Buffalo (N.Y.) News, Sept. 20
Republicans who control the Senate and House chamber have killed a proposal to create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate how the response to Hurricane Katrina went so lethally wrong. But the need for the panel is as obvious as the reason for Congress’ resistance.
The catastrophic damage of the hurricane and its aftermath was due, in part, to multiple failures of government at every level.
The only hope of fixing these problems is to understand what the problems were, where they occurred and why. That can be done only outside a political context, where the need for self-protection evaporates. …
Americans have a right to honest answers about why the world’s most powerful country couldn’t meet this crisis. An independent investigation is the only way to do that.