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Statement by Senator Moore on the response to Hurricane Katrina |
| NOTE: Senator Moore served as Associate Director for Mitigation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from 1994-96 during the Clinton Administration and is Co-Chair of the Homeland Security Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures. |
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BOSTON, September 2, 2005 - "At this early stage in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, it does appear that we need to revisit the nation’s organizational preparedness for major natural disasters. While I commend all those who are working to help relieve the suffering of our fellow Americans in the Gulf region, it appears that we might have been better prepared to respond to this disaster. When I served at FEMA, the agency director, James Lee Witt, was a member of the President’s Cabinet. Unfortunately, the current Administration did not continue this practice. As Director Witt told me then, his membership at the Cabinet level allowed him to be treated by other Cabinet secretaries as an equal, and that made it easier for FEMA to serve in its coordinating role in a disaster under the Federal Response Plan. I hope the President and Congress will revisit FEMA’s place in the government and strengthen its ability to fulfill its mission as the central coordinating agency in a disaster. I am also concerned by reports that FEMA may no longer be focused on preparedness and training for disaster and that some of those resources have been diluted by the need to serve the Homeland Security function. If this is true, the President and Congress need to review the steps that need to be taken to restore FEMA to its ability to be better prepared to meet the enormous challenges that events like Katrina pose for America. My primary assignment at FEMA was to help state and local government support programs that mitigate the effects of major natural events. As we undertake the substantial task of rebuilding large areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and other states in the region, I hope that we will support stronger building codes, coastal and flood plain management requirements, and spend public funds only on sustainable development projects. Building along low-lying coastal areas and flood plains needs to be tightly controlled by federal, state, and local authorities to avoid a repeat of this kind of disaster." |
