Congress weighs creating centralized unit for recovery operations

Two Senate committee chairman have proposed the creation of a new entity to manage the funding and coordination of the government's recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The proposals -- by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H. -- would centralize relief operations to make sure money is spent swiftly and effectively.

Domenici's plan would create an office within the White House. Gregg envisions a commission similar to one led by Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover during a 1927 Mississippi flood where more than 700,000 people from six states were displaced when the river's levee system broke down and flooded 27,000 square miles.

"Obviously, it is essential that we get these dollars down there and put them to use aggressively, in order to try to help the people who are in such dire straits," Gregg said in a Senate floor statement. "And as we proceed in this effort, we should err on the side of making sure that we get the dollars there quickly in order to support these individuals."

With an additional $51.8 billion requested for emergency funding by President Bush in addition to the $10 billion already appropriated, Domenici said he is concerned that a lack of centralized authority will hamper recovery efforts as Congress and federal entities rush to send aid to affected areas.

"We can have all the hearings and ideas we want, but we're going to be running in each other's way pretty soon, as are the cabinet members," Domenici told CongressDaily.

Gregg's proposal was less urgent. He said that the establishment of a commission akin to the one led by Hoover is not necessary in "the next few days but certainly within the next month."

"You basically have a focal point with an individual of great ability and national recognition leading the effort," Gregg said. "[The individual leading the commission] will manage the federal dollars as they come in from all the various federal agencies that will be impacted."

Gregg praised Bush's decision to send Vice President Dick Cheney to the region to oversee the recovery efforts, but emphasized that the rebuilding will take more than a couple of months.

A spokeswoman for Gregg said that the senator is putting his idea forward in a time when a number of proposals are being offered for dealing with the recovery of the Gulf region. She said that Gregg has been talking with other members of Congress about preventing future disasters of this magnitude.