The Republican chairman of a House panel investigating the response to Hurricane Katrina threatened Wednesday to issue subpoenas for documents if the White House and other agencies don’t provide them by Nov. 18. Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia made the commitment after a Louisiana Democrat, Charlie Melancon, pointed out the panel still hadn’t seen some documents it requested more than a month ago. The original request pertains to the White House, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services and the states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Davis said there had been a significant response from the White House, Alabama and Mississippi and that the Department of Homeland Security had assured him it would provide documents within a week.
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Charles Pickering Jr also serves on the Katrina committee and he mentioned calling for subpoenas earlier as well: “What this hearing showed us, once again, is the federal bureaucracy is either unable or unwilling to provide this committee with the information we need to improve the government response to emergencies like Hurricane Katrina. If we do not get answers soon, we will consider issuing subpoenas.” http://www.house.gov/pickering/Contractors.htm
#134694 | Author: avens | Date: Nov 13 2005
