Louisiana governor defends decision not to federalize Guard units

Louisiana Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco on Thursday defended her rejection of President Bush's request to federalize the Louisiana National Guard in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, taking issue with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's description of chaos surrounding the decision.

"The mayor was not in the meeting [between herself and the president]," Blanco told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "I told the president that the proper way is for me, as governor, to remain in control of the National Guard," Blanco said.

She said while she was "pushing" for more federal troops to come into her state, she was adamant that she would have control of the Guard. The panel was holding its 15th hearing on hurricanes Katrina and Rita in an effort to determine what went wrong and what the federal government can do now to prevent similar circumstances in times of natural or man-made disaster.

Mississippi Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, who also testified before the panel, said the question of federalizing his state's National Guard never came up with the administration because he made it clear beforehand that he would not be amenable to such a suggestion.

Blanco also described being pressured with a midnight phone call from White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, intended to make her give up control of her troops. "It was a very different kind of pressure," she said. "I was offended."

She was pressed to sign a "memorandum of understanding" that would federalize her Guard units and when she asked why the hurry, she was told that the president wanted it in time for a news conference the following morning.

Both Blanco and Barbour blamed the Federal Emergency Management Agency for not getting them the food, water and ice they needed. Barbour said his state "took matters into our own hands. The federal government cannot be in charge in Mississippi and they never were."

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, noted that during the panel's hearings, senators have been told repeatedly that officials in the hurricane-ravaged states "did the best they could."

But, she said, the committee heard testimony earlier in the week from Louisiana Department of Transportation chief Johnny Bradberry that he failed to evacuate the poor, sick and elderly because he did not think it was his job to do so.

"I have a very honest cabinet secretary," Blanco said. She said the transportation plan was "in transition" but said she and her state would do better next time. "It will never happen again," she said.

Collins also noted a GAO report, released Wednesday, which blamed Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff for failing to move quickly enough to mobilize resources. In particular, the report said, Chertoff failed to name a high-level coordinator early in the disaster to oversee rescue operations. In earlier congressional testimony, Chertoff blamed FEMA, which was then headed by Michael Brown, for much of what went wrong.