Lawless slams Langevin over FEMA vote in Congress
WARWICK, RI - A Democrat and would-be challenger in 2006 of incumbent Jim Langevin in Rhode Island's second congressional district has lashed out at her opponent in a prepared statement that addresses the botched response of government agencies following the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast.
Jennifer Lawless, whose campaign office is located on West Shore Road in Warwick, also called for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be removed from the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and be rendered an independent federal agency.
Amid allegations of former FEMA Director Michael Brown's resume padding and lack of qualifications, Lawless expressed concern that the United States must have someone leading relief efforts who has emergency management experience.
"The federal government's initial response to Hurricane Katrina was abhorrent and embarrassing," Lawless said in a prepared statement.
"Over the course of the coming weeks and months, we will be evaluating what went wrong and ensuring that we are better prepared for natural disasters in the future," Lawless continued. "We should start by restoring FEMA to its status as an independent agency and setting standards for its director. How is it possible for the Director of our federal emergency agency to have no previous experience managing disasters?"
The Langevin camp, however, said the disaster in the gulf and the need for changes to the government's response structure is foremost on the congressman's mind.
"The congressman is very concerned with FEMA's effectiveness, or in this case its ineffectiveness," responded Langevin Press Secretary Joy Fox, noting the U.S. representative joined with other Democrats in considering whether or not the emergency management agency should remain under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Defense.
"We need to make sure we're not moving boxes around without things looked at first," said Fox, explaining that Langevin wanted to be certain any changes didn't just create more bureaucratic impediments, which is what appears to be to blame for the stalled response to Katrina.
Lawless, a political newcomer and a professor of political science at Brown University, said that she also backs amendments several representatives had planned to offer during debate in the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 8 that would have made FEMA an independent agency and required provisions to ensure a qualified agency director.
Prior to the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA was an independent, cabinet-level federal agency reporting directly to the president, according to the Lawless statement. The House amendments could have been offered during debate on the $52 billion emergency spending bill, but they were stifled by a GOP-led procedural move to block amendments from being offered, her campaign argues. Representative Langevin was one of just a few Democrats to vote for the measure, according to the Lawless release.
"The people of Rhode Island deserve to know why our representative was one of only 16 Democrats to join with Tom DeLay and the Republicans to stifle this amendment," Lawless said.
"We all see the horror that has taken place on the Gulf Coast," she continued. "You can be sure that if I had the opportunity to help make the federal response more efficient, then I would have done everything in my power to do it."
But Fox responded that Lawless does not understand the procedural vote process clearly, noting that the congressman initially voted against the legislation in order to force debate and discussion on proposed amendments. And when efforts failed to approve those changes, Fox said Langevin felt it made more sense to vote in favor of the funding legislation as presented rather than delay the much-needed relief package.
"Given the images that we've all seen coming out of the gulf coast that seemed more important than partisan politics," Fox said.
This article appeared on September 15, 2005, in the Warwick Beacon.
