Americans deserve a panel on Katrina

Re “Partisan Snub of Republican Katrina Inquiry Now Looks Petty,” column, Feb. 19

For the families of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the American people demanded a bipartisan, independent commission to conduct a thorough review. But for those devastated by Hurricane Katrina, the greatest American natural disaster, House Republicans ignored calls for an independent review. Ronald Brownstein may have disagreed with my decision against formal Democratic participation in Virginia Republican Rep. Tom Davis’ partisan committee, but the facts have proved me correct. The Davis report does criticize the government’s abysmal Katrina response. Yet the committee failed to subpoena White House officials and documents, as I predicted. The truth was therefore obstructed.

These shortcomings illustrate why the American people, and especially Gulf Coast residents, deserve the independent Katrina commission.

This is not an isolated failure. For more than five years, House Republicans have steadfastly refused to conduct oversight of the Bush administration despite lobbying scandals, Iraq contracting scandals and leaks of national security information. The tragedy of Katrina has been compounded not by Democratic refusal to participate in a sham but by the failure once again of House Republicans to get to the bottom of a national scandal.

REP. NANCY PELOSI

D-San Francisco

House Democratic Leader