Report Confirms that Louisiana Took Necessary and Timely Steps

[RSchewe]

Pursuant to a September 7 request by Representative John Conyers to review the law and legal accountability relating to Federal action in response to Hurricane Katrina, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report today about whether the Governor of Louisiana took the necessary and timely steps needed to secure disaster relief from the federal government. The report unequivocally concludes that she did.

Congressman Conyers issued the following statement:

"This report closes the book on the Bush Administration's attempts to evade accountability by shifting the blame to the Governor of Louisiana for the Administration's tragically sluggish response to Katrina. It confirms that the Governor did everything she could to secure relief for the people of Louisiana and the Bush Administration was caught napping at a critical time."

In addition to finding that "...it would appear that the Governor did take the steps necessary to request emergency and major disaster declarations for the State of Louisiana in anticipation of Hurricane Katrina. (p.11)" The report found that:

* All necessary conditions for federal relief were met on August 28. Pursuant to Section 502 of the Stafford Act, "he declaration of an emergency by the President makes Federal emergency assistance available," and the President made such a declaration on August 28. The public record indicates that severa additional days passed before such assistance was actually made available to the State;

* The Governor must make a timely request for such assistance, which meets the requirements of federal law. The report states that "xcept to the extent that an emergency involves primarily Federal interests, both declarations of major disaster and declarations of emergency must be triggered by a request to the President from the Governor of the affected state";

* The Governor did indeed make such a request, which was both timely and in compliance with federal law. The report finds that "Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco requested by letter dated August 27, 2005...that the President declare an emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina for the time period from August 26, 2005 and continuing pursuant to " and "Governor Blanco's August 27, 2005 request for an emergency declaration also included her determination...that 'the incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of disaster."

http://blog.dccc.org/mt/archives/003513.html

PDF: http://www2.dccc.org/docs/conyersgaokatrina.pdf

[BigBearJohn]

1. Thanks for this. Recommended!

[smartvoter]

2. Conyers does it again. Brilliant hedge against what his sure to be

bogus investigations. Thanks for posting this.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

3. Kick and send to the media! nt

[mod mom]

13. done.

[spuddonna]

4. I tell you, if I ever meet this man in person...

I think I will burst into tears thanking him!

He has done so much for the people of our country. He has worked tirelessly to fight the illegal maneuverings of this administration. He has taken our voices to the very gates of the White House.

God bless you, John Conyers! :applause:

[rsmith6621]

5. Bump/Kick

[madokie]

16. The MAN rises to the PRESIDENTIAL level

With Charley as VP
we need new blood, blood that bleeds red, blood that cries real tears.

[Frederik]

6. Conyers!!

He never lets us down, does he.

[OregonBlue]

7. Does he also have copies of all of the original documents?

[RSchewe]

9. So far it seems like the only this letter from Conyers has been released

but the report itself has not as of yet.

[OneGrassRoot]

12. I can't remember what show, but this was mentioned last night

on one of the MSM news shows. I was shocked....I thought it would take a few days. If I remember where I saw it, I'll post it.

[OneGrassRoot]

14. I should've known....it was Howard Dean..........

on Hannity & Colmes last night (the ONLY reason I even turned to that channel).

Here's a transcript. It was Howard who mentioned the report absolving the governor:

http://shadowbfa.blogspot.com/

[texpatriot2004]

8. The man is a warrior n/t

[Redstone]

10. Any more like him at home? We could use a congressman

like him. I think every state could.

Redstone

[kimpossible]

11. Posted on Conyers' own blog too

Read it at http://www.conyersblog.us/

[HEAVYHEART]

15. Kicked and nominated! n/t

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

17. Kick again! nt

[smartvoter]

18. Kick. nt

[Vox_Reason]

19. 100 Conyerses and 100 Waxmans

And we'd really be going places.

Thank you for your tireless service, Representative Conyers.