Posted on 09/27/2005 8:52:49 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Former FEMA director Michael Brown aggressively defended his role in responding to Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday and put much of the blame for coordination failures on Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.
"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional," two days before the storm hit, Brown told a special congressional panel set up by House Republican leaders to investigate the catastrophe.
The storm slammed into the Gulf Coast on Monday, Aug. 29.
Brown's defense drew a scathing response from Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record), D-La.
"I find it absolutely stunning that this hearing would start out with you, Mr. Brown, laying the blame for FEMA's failings at the feet of the governor of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans."
Brown, who for many became a symbol of government failures in the natural disaster that claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people, rejected accusations that he was too inexperienced for the job.
"I've overseen over 150 presidentially declared disasters. I know what I'm doing, and I think I do a pretty darn good job of it," Brown said.
Brown resigned as the head of FEMA earlier this month after being removed by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff from responsibility in the stricken areas.
Brown, who joined FEMA in 2001 and ran it for more than two years, was previously an attorney who held several local government and private posts, including leading the International Arabian Horse Association.
Brown in his opening statement said he had made several "specific mistakes" in dealing with the storm, and listed two.
One, he said, was not having more media briefings.
As to the other, he said: "I very strongly personally regret that I was unable to persuade Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin to sit down, get over their differences, and work together. I just couldn't pull that off."
Both Blanco and Nagin are Democrats.
"The people of FEMA are being tired of being beat up, and they don't deserve it," Brown said.
The hearing was largely boycotted by Democrats, who want an independent investigation conducted into government failures, not one run by congressional Republicans.
But Jefferson — who is not a committee member — accepted the panel's invitation to grill Brown.
Referring to Brown's description of his "mistakes," Jefferson said: "I think that's a very weak explanation of what happened, and very incomplete explanation of what happened. I don't think that's going to cut it, really."
Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., cautioned against too narrowly assigning blame.
"At the end of the day, I suspect that we'll find that government at all levels failed the people of Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama and the Gulf Coast," said Davis.
Davis pushed Brown on what he and the agency he led should have done to evacuate New Orleans, restore order in the city and improve communication among law enforcement agencies.
Brown said: "Those are not FEMA roles. FEMA doesn't evacuate communities. FEMA does not do law enforcement. FEMA does not do communications."
In part of his testimony, Brown pumped his hand up and down for emphasis.
Brown said the lack of a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans before the storm was "the tipping point for all the other things that went wrong." Brown said he had personally pushed Louisiana Gov. Blanco to order such an evacuation.
He did not have the authority to order the city evacuated on his own, Brown said.
When asked by Rep. Harold Rogers (news, bio, voting record), R-Ky, whether the lack of an ordered evacuation was "the proximate cause of most people's misery," Brown said, "Yes."
Of course you would. You are a Democrat so to have the truth told you in a Congressional Hearing must of been quite the shocking expereince.
Go ahead Brownie, tell it like it is. Put the blame squarely on the morons Blank-o and Nagin.
Kick Ass!
Dysfunctional is a polite way of saying
Messed Up
FUBAR'd
Totally Whacked
Another *%$*&#! RINO @$$kissing the Rats!
They say that Nancy Pelosi is having s fit about not being involved in this hearing..
I said it from Day One.
The Feds mistake was trusting that the State and City were competent.
She's the one who said for Dems NOT to be involved in it.
What a hypocrite.
The hearing was largely boycotted by Democrats, who want an independent investigation conducted into government failures, not one run by congressional Republicans. But Jefferson — who is not a committee member — accepted the panel's invitation to grill Brown.
A strategic error, for which the Democratic leadership will beat you with the “stupid” bat behind closed doors.
When they tell you to boycott some investigative panel, you damn well better boycott it. They don’t really want answers, because they know what the answers are.
That is the UNDERSTATEMENT of the year.
To hear the stories of what some of these NO evacuees are really like and what they are doing is pathetic. Stories that will never be told by the MSM until the truth can no longer be hidden from the general public. Quite frankly I do not blame Brown at all.
Yes, Nancy Pelosi is a piece of $%#@...she is now "upset" because she wants an independent (RAT Witch-hunt) hearing. Brown is defending himself very well and saying out loud how incompetent Nagin and Blank-o are!
Good. Pelosi needs all the fits she can get.
And I don't find it stunning in the least that a criminal like Jefferson would try to deflect legitimate criticism away from his corrupt-beyond-repair homeys.
This is the guy who had the National Guard take him to his house so he could remove "personal belongings". I believe he is also under investigation for corruption.
Congress cannot hold an honest hearing because most of the blame begins with them.
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