Barack Obama

Oversight of Katrina efforts a must

Friday, September 16, 2005

THERE IS a reason that Americans generously give their charitable dollars to groups such as the American Red Cross, but are more guarded about donations to some guy sitting at a table with a handmade sign reading "Hurricane Katrina Relief."

Accountability.

Americans should also be able to expect accountability as their tax money is spent to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina and rebuild the Gulf Coast. Accountability for those tax dollars will be much more important, in fact, because the government will be spending far more on relief efforts than will private charities. Some project reconstruction will cost as much as $200 billion.

THAT IS WHY we applaud U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for co-sponsoring a measure that would put in place oversight protection for expenditures associated with the relief efforts. The bill, sponsored along with Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., would create the position of chief financial officer to oversee all Hurricane Katrina relief expenditures.

To be fair, others in Congress also have proposed special accountability measures to make sure this unprecedented reconstruction effort will not be fraught with fraud. Some have suggested an independent commission to run the efforts, others a special inspector general.

The Obama/Coburn plan seems an efficient one to us as it does not attempt to create a giant new bureaucracy to supervise an already giant bureaucracy. The CFO would be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The person would work out of the White House but would rely on a staff of experts provided by existing federal agencies.

THE CFO would issue monthly financial reports to Congress on expenditures and those reports would be reviewed by the Government Accountability Office, which would issue regular reports on the CFO's accuracy.

Congress may quibble over the specifics of bringing accountability to the hurricane relief efforts, but it should not dawdle, as accountability measures will definitely be needed.

Obama raises concerns whether FEMA - the Federal Emergency Management Agency - is up to policing itself. We certainly share those concerns. Everyone wants to see aid rushed to the victims of this tragedy, but that rush should not also include massive waste and fraud as it has in the past.

Last year, FEMA awarded $30 million in claims for residents of Miami-Dade County in Florida after Hurricane Frances. However, Frances actually hit 100 miles north of Miami-Dade, which did not suffer hurricane-force winds.

OBAMA NOTES that unwise expenditures may already be occurring post Katrina. He notes that FEMA has hired Blackwater USA, a firm used by the military in Iraq, to provide 164 guards for the emergency agency's offices in Louisiana. The senator raises legitimate questions as to why with thousands of National Guard troops and police officials swarming the area would FEMA need a contract for private security guards.

A contract for private security guards, however, could be a drop in the fraud bucket if tough accountability standards are not enacted. Congress has already approved $62 billion for relief and reconstruction in the Gulf Coast. This will be the largest effort FEMA has ever undertaken. Given the agency's performance in recent weeks - and given past abuses - strong oversight is a must.