Robin Carnahan: “Americans were shocked by our government's response to Hurricane Katrina. They watched as days passed before the people…”

“Americans were shocked by our government's response to Hurricane Katrina. They watched as days passed before the people of New Orleans were rescued from rooftops and attics or before those at the Superdome actually received food and water. Americans rightly asked, if this is the way our government responds to a natural disaster it knew about days in advance, how would it respond to a surprise terrorist attack? How would it respond to an earthquake? Americans now deserve and demand answers from an independent commission, not a partisan committee with a political agenda. Creating this commission is not about a blame game. The purpose of this commission is not really about the past; it is about the future. It is about learning from our mistakes so that we assure that these mistakes are never repeated in this country. The American people respected the 9/11 Commission because of its independence, and that is exactly what we need now. ____________________”