Brown sees red

Grilled by a House committee, the former FEMA chief heatedly defends his response to Katrina disaster

BY GLENN THRUSH | WASHINGTON BUREAU; The Associated Press contributed to this story.

September 28, 2005

WASHINGTON - Michael Brown, the deposed director of FEMA, sparked a bipartisan firestorm yesterday by blaming Louisiana officials for bungling the multi-agency response to Hurricane Katrina while boasting he had done a "darned good job."

While Brown endured hours of grilling in the House, an aggravated Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) was fuming that she still had "no idea" who was coordinating federal efforts to help Katrina's victims. She said the Bush administration had not made clear who was in charge nearly a month after the storm killed more than 1,000 people and decimated the Gulf Coast.

Speaking outside a Senate hearing, Clinton said she might support appointment of a federal hurricane czar, a proposal floated by GOP senators.

Is Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in charge, she asked. Is Lt. Gen. Russel Honore in charge? Is the Coast Guard admiral in charge? "I don't have any idea," she said.

Brown, testifying before a House special panel, blamed the lack of a coordinated response on New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, both Democrats.

"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional," Brown said.

"Mike Brown wasn't engaged then, and he surely isn't now," said Blanco's press secretary, Denise Bottcher.

The House hearing was boycotted by most Democrats, who have called for an independent commission modeled on the Sept. 11 panel. A Clinton-sponsored amendment that would have created the commission was defeated on party lines.

Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.) is requesting that the Bush administration turn over a wide range of documents.

"It's a little difficult to be responding to the disaster and doing what needs to be done on the ground and investigating yourself at the same time," Clinton said.

GOP House members, for their part, weren't inclined to toss softballs at Brown.

Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) said Brown's deer-in-the-headlights look "tells me you weren't capable of doing that job."

Brown argued that his agency was never intended to oversee mass evacuations, saying his major regret was not being a better mediator between squabbling Louisiana officials.

"That's ridiculous," said Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), one of two Democrats at the hearing. "But we can't make Brown the scapegoat. With him being removed, issues still remain. FEMA's underfunded, understaffed and doesn't have any clout."

Brown, who led the International Arabian Horse Association before being appointed in 2001, echoed President George W. Bush's now-famous line, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," uttered as thousands of New Orleans residents begged for food and water.

Nagin, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley will appear before the Senate Finance Committee this morning. Blanco is likely to send a representative.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on the administration to extend the use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for three more months.

'I do a pretty darn good job of it'

Excerpts from Congressional testimony by former FEMA Director Michael Brown

My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional.. . . 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.