Feds outline FEMA remedies
In much-anticipated appearances on Monday, Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff and Frances Townsend, the White House's homeland security and counterterrorism adviser, issued only a broad sketch of the lessons they learned from Hurricane Katrina and the fixes they hope to apply to the troubled Federal Emergency Management Agency in the immediate future.
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The two have had heated disagreements in recent weeks about the exact path going forward, a source close to the review tells U.S. News. It's unclear whether this delayed more-detailed announcements.
Emphasizing that he hoped to create a "strengthened and more-effective emergency response" system in FEMA, Chertoff said his department would require contractors shipping FEMA supplies like ice and blankets to give the department a way to monitor the exact location of the goods. Other changes planned include:
• hiring a 1,500-person permanent workforce to supplement volunteers doling out aid;
• creating a list of pre-vetted debris-removal firms so state and local officials have more flexibility in whom they hire;
• beefing up FEMA's registration abilities so it can register 200,000 people for government help daily;
• creating first-in, self-sustaining teams that can report on rapidly developing conditions in the first days after a catastrophe.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, the lead Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, immediately downplayed the reforms. In a report released over the weekend, Thompson called on Congress to establish in law minimum qualifications for the lead FEMA official and to allow future FEMA heads to report directly to the president during a disaster–similar to what happened when FEMA was its own cabinet-level agency in the 1990s.
"Secretary Chertoff's proposal," Thompson said in a statement, "is just another example of placing a small Band-Aid on a gaping wound."
Townsend, who several sources said would deliver her own "after action" report about the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, opted instead to use half her time offering a spirited defense of the administration before outlining 17 broad areas where government would have to act to improve its preparedness and response for future disasters.
Although some of her conclusions were self-explanatory–including revelations like "We must include people with special needs into our [evacuation] plans, and we must evaluate and exercise these plans as a means to improving them"–some points offered glimpses into a more in-depth report.
For instance, Townsend urged more integration between National Guard and active-duty troops responding to disasters, and mentioned using them in planning activities. She also floated the idea of veterans facilities and public housing as possible alternatives to shelters like the Superdome.
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