WASHINGTON (Associated Press) September 27, 2005 — Former FEMA director Michael Brown told Congress on Tuesday he made “specific mistakes” in leading the initial federal government response to Hurricane Katrina.

But Brown also blamed state and local officials for government failures.

Brown told a special congressional panel that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin were not coordinating their efforts and that he should have done more to persuade them to.

He suggested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had gotten a bum rap because many people incorrectly believe it serves as something of a federal rapid-response force.

“FEMA is a coordinating agency, we are not a law enforcement agency,” he said.

“It is inherently impractical, totally impractical, for the federal government to respond to every disaster of whatever size in every community across the country,” Brown said.

“It breaks my heart to think about the disasters we respond to as FEMA and to think about the disasters that we also don’t respond to,” he added.

Brown resigned as the head of FEMA earlier this month after being removed by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff from responsibility in the stricken areas.

Probe into government's handling of Katrina

Brown testified before a special congressional committee set up by House Republican leaders to investigate the government’s handling of one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever hit the Gulf Coast.

Democrats, who want an independent investigation not under the control of majority Republicans, largely boycotted the hearing.

“At the end of the day, I suspect that we’ll find that government at all levels failed the people of Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama and the Gulf Coast,” said committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va.

Brown came to symbolize the halting federal efforts to rescue victims of the storm and flooding that followed in which more than 1,000 people died in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He was highly criticized for being a Bush administration political appointee without deep emergency management experience, and left amid accusations that he padded his resume — which he vehemently denied.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff removed Brown from his on-site role overseeing the disaster response on Sept. 9. He announced his resignation from FEMA three days later.

Brown is continuing to work at the Federal Emergency Management Agency at full pay, with his Sept. 12 resignation not taking effect for two more weeks, said Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke.

More Department of Defense involvement needed

Brown spoke to congressional aides from both parties on Monday, ahead of testifying before the committee.

A memo from a Republican staffer who attended the briefing said Brown expressed regrets “that he did not start screaming for DoD (Department of Defense) involvement” sooner. The first substantial numbers of active-duty troops responding to the Gulf Coast were sent on Saturday, Sept. 3 — five days after the storm hit.

According to the memo, obtained by The Associated Press, Brown took several shots at Blanco and Nagin. He said the two officials “sparred during the crisis and could not work together cooperatively.”

He also described Blanco as “indecisive” and refusing to cede control of the Louisiana National Guard to federal authorities because “it would have undercut her image politically,” the document said.

Spokespeople for Blanco and Nagin could not be immediately reached Monday night.

Brown, according to the memo, defended himself against charges that he learned from television that thousands of refugees gathered at the New Orleans convention center, where adequate food, water and other supplies were lacking and there was rampant violence.

Convention center not a planned shelter

He said that because the convention center was not a planned evacuation site, “there is no reason FEMA would have known about it beforehand,” according to the memo.

Brown also admitted he did not ensure that Nagin had a secure communications system during the crisis. And he cautioned staffers against a federal takeover of emergency management responsibilities that he said would become a “crutch” for local and state governments and could lead to future lapses in preparedness.

Knocke, the Homeland Security spokesman, said Brown agreed to stay at FEMA up four weeks after he resigned to advise the department on “some of his views on his experience with Katrina.” He said Brown, who is in a “transition” period, does not have any decision-making or management responsibilities.

“There is an important public benefit to ensuring that any pending projects, initiatives, commitments or records be properly passed off to staff,” Knocke said.

Brown ran FEMA for more than two years.