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Washington, DC – Congressman Bill Shuster will depart from Andrews Air Force Base tomorrow morning for the Gulf Coast region with members of the Select Committee investigating the response to and preparation for Hurricane Katrina. In Washington last week the committee heard testimony from former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director Michael Brown, and this week they will travel to the region to speak with officials on the ground – state, local and federal – to find out what went wrong before, during and after the storm.
“This committee is responsible for looking into the entire disaster response leading up to the storm and during the days following it,” said Shuster, chairman of the subcommittee that oversees FEMA and a member of the Katrina Select Committee. “During this trip we plan to meet with people who were there when the storm hit and are still there now helping to provide relief. Their stories will provide valuable details that will help future response teams.”
The trip will tour Baton Rouge, Louisiana, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and will include briefings at the Hurricane Katrina Emergency Command Center by the State Departments of Transportation, FEMA, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard. Admiral Thad Allen, who is directing all relief efforts in the region, will also be meeting with Congressman Shuster. Aerial helicopter tours of devastated areas in Mississippi and Alabama are also planned.
“We are putting together pieces of the puzzle,” said Shuster. “We want to get as many perspectives as possible because the initial response was disappointing. The coordinated response from local, state and federal officials needs to be improved to better protect Americans from devastation.”
The one-day trip leaves Tuesday morning and arrives in Washington late that evening. The Select Committee is required to report its findings to Congress no later than February 15, 2006. |
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