[StBernard] Governor calls for Congressional action, responds to comments by former FEMA director Michael Brown

[Westley Annis]

Governor calls for Congressional action, responds to comments by former FEMA director Michael Brown

A statement by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco

"Louisiana's citizens demand and deserve a full recovery from two of the largest natural disasters in U.S. history. I am aggressively working with the Democratic leadership of the new Congress to remove federal bureaucratic hurdles and secure Louisiana's fair share of recovery resources.

"To truly help, rather than hinder our historic recovery, I am calling on Congress to:

*	Create a bipartisan Commission to fully investigate the immediate and long-term federal response to the largest and most catastrophic natural disasters in U.S. history; 
*	Investigate the role of the White House political advisors throughout these two tragedies; 
*	Buffer the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from political agendas and partisan politics; and 
*	Achieve parity in distribution of federal recovery dollars through standard criteria based on actual damage and need.

"As evidenced by comments made by former FEMA director Michael Brown this past weekend, these steps are critical to Louisiana's recovery and the federal government's ability to adequately respond to future emergencies. All of us were sickened to hear that while thousands of our citizens were suffering during Hurricane Katrina, political operatives in the White House were playing party politics. These individuals based key decisions of emergency response on the gender and party affiliation of elected officials rather than on the urgent needs of our people."

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The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation
Louisiana's Fund for Louisiana's People
www.louisianahelp.org