Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Reid says Bush should have fired FEMA administrator

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., left, and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., talk about the importance of emergency preparedness Monday at the Capitol in Washington. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada on Monday said President Bush should have fired Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Mike Brown last week before Brown announced his resignation.

The fact that Brown resigned before he could be fired, Reid said, is a sign of how the president is avoiding accountability for the government's response to Hurricane Katrina.

All levels of the administration are to blame, including the president, Reid said.

"Harry Truman said the buck stops here," Reid said.

Brian Nick, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Reid is trying to exploit a national tragedy.

"Reid and many others are taking every opportunity to politicize this," Nick said. "Meanwhile, the president and others are focused on providing relief to victims."

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., joined Reid at a news conference to renew a call for an independent commission to investigate Hurricane Katrina.

Bush has said he intends to lead his own investigation into the disaster, and supports a bipartisan commission being formed in Congress.

Reid continues to resist efforts by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., to create the bipartisan commission to investigate Hurricane Katrina.

Reid said he is not cooperating because House members who would serve on the panel would be picked according to their allegiance to Republican leaders instead of seniority.

But Reid said he supports an investigation by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who chairs the Senate Homeland Defense and Governmental Affairs Committee.

On another issue, Reid stopped short of vowing a filibuster but said the president would meet stiff resistance if he nominates conservative judge Priscilla Owen to the Supreme Court.

Bush met with Owen last week, refreshing speculation she may be his pick to fill the second Supreme Court vacancy.

"I don't know why he would want to nominate her. Maybe he doesn't have enough fights going on around here," Reid said. "But I guarantee you that would be an added one."

Reid said virtually every Democratic senator would be opposed to Owen's nomination.