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WASHINGTON : US Senator Hillary Clinton has urged President George W. Bush to set up a "Katrina Commission" to probe the government's response to the killer hurricane that has ravaged New Orleans and its surroundings, possibly killing thousands of people.
In a letter sent to the president Sunday, the wife of former president Bill Clinton and much-rumored presidential candidate, said the panel should be fashioned after the 9/11 Commission that investigated the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
"It has become increasingly evident that our nation was not prepared," Clinton said in the letter.
She added that the slow pace of relief efforts "seems to confirm that our ability to respond to cataclysmic disasters has not been adequately addressed."
Clinton said she also planned to propose legislation to separate the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from the Department of Homeland Security and convert it into a cabinet-level agency.
The senator's husband, ex-President Bill Clinton, gave a tacit backing for the commission but stressed that any investigation into the circumstances under which the disaster occurred should be conducted after the immediate needs of the victims were met.
"We had a 9/11 commission, we may have a Katrina Commission. We may have these things but I think first thing we got to do is ... what these people are going through," Clinton said at the launching of a fund to help the hurricane victims.
Clinton joined his predecessor George Bush to lead the fund-raising drive, repeating their feat during the tsunami disaster in Asia earlier this year when they raised a billion dollars.
"I think there should be analysis of what happened and I have some strong feelings about how I think FEMA ought to be organized and operated," Clinton told reporters after the fund launching in Houston, Texas.
"But the time to do that, in my opinion, is after some time passes. Right now we are still finding bodies there, and there might be some people alive," he added.
The ex-president asked legislators returning to Congress after their summer leave to pool their resources and help find jobs and shelter and provide cash aid to the hurricane victims.
President Bush's father defended his son in the handling of the hurricane crisis.
"I don't want to personalize this, but we're very, very proud of him, of course," he said.
"And Barbara is," Bush added, referring to his wife. "And if somebody wants to tell Barbara about the things that are going wrong, the president's doing wrong, I suggest you wear your flack jacket," he said, amidst laughter.
- AFP /ls
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