“We don't know how quickly the flood waters came to New Orleans, ... I heard some man-on-the-street interviews say the flood water went from six inches to 10 feet in an hour.”
“All the media is focusing on is the credibility of FEMA people — and it's legit, ... I think the missing link here is people should be looking at the credentials of the Department of Homeland Security.”
“It's premature to say anything about the exact structure, but it's clear whoever is in charge needs to have the background and professionalism, ... You don't need to do that by pulling it out (into its own agency).”
“FEMA went from being a laughingstock to one of the most effective federal agencies we had, ... A lot of that was due to the quality of the personnel.”
“We're placing ourselves in harm's way more. The more people who live on coast lines, in canyons in California, on fault lines, the more it's going to cost you.”
“The way it is now, none of these piecemeal things will deal with FEMA being buried in a gigantic bureaucracy. I think we are in worse shape now than we were pre-Katrina.”
