Louisiana senator endorses FEMA independence

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said Wednesday she would not be opposed to removing the Federal Emergency Management Agency from the Homeland Security Department if President-elect Barack Obama and his nominee for DHS secretary, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, wanted to do so.

"I would say that I'm open to that concept," Landrieu said. "I would not fight against it if that's what the new secretary and the president-elect want to do."

Landrieu said she had a 15-minute call with Napolitano on Friday in which she encouraged the governor to examine whether FEMA should be made a stand-alone agency.

"Maybe FEMA should be independent," Landrieu said."I told her that was something that was still sort of open for discussion."

Landrieu said FEMA has made improvements since the 2005 government response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But she said the agency is impeded by the DHS bureaucracy.

She said the most important goal is not where FEMA is located but that it functions "independently with muscle and with dispatch."