January 13, 2025
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Collins’ committee to probe relief effort

Amid harsh criticism of relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced Friday that her Senate committee will launch an investigation into the federal government’s handling of the disaster.

“[I]t is our duty to ensure that the executive branch has all the resources and authorities it needs to coordinate and respond to this catastrophe,” Collins, chairwoman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said in a joint statement with its ranking Democrat, U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.

The initial focus of the oversight investigation will be to ensure that the federal government is doing all it can to help the victims of the disaster, which has killed hundreds of people and left hundreds of thousands homeless along the Southeast coast.

Once emergency efforts have brought the situation under control, the committee will hold hearings on the problems with preparedness and response to the hurricane and other disasters. An initial briefing on the investigation is scheduled for Sept. 7.

News of the pending investigation brought the following response from White House spokesman Ken Lisaius.

“Our focus remains on addressing the immediate needs of those on the ground in the Gulf coast area that have been impacted by Hurricane Katrina,” he said. “The administration has been in contact with congressional leaders regarding this most pressing matter and will continue to work with Congress on issues related to this most devastating situation.”

Relief efforts brought criticism on Friday from members of the Maine delegation, including U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe.

“As the wealthiest nation on earth, it is simply inconceivable that four days hence we have failed to muster a response commensurate with this humanitarian catastrophe,” she said.

Snowe’s statements and those of other delegation members came as the House passed emergency spending legislation authorizing $10.5 billion for immediate relief efforts. The Senate passed the same legislation Thursday.

As Homeland Security officials defended their efforts to bring aid to the region, Bush on Friday offered his own criticisms during a morning news conference outside the White House in which he called the initial response “unacceptable.”

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, agreed with that general characterization, but further chastised the administration for failing to anticipate the devastation.

“I find it embarrassing to watch this disaster unfold in America,” said Allen, faulting the administration for focusing too closely on terrorism at the expense of other needed programs, including flood control.

Although noting that nothing can stop a hurricane the likes of Katrina from causing damage, Allen said that in the administration’s haste to cut domestic spending, it ransacked the federal flood control budget, roughly cutting it in half this year.

Those cuts included funding for improvements to the levee system designed to protect an otherwise vulnerable New Orleans from ocean storms.

“The bottom line is we were not adequately prepared for a disaster that everybody knew was possible,” said Allen, citing previous studies predicting widespread damage in the city if hit by a major hurricane.

U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, called the response “too little, too late,” despite advance warning of the storm, and questioned whether the billions of dollars spent on homeland security after the 2001 terrorist attacks was money well spent.

“We would not have this kind of warning in a terrorist attack,” Michaud said. “As this crisis passes, we must find out why the Department of Homeland Security was caught unprepared, and fix the problem.”


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