Ask the President & Congress to Appoint an Independent Nonpartisan Commission to Investigate Government’s Response to Katrina

Common Cause calls on the President and the United States Congress to appoint an independent, nonpartisan commission modeled on the 9-11 Commission to investigate government’s response to the disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina.

We believe it is critical that the commission be appointed soon. While the foremost priority now has to be the recovery of the affected areas and, especially, the dislocated residents, it is important that questions raised about government’s response at all levels be addressed soon. Because a natural disaster or a terrorist attack can occur at anytime, now is the time to ensure that government is ready to respond more quickly and effectively than it did following Katrina.

This commission must have a bipartisan membership and include members who are nonpartisan. It should include people with both technical expertise and experience in the bureaucracy of emergency preparedness and response.

We the undersigned call on the President and the United States Congress to act quickly to create a commission to investigate the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina to begin restoring the public’s confidence in its government.

If you agree, please sign the petition.

A congressional investigation into the failed government response to Hurricane Katrina is not adequate. We need a commission that is independent of Congress, the Executive Branch, and of state and local governments. We do not believe it is possible for those who led this demonstrably failed response to conduct a credible investigation. We need investigators without a political stake in the outcome.

Furthermore, we need an independent commission that will pay special attention to the oversight role of Congress and the executive branch in the spending of billions of dollars in federal aid for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. We are already seeing many similarities between the reconstruction of Iraq and New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf Coast area. Given the waste, fraud and abuse that occurred in Iraq due to a lack of independent oversight, it is important to have an independent, nonpartisan commission in place that will investigate and recommend ways to ensure that federal funding is spent effectively.

It is critical that the Congress and the President hear a large public demand for this Commission or vital questions about our preparedness for a national disaster or terrorist attack won’t be asked or answered.

Our call for this independent-nonpartisan commission is part of a new watchdog campaign, Eye on the Gulf, aimed at holding Congress, the Administration, and state and local governments accountable for actions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.