Political Quotes

“it is very clear from Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Katrina that America is now learning how to be prepared for disasters. Many more positive things happened as a result of the threat of Hurricane Rita than happened just a few weeks before in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. We now know that it is not a question of pointing the finger of blame, but those of us in leadership in Washington need to get to the bottom of this--not so we can decide who was wrong in days gone by but, frankly, to make sure this doesn't happen again. The American people do not want to know who wins the game of ``gotcha'' here; they want to know if America is ready for the next disaster. We were clearly not prepared for Hurricane Katrina. The scenes we all saw night and day on television of helpless victims in New Orleans and other communities remind us over and over again that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was not prepared for this challenge. We came to that realization when Mr. Brown was asked to leave FEMA. I believe that was the right decision. But I was stunned to learn that he is still on the payroll. It is hard to imagine that this man who was at FEMA with such a thin resume and such limited experiences dealing with disasters was asked to leave and be replaced and then continues on as a consultant to FEMA. He is going to be scrutinized today by a panel in the House of Representatives that may ask him some questions about what he did.…”