(The ADG does not have free access, so I'll quote more):
A former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday that he’s uncomfortable with President Bush’s proposal to give the armed forces a broader role in disasters after the federal government’s handling of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath.
James Lee Witt, an Arkansas native who is advising Louisiana’s governor on that state’s recovery from the Aug. 29 storm, said governors shouldn’t have their powers taken away from them during a natural disaster.
Witt said he mostly agrees with the proposals the president made during a live nationally televised address from New Orleans, but he disagrees with the idea of expanding the military’s role.
"A governor of a state is responsible for the people of a state," Witt said in a telephone interview from Louisiana. "I don’t think it’s necessary to tax the military with even more than what they’re already doing. "
Witt, who served as FEMA director under President Clinton for eight years, said he also had hoped the president would have proposed restoring the federal agency to its Cabinet-level status. In 2002, a reorganization put FEMA under the newly created Department of Homeland Security.
"I think it would have been a different response" if FEMA was a Cabinet-level position, Witt said. "Anytime you take away not only leadership, but you also take programs and assets out of an agency, it really does hurt them in the sense of having capability to fulfill their role. I think that hurt them."