By Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post
The Bush administration’s new federal disaster-response plan drew harsh criticism yesterday from state and local officials only a day after it was unveiled, prompting fresh calls by House Democrats to make the Federal Emergency Management Agency a stand-alone Cabinet-level agency.
In one of only three House hearings held yesterday, all scheduled to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, state and local emergency managers said the new plan offers insufficient detail for guiding the actions of officials in charge of handling specific incidents and leaves unclear the chain of command, from the president to workers on the scene.
Congress passed legislation after Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005 to beef up FEMA and make its director the president’s principal disaster-management adviser.