  
| 
| ||||||||||||||||
Lawmakers debate ways to fix FEMA
 Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says his agency has made progressive changes. RELATED
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- While officials debated Sunday what should be done to fix the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff warned against drastic changes with hurricane season just a few months away. Chertoff, one of the administration figures blamed for a slow response to Hurricane Katrina, says measures to better prepare FEMA for disasters have already been put in place. Two key lawmakers said the agency was broken and recommended structural changes, with one suggesting FEMA be removed from the Department of Homeland Security umbrella and another saying the agency should be disbanded and rebuilt within DHS. Rep. Thomas Davis, R-Virginia, told ABC's "This Week" he believes FEMA needs to be a Cabinet-level organization. "I think they've got to be, just there at the right arm of the White House during any crisis," he said. Sen. Joe Lieberman disagreed. "To create another organization ... I think, would waste a lot of money and make us less effective," the Connecticut Democrat said. FEMA should remain under DHS but needs to be razed and rebuilt, he said. "I think it has shown itself to be so dysfunctional," said Lieberman. "The fact is, it's an emergency management administration, but it's represented emergency mismanagement." Lieberman didn't criticize FEMA employees for the slow response to Hurricane Katrina, instead blaming a lack of support from the government. "There are some very good people, a lot of good people in FEMA," he said. "They should be at the base of the rebuilding. They need more people." As for the person overseeing FEMA, Lieberman, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Chertoff had "let us down." "Our committee's investigation shows that Secretary Chertoff did not carry out his responsibility under law for preparing America for disasters and then leading the response to them," he said. Another Democrat, Rep. Jane Harman of California, told CNN's "Late Edition" that she wanted to give Chertoff another chance. "I think he's a strategic thinker. He came with high hopes from all of us," she said. "He has taken personal responsibility for Katrina. He has a huge amount of work to do. I'm ready to wait and see if he fixes his department. " White House spokesman Scott McClellan said last week that Bush has not talked to Chertoff about resigning. "The president appreciates his strong leadership," McClellan told reporters Tuesday. Chertoff, who took over as DHS secretary a year ago, maintained progress has already been made. "You know, we are still an immature organization," he told CNN. "There are many, many fine things that we have in place now that were not in place two years ago, but I'm the first person to be aware that we're always racing the clock." On Wednesday, Chertoff outlined some of those changes before the Homeland Security Committee, including improving FEMA's logistics capability, which he called "woefully inadequate." Chertoff said he is opposed to removing FEMA from DHS. Sometimes, he said, a disaster is a terrorist act, and "the last thing we want to do is have two parallel agencies fighting over who will manage it. We are coming up on hurricane season. Nature doesn't wait for us to reorganize. If FEMA is pulled out, we will be much less prepared." 
|
| ||||||||||||||||
| © 2007 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
 |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
