WASHINGTON – Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) said the mismanagement and fraud related to Hurricane Katrina cited recently by the U.S. House and Senate are additional examples of why the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) should be removed from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and made into an independent cabinet-level agency.

“Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath killed 1,321 people. It’s estimated that about 2 million people were displaced and more than $150 billion in damage was caused,” Stupak said. “Testimonies from management, witnesses and even staunch supporters of the President are calling it as they see it – the Administration had the information they needed to prevent much of the outcome and failed miserably.”

In September 2005, immediately following the devastation caused by Katrina and the subsequent mismanaged response, Congressman John Dingell (D-Dearborn) introduced legislation to remove FEMA from under DHS. Stupak signed onto the bill stating that under the proposed legislation disasters, like Hurricane Katrina, would be better managed by an independent agency focused solely on emergency response and assistance.

The bill would move FEMA out from under DHS to an independent department of its own where the top executive would have cabinet-level accountability and report directly to the President. The bill would also create two deputy administrators; one would be assigned to man-made disasters and the other assigned to natural disasters. Each would be required to have significant experience related to their positions. Dingell critiqued DHS for “shifting FEMA’s focus and funding to terrorism at the expense of natural disaster management.”

Last month, Stupak toured devastated parts of New Orleans and Southern Mississippi. In his role as Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, a hearing was held in New Orleans on the status of health care since Hurricane Katrina. “Even now, almost six months after Hurricane Katrina there is not a viable health care delivery system in New Orleans where emergency room care means waiting in an ambulance for up to four hours or in the emergency waiting room for nine hours. The health care delivery system in the gulf region remains broken,” Stupak said.

Stupak continued, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, visiting the devastated area is worth ten thousand words. It’s sad to think that some of the deaths could have been avoided with better planning, coordination and notification. We need to separate FEMA from DHS and within the new FEMA we need leaders with specialized experiences with natural disasters not political opportunities.”

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