Brown Blames 'Dysfunctional' Louisiana
Former FEMA Chief Remains on Payroll Despite Resignation
BY LARA JAKES JORDAN, AP

WASHINGTON (Sept. 27) - Former FEMA director Michael Brown aggressively
defended his role in responding to Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday and put much
of the blame for coordination failures on Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was
dysfunctional," two days before the storm hit, Brown told a special
congressional panel set up by House Republican leaders to investigate the
catastrophe.

The storm slammed into the Gulf Coast on Monday, Aug. 29.

Brown's defense drew a scathing response from Rep. William Jefferson, D-La.

"I find it absolutely stunning that this hearing would start out with you,
Mr. Brown, laying the blame for FEMA's failings at the feet of the governor
of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans."

Brown, who for many became a symbol of government failures in the natural
disaster that claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people, rejected
accusations that he was too inexperienced for the job.

"I've overseen over 150 presidentially declared disasters. I know what I'm
doing, and I think I do a pretty darn good job of it," Brown said.

Brown resigned as the head of FEMA earlier this month after being removed by
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff from responsibility in the
stricken areas.

Brown, who joined FEMA in 2001 and ran it for more than two years, was
previously an attorney who held several local government and private posts,
including leading the International Arabian Horse Association.

Brown in his opening statement said he had made several "specific mistakes"
in dealing with the storm, and listed two.

One, he said, was not having more media briefings.

As to the other, he said: "I very strongly personally regret that I was
unable to persuade Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin to sit down, get over their
differences, and work together. I just couldn't pull that off."

Both Blanco and Nagin are Democrats.

"The people of FEMA are being tired of being beat up, and they don't deserve
it," Brown said.

The hearing was largely boycotted by Democrats, who want an independent
investigation conducted into government failures, not one run by
congressional Republicans.

But Jefferson -- who is not a committee member -- accepted the panel's
invitation to grill Brown.

Referring to Brown's description of his "mistakes," Jefferson said: "I think
that's a very weak explanation of what happened, and very incomplete
explanation of what happened. I don't think that's going to cut it, really."

Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., cautioned against too narrowly
assigning blame.

"At the end of the day, I suspect that we'll find that government at all
levels failed the people of Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama and the
Gulf Coast," said Davis.

Davis pushed Brown on what he and the agency he led should have done to
evacuate New Orleans, restore order in the city and improve communication
among law enforcement agencies.

Brown said: "Those are not FEMA roles. FEMA doesn't evacuate communities.
FEMA does not do law enforcement. FEMA does not do communications."

In part of his testimony, Brown pumped his hand up and down for emphasis.

Brown said the lack of a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans before the
storm was "the tipping point for all the other things that went wrong."
Brown said he had personally pushed Louisiana Gov. Blanco to order such an
evacuation.

He did not have the authority to order the city evacuated on his own, Brown
said.

When asked by Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky, whether the lack of an ordered
evacuation was "the proximate cause of most people's misery," Brown said,
"Yes."

Brown is continuing to work at the Federal Emergency Management Agency at
full pay, with his Sept. 12 resignation not taking effect for two more
weeks, said Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke.

Knocke said Brown agreed to stay at FEMA up to four weeks after he resigned
to advise the department on "some of his views on his experience with
Katrina." He said Brown, who is in a "transition" period, does not have any
decision-making or management responsibilities.

"There is an important public benefit to ensuring that any pending projects,
initiatives, commitments or records be properly passed off to staff," Knocke
said.

Brown ran FEMA for more than two years.