Despite all the discussion of President Bush's culpability in the wake of Katrina, most Dartmouth students have yet to blame deposed FEMA Director Michael Brown, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco or New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin for any of the storm's aftermath. I am not sure whether this is due to the chronological distance from Katrina, the relative obscurity of mayors and bureaucrats, or that most Hanover residents irrationally and pathologically hate Bush.
Brown was back in the news this past Tuesday as he unfairly tried to clear himself before a Congressional committee. Many Democratic members of Congress were absent from the hearings in protest, either pouting or calling for an independent commission instead. During the hearings, Brown defiantly defended himself while shedding light on the failures of the state and local governments of Louisiana. His most interesting contention was that "the hysteric media" had misreported FEMA's responsibility.
"FEMA doesn't own fire trucks; we don't own ambulances; we don't own search-and-rescue equipment...We are not a law enforcement agency," Brown said. Such vehicles and capabilities are under local and state jurisdiction. Such a division of power is the basis of federalism.
However, when Brown's testimony is seen in light of a more complete view of the response, a different picture emerges as to who should receive most of the blame. Brown repeatedly asked why Mississippi and Alabama have handled the disaster so differently when interacting with the same federal agency. Salvation Army and Red Cross officials have publicly stated that the chief impediment to access to Louisiana came not from FEMA but from Louisiana's local governments. The Red Cross even issued a statement, "The state Homeland Security Department had requested ...that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane."
The New Orleans Police Department reported that up to 249 officers left town without permission during and after the storm. Again, this dereliction is a local problem. Indeed, Police Chief Eddie Compass resigned this week. Port police also left, but under orders from Port of New Orleans security director Cynthia Swain. Needless to say, locally funded officers in motorboats would have been extremely useful.
And neither Bush nor Brown could have sent in federal troops. Blanco would have had to turn command of the National Guard over to Bush for them to be under his control. Indeed, regular federal troops have been prohibited from conducting domestic policing without explicit consent of the governor since the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act. Neither of those things occurred.
Other critics ask why FEMA did not assist in the evacuation effort. Let us examine the City of New Orleans Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. "Conduct of an actual evacuation will be the responsibility of the mayor of New Orleans," the plan reads, and continues to say that "school and municipal buses... may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating." Given the fact that it was the mayor's responsibility to use the over 400 buses in New Orleans to carry out municipal evacuation before the storm hit, I fail to see how that is a federal issue, either.
Was the federal response perfect? Hardly. But given the complete picture, it seems less a federal failure than a state and local one. Representative Chris Shays said to Brown, "I can't help but wonder how different the answers would be ... if someone like Rudy Giuliani had been in your position. I think he would have done things differently." Perhaps the same message should be relayed to the governor's mansion and city hall as well.
