FEMA Is Unsalvageable, Senate Panel Says

NPR | By Pam Fessler

Published April 27, 2006 at 4:00 PM EDT

A temporary FEMA Disaster Recovery Center in New Orleans, La., Thursday. A Senate inquiry concluded that FEMA should be abolished.

A Senate committee calls for the end of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the target of harsh criticism after Hurricane Katrina struck last year. The Senate Homeland Security panel's report on the federal response to the hurricane says that FEMA's functions should be repackaged in a new agency.

The new agency would be a part of the Department of Homeland Security, as is FEMA. The recommendation was among 85 suggestions the panel set forth. Other items in the report, including detailed findings on what happened before and after the storm, will be released in the coming days.

Pam Fessler

Pam Fessler is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk, where she covers poverty, philanthropy, and voting issues.

See stories by Pam Fessler

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