Why Can’t This Administration Honestly Admit Katrina Failures?
Once again, the White House is denying advance knowledge of the potential devastation of Hurricane Katrina last August.
"This is not an 'I told you so,'" stated House Science Committee Ranking Member Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) today. "This is a renewed call for an end to stalling, an end to the cover-ups, and an end to finger-pointing. We know who knew what and when they knew it - the scandal now is the lack of action."
The re-emergence of Associated Press video and transcripts from the days leading up to Katrina’s landfall confirm what Science Committee Democrats noted in their Katrina investigation report last September - the White House knew what was coming but failed to coordinate response efforts.
Failing to Protect and Defend: the Federal Emergency Response to Hurricane Katrina, the Science Democrats’ report released in September 2005 stated the very facts/timeline now garnering national news headlines.
"Keeping citizens safe is job one - in response to Katrina, we failed. Our report attempted to fill in the blanks that are finally now being confirmed by the dramatic videotape and transcripts released by the Associated Press," continued Rep. Gordon.
"This new information is important but let's not get distracted. We need hurricane protection, housing, and business loans - not to mention a confidence that our government will help keep us safe - in order for people to return to South Louisiana and rebuild," added Science Committee Member Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA). Rep. Melancon’s Congressional District was among the hardest hit by Katrina.
Last September, Science Democrats’ report noted that the Saturday, August 27, Situation Report from NOAA included the National Hurricane Center's (NHC) anticipation that Katrina could develop into a Category 5 storm. The August 27th Situation Report indicates the NOAA HSOC desk began providing spot reports and situation reports directly to the White House.
The Report notes that White House staff, the President, and Secretary Chertoff participated in the August 28th Hurricane Liaison Team briefings. The White House issued a photo taken during that call which contained the cutline: President George W. Bush is handed a map by Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin, center, during a video teleconference with federal and state emergency management organizations on Hurricane Katrina from his Crawford, Texas ranch on Sunday August 28, 2005. White House photo by Paul Morse.
On September 14, 2005, Congressman Gordon sent a letter to the White House asking for a transcript of this briefing as well as questions about other White House staff who may have been working on Hurricane Katrina. No response has ever been received.
In a Science Committee hearing on October 7, 2005, Mr. Gordon asked Max Mayfield, the head of the Hurricane forecasting center, to provide to the Committee the very same briefing he provided to President Bush. This had been as close as anyone had been able to get to the exact message delivered to the President on August 28, the day before Katrina made landfall. Mayfield’s powerful testimony warned of potentially catastrophic consequences from the storm, including the possibility that the levees around New Orleans could fail. The tape released by AP confirms that Mayfield’s testimony was a very good recreation of his original presentation to the President.
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