« Kanye - It's All About Me | Main | Chief Justice Rehnquist Dies at 80 »
September 03, 2005
An Open Letter to Susan Collins
Senator Collins,
Recent news reports indicate you and Senator Joe Lieberman want to hold hearings on what went wrong with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Given the extent of the disaster and the crisis it caused, and the lack of communication between the federal government and the state governments, such hearings seem in order.
What bothers me about the news of your plans, however, is that you wish to start those hearings next week. As your press release indicates:
The Senators have scheduled an initial briefing by DHS officials for Committee Members and Senators from affected states on Wednesday, September 7th. The briefing will be closed to the media, but the Senators will schedule a press availability after the briefing.With all due respect, I think you and Senator Lieberman should wait a bit longer. The situation in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast is now beginning to stablize. Pulling the decision makers out of that region now indicates that you are more concerned with the past than with the immediate need to provide assistance to those affected by this storm.
There will be plenty of time for hearings later. For now, you and the rest of the Congress should sit back and let the government work. Those who made the initial decisions that caused your concern will still be there when the crisis is over.
Regards,
A Constituent
Posted by slublog at September 3, 2005 01:09 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.slublog.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1766