Man oh man....this is long but it lays out all of Brownie's "ineptitude".
For Immediate Release
September 27, 2005
Contact: Karen Finney - 202-863-8148
Independent Commission Needed in Wake of Hurricane Katrina
Washington, DC - In the aftermath of our nation's worst natural disaster, the
Republicans in Congress and President Bush still refuse to independently
investigate the failures in the federal government's response to Hurricane
Katrina. Former FEMA Director Michael Brown, who is still on the payroll a
month after resigning, testified today at a Republican-controlled hearing.
Instead of acknowledging the flaws in the federal government's relief efforts,
Brown simply blamed state and local officials for any problems and regretted
not holding more press conferences and photo-ops.
"We need a frank analysis not political finger-pointing. Based on his testimony
today, it seems Michael Brown is clearly incapable of honest, thoughtful
assessments of what went wrong in the aftermath of our nation's worst natural
disaster," said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen
Finney. "The American people deserve a real independent commission that will
provide a balanced and impartial evaluation of the federal government's
response and find out what went wrong so that this tragedy is not repeated in
the future."
See below for a new document from DNC Research:
BROWN: NEWS BRIEFINGS SAVE LIVES Today Michael Brown told a Republican-led committee that he did a good job as
director of FEMA and that his only regrets are not having more news conferences
and not blaming local officials sooner - local officials whose resources were
devastated by Katrina and counted on FEMA to coordinate a federal response to
pull in all available resources of the federal government. Brown jumped at the
chance to shift blame to local officials and reflected the common Bush
Administration trait of complete refusal to admit mistakes. Brown emphatically
defended both himself and FEMA and failed to acknowledge a breakdown in the
federal government's response. He wavered between claiming FEMA was short of
resources because of the Department of Homeland Security's failure to fulfill
its requests and saying that the federal government gave him everything he
asked for in the Katrina response. When will this Administration take
responsibility for its mistakes? The American people deserve an independent
investigation to provide the type of detailed and honest analysis that can lead
to better governing.
MICHAEL BROWN'S REGRET: NOT SPENDING MORE TIME ON TVBrown Says That One Of His Biggest Regrets Was Not Holding Regular Press
Briefings. Brown: "First, I failed initially to set up a series of regular
briefings to the media about what FEMA was doing throughout the gulf coast
region. Instead, I became tied to the news shows...We should have been feeding
that information to the press instead of...letting the press drive us."
Select Committee Hearing On Katrina Preparations, 9/27/05]
BUT BROWN HAD TIME TO STAND IN FRONT OF THE CAMERAS WITH BUSHBush Praised FEMA Director: "Brownie You're Doing A Heck Of A Job." In a "Even
though Bush has called the federal response to the disaster 'not acceptable,'
he praised Brown Friday during a tour of Alabama, saying, 'Brownie, you're
doing a heck of a job,' the AP reported."
BROWNIE THINKS HE DOES A HECK OF A JOB TOO
Brown Thinks He Does A Darn Good Job. "I know what I'm doing, and I think I do
a pretty darn good job of it." Preparations, 9/27/05]
BUT REALITIES ON THE GROUND PAINTED A DIFFERENT PICTURE
New Orleans' Homeland Security Director: It Is Like FEMA Has Never Been To A
Hurricane. Col. Terry Ebbert, director of homeland security for New Orleans,
complained that the whole recovery operation had been "carried on the backs of
the little guys for four goddamn days," and "the rest of the goddamn nation
can't get us any resources for security." He added, "It's like FEMA has never
been to a hurricane."
FEMA Urged First Responders Not To Respond To Hurricane Areas. While the situation in New Orleans became increasingly worse, FEMA issued a press release urging all fire and emergency services departments not to respond to counties and states affected by Hurricane Katrina without being requested and lawfully dispatched by state and local authorities. http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470>
FEMA Turned Away Generators. According to Ben Morris, the mayor of Slidell,
Louisiana, "We are still hampered by some of the most stupid, idiotic
regulations by FEMA. They have turned away generators, we've heard that they've
gone around seizing equipment from our contractors." 9/6/05]
FEMA Turned Away Trucks Filled With Water, Prevented Coast Guard From
Delivering Fuel, and Cut Communication Lines Of Local Officials. According to
Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, when Wal-Mart sent three
trailer trucks loaded with water, FEMA officials turned them away. Agency
workers prevented the Coast Guard from delivering 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel,
and on Saturday they cut the parish's emergency communications line, leading
the sheriff to restore it and post armed guards to protect it from FEMA. York Times, 9/5/05]
FEMA Failed To Fully Utilize Navy Ship With 600-Bed Hospital. "While federal
officials scramble to get more military relief to Gulf Coast communities
stricken by Hurricane Katrina, a massive naval goodwill station has been
cruising offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, underused and waiting for a larger
role in the effort... But the Bataan's hospital facilities are empty...The
Bataan has been in the stricken region the longest of any military unit, but
federal authorities have yet to fully utilize the ship... The role in the
relief effort of the sizable medical staff on board the Bataan was not up to
the Navy, but to FEMA officials directing the overall effort." Tribune, 9/4/05]
FEMA Refused Amtrak's Offer Of Trains To Evacuate Victims. "Sen. Mary Landrieu
(D-LA) accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency of having 'dragging its
feet' when Amtrak offered trains to evacuate victims. 'Offers of medicine,
communications equipment and other desperately needed items continue to flow
in, only to be ignored by the agency,' she said."
FEMA Refused to Ship Trailers to Mississippi To Help With Relief Efforts.
"Senator Trent Lott called on President Bush to authorize the immediate release
of 20, 000 trailers sitting idle in Atlanta. Lott said FEMA has refused to ship
the trailers because of red tape and paperwork."
BROWN JUMPED ON THE BLAME GAME BANDWAGON
Brown's Biggest Mistake Was Not Blaming Local Officials Earlier. Brown told a
Republican run panel that his biggest mistake in dealing with Katrina was "not
recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional." He also said that
one of his two specific regrets was "that I was unable to persuade Gov. Blanco
and Mayor Nagin to sit down, get over their differences, and work together."
BROWN JOINED A WELL-ORGANIZED POLITICAL MACHINE
Rove Is Directing White House Smear Campaign To Direct Blame At Local And State
Officials. "Under the command of President Bush's two senior political
advisers, the White House rolled out a plan this weekend to contain the
political damage from the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. The
effort is being directed by Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove... In
a reflection of what has long been a hallmark of Mr. Rove's tough political
style, the administration is also working to shift the blame away from the
White House and toward officials of New Orleans and Louisiana who, as it
happens, are Democrats."
Tom DeLay Did His Part to Help Out. " that the onus for responding
to emergencies fell to local officials. 'It's the local officials trying to
handle the problem. When they can't handle the problem, they go to the state,
and the state does what they can to, and if they need assistance from FEMA and
the federal government they ask for it and it's delivered,' DeLay said. He
added that Alabama and Mississippi did a much better job of responding quickly
than Louisiana. Alabama and Mississippi have Republican governors." DeLay
announced later that House hearings examining the Federal response to Katrina
had been canceled.
And Bush Also Shifted Blame To States and Local Officials. Bush said that "The
government of this nation will do its part as well. Our cities must have clear
and up-to-date plans for responding to natural disasters, disease outbreaks, or
terrorist attack ... for evacuating large numbers of people in an emergency ...
and for providing the food, water, and security they would need." Press Office, 9/14/05]
BROWN: CAN'T MAKE UP HIS MIND ABOUT
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Brown Said That Homeland Security Has Prevented FEMA From Getting The Resources
It Needs. Criticized for failing to get better equipment to make communication
easier among emergency agencies, Brown blamed the Department of Homeland
Security, and indirectly, the Bush administration, for what he said was FEMA's
emaciated state. Brown said that DHS took money for improvements based on the
Hurricane Pam exercise out of FEM''s budget. He said FEMA has suffered from
budget cuts and a shortage of qualified personnel since it was subsumed within
the gigantic department. The lack of funding for FEMA, Brown said, kept it from
buying and pre-positioning better equipment that would have eased communication
problems during the disaster.""We put that money in our budget request and it
was removed by the Department of Homeland Securit"" before the budget was
finalized, Brown said. 9/27/05, Associated Press, 9/27/05; Los Angeles Times, 9/27/05]
But Brown Also Claimed That FEMA Was Given Everything It Needed To Deal With
Katrina. Brown, however, told a House Select Committee that the White House
gave him everything he asked for. Brown had told reporters before the storm
that "We have all the manpower and resources we need. President Bush has been a
very great supporter of FEMA." Preparations, 9/27/05; CNN, 9/26/05]
Which is it? Did FEMA have the resources it needed to respond to Katrina or did
the Department Of Homeland Security and the White House hinder FEMA's
response?
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.
org. This communication is not authorized by
any candidate or candidate's committee.
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