U.S. House of Representatives Issues Official Report on Katrina

More reports are coming soon, all slamming the response to the disaster. What is extraordinary is that it is from a Republican Congress- a Congress criticizing it's own Party.

The problems with most of these reports is that it shows that the government (Congress included) still really does not "get it".

I completed a large report on this issue in late 2005 and pointed out some key issues that the Congress really did not address.

There are about 6 major issues that the government did not concentrate on, and showed no interest in changing.
1. There was no independent investigation. This is an indication that the Republican Congress was never really serious about investigating this issue, and improving the U.S. disaster system.
It was a show trial for the most part.

2. They still do not understand the importance of having people in key positions in our disaster response system, who actually have sufficient experience and expertise in the emergency response/rescue/law enforcement fields. Michael Chertoff- Sec. of Homeland Security, nor Michael Brown- Head of FEMA, have experience in emergency response or managing large organizations. Yet they were given these sensitive positions. There are dozens of key positions in the Republican government occupied by political appointees who are not really qualified for the jobs that they have been given.

3. They still do not understand the importance of having FEMA report directly to the President, eliminating red tape. Adding layers of bureacracy only slows down disaster response and weakens effectiveness.

4. They still do not understand the importance of interoperable communications and linking all emergency response personnel together with a system of satellite phones, cell phones, and radios. Emergency directors from all States, all major cities, and all major counties should be able to communicate over the same network, 24/7, 365.

5. They still do not understand the importance of establishing a system of rapid response/emergency response teams and strategically placing them all across the country.

6. They still do not understand the importance of establishing a unified system for disaster response, with the same procedures and standards, that would link State, Federal and local responders together into one cohesive system. There is still no effective system of coordination.

With all of these issues basically glossed over or ignored.... I don't think much will come from these Congressional investigations, other than the admittance that the response was inadequate. I think that is the most that we can hope to get from a Republican Congress. How dare we expect real action.

I believe that if another major disaster strikes, the response would be just as poor. Without the above issues being addressed and corrected by Congress, the same thing can happen all over again.

To learn more about this final Congressional Report (House of Representatives), view the following videos.
Final Report Summary from House of Representatives
(may need to copy and paste the video links)
rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/hur/hur021506_katrina.rm


Follow-up and Commentary about the report
Copy & paste
rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/hur/hur_wj021606_davis.rm

Download the entire report here:

http://www.c-span.org/pdf/katrinareport.pdf