DeLauro Calls on Congress to Investigate Evidence that

DeLauro Calls on Congress to Investigate Evidence that

White House Ignored Warnings on Hurricane Katrina

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As increasing evidence shows White House officials had prior warning of the devastation Hurricane Katrina would bring to the Gulf Coast region, Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today called on the Congress to investigate. According to documents obtained by several media outlets, the White House received two reports from the Department of Homeland Security - one report two days before the storm hit. The reports warned of the impact a storm Category 4 or greater would have on the region. Following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, President Bush was quoted as saying, "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees. Now we're having to deal with it, and will."

"To learn that the White House had been told by the Homeland Security Department that Katrina would breach the New Orleans levees and require mass evacuation is disturbing enough. But for the President to then ignore that report and claim he had no idea of the storm's impact is not only misleading - it is demonstrably false. Particularly given the Administration's incompetence in handling the storm's aftermath, the American people have a right to be furious.

"Congress must investigate increasing evidence that shows the White House ignored warnings on the impact of Hurricane Katrina. The American people should not accept a breakdown in communication at the highest level of government that led to the Bush administration's ineffective response to one of the worst natural disasters in American history."

http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2006/January/investigate_katrina_1_24_06.html