Brown blames state and local officials for Katrina response

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/27/katrina.brown.ap/index.html

Brown blames state and local officials for Katrina response

Former FEMA director points to Gov. Blanco, Mayor Nagin

WASHINGTON (AP) -- 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," Brown told a special congressional panel set up by House Republican leaders to investigate the catastrophe. (Watch Brown's comments -- 3:02)

The storm slammed into the Gulf Coast on Monday, August 29.

Brown's defense drew a scathing response from Rep. Wiliam Jefferson, D-Louisiana.

"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-Virginia, 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.

Dude just doesn't get it. He's already been thrown under the bus by his bosses. His take doesn't jive with either this admin, or the state/local folks.

Not to mention, he was still collecting $$$ as a consultant for FEMA.

Way to be......

He's got balls to come out like that. He's ****ed if there's an independent investigation though.

From what I saw this morning on Imus, Russert seems to agree with him, too. The truth is starting to come out and it doesn't look good for anyone.

Wow, a Bush administration official not accepting responsibility for his actions. I wonder where he learned that from?

Probably every other politician from both sides of the spectrum. Or have you not listened to the excuses from Nagle and Blanco?

Wasn't nearly as violent, but look at the response time to Rita as opposed to Katrina. Somehow the mobilization and execution was much more efficient, people were in place to deal with problems immediately. The lag that was so rationalized disappeared.

doesn't matter about Blanco and Nagle right now.

They weren't fired.....but still paid.....and then turned around to toss blame when most are already on to "How do we fix this?"

he's 2 weeks too late....and this hearing is getting little to no cred.

Wow, a Bush administration official not accepting responsibility for his actions. I wonder where he learned that from?

I don't get it.... why accept blame in this specific instance when it was the moronic and nearly incompetent behavior of Nagin... and then Blanco... that got the snowball rolling south to hell in a handbasket. Hard to stop, much less turnaround, a train barreling down the wrong tracks. :doh:

Sure... FEMA deserves blame..... I think they miscalculated the scope of the storm or the damage caused to both Mississippi and LA. Additionally, I think the bureacracy.... red tape not a big issue in rescue and recovery in smaller disasters..... gummed up the process and slowed things by 24-48 hours.

Not using buses to evacuate those incapable of leaving on their own.... and not having enough provisions for three or four days at the convention center and Superdome.... that's all on Nagin and Blanco. Both should have been fired three weeks ago.

If Russert is agreeing with him, that gives it some cred.

oh yeah?

We should make a note of this for the next time he thrashes an admin official on a sunday morning.

You're going to give Cred with Medium-Russ' take.

Russert is as straight a shooter as they come. Even with his Liberal background, I trust him to be fair and impartial. If he takes someone to task, they surely deserve it.

Wasn't nearly as violent, but look at the response time to Rita as opposed to Katrina. Somehow the mobilization and execution was much more efficient, people were in place to deal with problems immediately. The lag that was so rationalized disappeared.

From the local reports coming out of hard hit areas a LOT of people would disagree. Of course the people there are working on it themselves.

We do not wait for help.

From the local reports coming out of hard hit areas a LOT of people would disagree. Of course the people there are working on it themselves.

We do not wait for help.

Thanks for saying that. We're Americans, we're supposed to be resourceful and ruggedly individual -- what's with all the sitting around ****ing to reporters and wiating for someone to take care of you? Get up and take charge, damn it!

Don't disagree with that, but I saw images of rescue workers, national guard, etc. in place and actively helping within hours, not days. We should be resourceful, but in times of crisis the government should be there too especially if they say they are.

I don't know how many times I have to say this, it's a fact that it is the local government's responsibility first and foremost. Again, I'm on the emergency response team in my area, not once has the president or any other federal representative contacted us to dictate what to do.

We decide when to evacuate, we decide when to ask the Fed for help.

It's that simple. Live it, learn it, understand it.... :doh:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9496474/

Ex-FEMA chief slams 'dysfunctional' Louisiana

But Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike put blame on Brown

The Associated Press

Updated: 4:11 p.m. ET Sept. 27, 2005

WASHINGTON - Former FEMA director Michael Brown aggressively defended his role in responding to Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday and blamed most coordination failures on Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

He also said that in the days before the storm, he expressed his concerns that “this is going to be a bad one” in phone conversations and e-mails with President Bush, White House chief of staff Andy Card and deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin.

And he blamed the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for not acquiring better equipment ahead of the storm.

His efforts to shift blame drew sharp criticism from Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike.

Harsh criticism

“I’m happy you left,” said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn. “That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren’t capable of doing that job.”

Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., told Brown: “The disconnect was, people thought there was some federal expertise out there. There wasn’t. Not from you.”

Brown appeared before a special congressional panel set up by House Republican leaders to investigate the catastrophe.

“My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional,” two days before the storm hit, Brown told the panel.

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,” he 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 will remain on the FEMA payroll for two more weeks, advising the agency, said Russ Knocke, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security.

“He speaks for himself and he's entitled to his point of view and I don't have anything to add,” Chertoff told reporters in Miami. Bush and Blanco both ignored a reporter’s shouted question about Brown's assertions as they inspected damage from Hurricane Rita in Lake Charles, La.

Unfavorable comparison with Giuliani

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’s testimony drew a scathing response from Rep. William Jefferson, 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.”

And in a testy exchange, Shays compared Brown’s performance unfavorably with that of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

“So I guess you want me to be the superhero, to step in there and take everyone out of New Orleans,” Brown said.

“What I wanted you to do is do your job and coordinate,” Shays retorted.

“I’m happy to be called not a Rudy Giuliani ... a scapegoat ... if it means that FEMA that I knew when I came here is going to be able to be reborn,” Brown said.

Admission of 'specific mistakes'

Criticized by Shays for not acquiring better equipment in advance that would have let different emergency agencies communicate with each other, Brown blamed the Department of Homeland Security.

“We put that money in our budget request and it was removed by the Department of Homeland Security” before the budget was finalized, he said.

Brown also said he was “just tired and misspoke” when a television interviewer appeared to be the first to tell him that there were desperate residents at the New Orleans Convention Center.

Brown testified that he had already learned, one day before the interview, that people were flocking to the center.

Brown blamed “a hysteric media” for compounding the crisis with what he said were unfounded reports of rapes and murders. He characterized blunt-spoken Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, the military coordinator for the disaster, as “a bull in the China closet, God love him.”

And he said Americans themselves must play a more active role in preparing for natural disasters and not expect more from the government than it can deliver.

But Republican Rep. Kay Granger of Texas told Brown: “I don’t know how you can sleep at night. You lost the battle.”

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.

Louisiana official fires back

In Baton Rouge, La., Blanco’s press secretary, Denise Bottcher, ridiculed Brown’s line of attack. “Mike Brown wasn’t engaged then, and he surely isn’t now. He should have been watching CNN instead of the Disney Channel,” Bottcher said.

“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 several Democrats from the stricken region, including Jefferson and Taylor, attended.

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.

Brown says federal role limited

He 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.”

Brown said the lack of an effective evacuation of New Orleans before the storm was “the tipping point for all the other things that went wrong.”

A “mandatory” evacuation was ordered Sunday by Nagin, the mayor. However, buses were not provided and thousands of residents were stranded without transportation in low-lying areas.

“I’m happy you left,” said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn. “That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren’t capable of doing that job.”

I just saw the exchange that lead to this comment on the news. Shays is the moron here. He asked Brown what fEMA did to help with the evacuation an Brown responded that he urged the Gov. and Mayor to declare a Manditory evacuation and asked Shay "what would you have me do?". This very fair question is what Shay was responding to when he made the above comment.

The fact is that FEMA cannot force local evacuations. All they can do BY LAW is exactly what they did. Shay is just a grandstanding moron trying to score political points. If you don't understand this, congrats, you are officialy a sucker. :doh:

It's the American way, focus on blame, not solutions. Then no one is held accountable for anything.

"Wasn't nearly as violent, but look at the response time to Rita as opposed to Katrina. Somehow the mobilization and execution was much more efficient, people were in place to deal with problems immediately. The lag that was so rationalized disappeared."

Because or local government has studied and prepared for this inevitable scenerio. They knew exactly how long it would take to get everyone evacuated and started doing so with time to spare. The local and state governments of Lousiana screwed the pooch and are trying to deflect the blame. They are responsible for the evacuation of their citizens.

I agree with him.

And code is right too.

I admire Brown for not being a fall guy and telling it like it is from his point of view.

The chain of command is clearly defined in the constitution as he described and only those blinded by ideology will ignore that and then say something ignorant like that doesnt matter he should override the authority of the mayor and governor, and then lambaste him and dont point out the local and state incompetence.

Texas actually have emergency exercises and after Rita the nick pickers snivelled about the evacuation, like 2 million people on the highways in so short a time is supposed to run smoothly.

It's the American way, focus on blame, not solutions. Then no one is held accountable for anything.

Welcome to the board Loyal!

In Canada we do the exact opposite, we accept the blame for everything so we are all equally responsible, and nothing gets fixed.

Of course you guys accept blame

you are canadians

But I did forgive you for exporting Tom Green to america

Code, pretty much nailed it

"Wasn't nearly as violent, but look at the response time to Rita as opposed to Katrina. Somehow the mobilization and execution was much more efficient, people were in place to deal with problems immediately. The lag that was so rationalized disappeared."

Because or local government has studied and prepared for this inevitable scenerio. They knew exactly how long it would take to get everyone evacuated and started doing so with time to spare. The local and state governments of Lousiana screwed the pooch and are trying to deflect the blame. They are responsible for the evacuation of their citizens.

umm, and also the difference between a cat-5 and cat-3.

That might have alittle more to do with the situation from Rita.

umm, and also the difference between a cat-5 and cat-3.

That might have alittle more to do with the situation from Rita.

Quite right,and the fact it hit in a relatively(sorry cuz ) sparsely populated area certainly helped.