cabinet level status and include it in a department where countering terrorist attacks is the primary focus? There have also been reports that many of FEMA’s most experienced and capable personnel have left the agency recently. It is essential that your committee speak with current and former FEMA officials, especially those who have worked at the agency before and since the transition.
Preparation for future disasters. What do experts predict about the frequency and intensity of hurricanes and other natural disasters striking the U.S. in the immediate future? What actions should the Administration and Congress take immediately to address the lessons you draw from the U.S. government’s response to Hurricane Katrina so that we will be better able to respond to future emergencies including major terrorist attacks?
Of course, Reid shouldn’t get his hopes up. Collins said her panel would open hearings on “what should we be doing right now.”