Louisiana Governor’s Report to Congress
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco (D) issued her response to Congress for its investigation into the preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina. The report contains more than 100,000 pages of records not previously released.
Obviously, I have not read the 100,000 pages, but I have read the executive summary/cover letter to the report. Combining the contents of the summary with the report from The Washington Post, it is easy to conclude that the Bush administration attempted to place on state and local authorities was not warranted. Coinciding with what the news media portrayed at the time of the situation, President Bush appears to have given little attention to the matter until Friday, after the storm made land fall before dawn on Monday. Once the President focused on the situation, it appears he was huddled with the White House staff reviewing legal matters until just before delivering his regularly scheduled remarks on Saturday morning via radio.
Just before the President delivers his Radio Address on Saturday morning, Governor Blanco speaks to Andrew Card who tells her that she will be pleased with the President’s announcement. The Governor listens intently as the President speaks, and is thankful that he has authorized federal troops to work with the National Guard.
The additional review of legal matters on Friday and Saturday is in stark contrast to Governor Blanco’s report; “who manages what,” was decided in prior conversations between the Governor and the administration. The agreement was the Governor, justifiably, would have authority over the National Guard and federal troops would remain under the authority of the federal government. Each group would be responsible for separate and distinct activities, which supported the agreement. Furthermore, according to Blanco, the federal government had not responded and she was already managing thousands of National Guard troops and did not want to layer on additional confusion by changing the structure currently in place.
One item is quite obvious in the summary report — the absence of communications with then FEMA Director, Michael Brown. Brown and Blanco met just prior to Katrina’s arrival and is not mentioned in her report thereafter. The only possible exception to that are the following passages. If you will remember, Michael Brown testified before Congress, that the State and local officials were out of control.
Much has been said and written about the Governor’s private meeting with the President, and erroneous reports have been circulated that she denied federal troops or delayed help for 24-hours. The facts are clear and evidence confirms that the Governor requests early and often the need for additional military presence, including a federal military presence and assets. At no time does anyone from the federal government tell her that federal troops are withheld because the existing structure was inadequate. In fact, the new proposal is first presented to her aboard Air Force One on Friday, four days after the storm struck on Monday, and the President never suggests that federal troops were reliant on this new structure nor did he convey that the joint command structure is insufficient. She believes that the President is sincere in his pledge to help Louisiana. She is clear about needing that help, particularly in the immediate aftermath of the storm.
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