Washington, DC— U.S. Senator Mark Dayton (D-MN) criticized today’s approval of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) report on the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Dayton, a member of the Committee, said the report’s approval was premature because it was missing key White House testimony and documents. The Minnesota Senator also charged that the Committee had failed in its oversight responsibilities by backing down to the White House’s refusal to fully disclose how they handled the before and after of the devastating storm.

“I regret the spineless decision by the Committee not to subpoena the information, documents, and witnesses, which the White House has refused to provide,” said Dayton, who was the only Senator to vote against approval of the report.

Dayton referred to the Committee’s January 12, 2006 letter to then-White House Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, that stated in part, “This practice (of withholding information) must cease.’

It continued, “We are willing to discuss claims of executive privilege asserted by the White House, either directly or through a federal agency. But we will not stand for blanket instructions to refuse answering any questions concerning any communications with the EOP [Executive Office of the President].”

However, even as the White House refused to provide these documents, Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT), the Committee’s ranking member, urged in a March 15, 2006 letter to Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME), that subpoenas be issued to the White House for those critically needed documents and testimony. Collins had declined Lieberman’s request.

“Unfortunately, the Committee didn’t stand by its word, shirked its oversight responsibility and gave the White House a big pass. This report is far from complete without those documents and without the testimony of key decision-makers in the White House,” Dayton said.

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