GOP drops plan to investigate response to Katrina

GOP drops plan to investigate response to Katrina



WASHINGTON ?- Congressional Republicans signaled yesterday that they have abandoned their plan to conduct a joint House-Senate probe of the government's response to Hurricane Katrina.

The Republican leadership had said a joint inquiry would be the most efficient way to investigate the administration's much-criticized hurricane-relief effort. But Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., conceded yesterday that he has been unable to overcome Democratic opposition to a joint investigation.

Democratic leaders have refused to appoint members to a joint committee, citing the lack of equal representation for their party. Democrats say that would make it possible for Republicans to control the investigation.

As an alternative, Democrats have insisted on an independent inquiry, saying the Republican-controlled Congress cannot be trusted to investigate the Bush administration aggressively.

With the joint congressional investigation apparently off the table, Republicans are planning separate House and Senate inquiries. But it was far from clear yesterday whether Democrats would cooperate with those probes.

The wrangling underscores the partisanship that has surrounded much of the postmortem into the hurricane relief efforts. It also raises questions about whether Congress can conduct an inquiry into the response that will be seen as credible.

Democrats seemed determined to keep pressure on the Republican leadership and the White House to appoint an independent panel modeled on the commission President Bush named to investigate the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Democratic aides, speaking on condition of anonymity yesterday, said they were hoping that survivors of the hurricane, once they stabilized their lives, would mount the sort of effective lobbying campaign in Washington that families of victims of Sept. 11 did for an independent inquiry.

"If Katrina families will come forward, maybe that will be the next chapter, and that will get the [independent] investigation going," one senior Democratic Senate aide said.

In a letter sent yesterday to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Frist proposed that the Senate instead would conduct its own investigation and coordinate its efforts with the House "so as to minimize the burdens placed on those who are coming to Washington, D.C., from the Gulf Coast region."




Rebecca Kirszner, a spokeswoman for Reid, said the minority leader had rejected the proposal.

"The American people deserve real answers," Kirszner said. "Until Republicans agree that politics does not have a role in the investigative process, Senator Reid will not sign on."

Meanwhile, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., was having no more luck persuading House Democrats to participate in that chamber's probe.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., remained adamant that Democrats would not participate.

"Nothing's changed," said Jennifer Crider, Pelosi's spokeswoman.

Congressional Republicans have said they believe Democrats would pay a political price if they were seen as obstructing an investigation into the hurricane-relief effort.

"We intend to move forward," said Ron Bonjean, a Hastert spokesman. "We are naming members to the committee and hope to get this moving as soon as possible, and we hope that Democrats want to join the effort."


SOURCE