William S. Cohen Quotes
What did they know, when did they know it, and what did they do about it.
William S. Cohen, U.S. Senator (Republican, ME), Vice Chairman, Senate Intelligence Committee, U. S. Secretary of Defense, Statement explaining what the investigation of the responsibility for the inadequate Federal response in the New Orleans crisis of Hurricane Katrina Interview with Wolf Blitzer, CNN News, September 5, 2005
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“Boards” was the term used then for groups which have collective executive power or responsibility. Modern terminology has added “commissions,” and in France and elsewhere “committee” have been used to describe executive groups in some cases as in the “Committee for Public Safety.”
The issue under discussion was the fact that the United States Military does not, unlike all civilian courts, maintain a docket of court martials. An interested citizen or a reporter, who usually has a right to attend and observe the proceeding has no way of finding out where and when the proceeding will take place unless the military chooses to inform people or make it public. Courts Martial are legally open to observers except for special circumstances—like civilian criminal trials. However, the military wants as little coverage as possible.
Thousands of people were trapped in the New Orleans convention center without food, water, sanitary or medical facilities. A number died. While the head of FEMA claimed Federal ignorance, the plight of the people at the Superdome and the Convention Center was constantly being broadcast on the radio and television, including on location video and pleas for help. Mr. Brown’s qualifications for emergency management before he was appointed to head FEMA was to head up an organization for Arabian Horses.
The George W. Bush administration had been caught ill prepared and with the exception of the Coast Guard, was slow and inadequate in responding to the emergency.
William Sebastian Cohen is an American politician, lawyer and author from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979–1997), and as Secretary of Defense (1997–2001) under Democratic President Bill Clinton.
