Word: chertoff
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...been one year since Michael Chertoff was appointed head of the Department of Homeland Security, and it?s not a happy anniversary. Chertoff spoke before a Senate hearing this week, facing his critics and explaining his agency's lackluster performance during Hurricane Katrina...
...Curiously disengaged" during the onset of the crisis is how Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins depicted Chertoff; she also wondered why he took a trip to Atlanta rather than directing the effort from Washington. Minnesota Democrat Mark Dayton called DHS under Chertoff's leadership "non-functional," while Collins chose "late," "uncertain, "ineffective," "alarming" and "unacceptable" to define the agency's performance. Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman said Chertoff "failed the President" by not informing him of the doubts he had about then-Federal Emergency Management Agency head Michael Brown. The "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" comment came...
...Deciphering the interplay between Brown and Chertoff was key objective for the Senators. At a hearing last week, Brown blamed Chertoff for the federal government's botched handling of Katrina and claimed that briefing Chertoff during the crisis would have been a "waste of time." In other comments since he was dismissed from FEMA, Brown has adamantly disagreed with how FEMA was folded into the Homeland Security Department, which he felt shrunk FEMA's authority and compromised its ability to react to events like hurricanes...
...Senators offered a chance for Chertoff to shoot back. Chertoff explained that early in his tenure as Homeland Security chief, Brown wanted wide power to determine the use of federal grants that went to the department. Chertoff says he decided not to give Brown that authority and recognized that Brown, at that point, might want to leave the agency. "If you are going to stay,? Chertoff told him, ?we need your full commitment." Brown, according to Chertoff, said he understood the decision and was willing to stay in the job and implement Chertoff's ideas...
...Chertoff said he expected FEMA to play a major role in the government's response to the Katrina, because the agency had so many experienced hands that had worked on previous natural disasters. But he also said that as the week of the hurricane went on, each day he had more questions about Brown's performance. Chertoff said he was initially reluctant about getting in the way of what he repeatedly called "operators"-officials like Brown who were supposed to be doing the work he supervised. "Although I'm the secretary, I am not a hurricane operator," he said...