Louisiana’s Blanco asks for help from Congress

updated 7:43 p.m. ET Sept. 28, 2005

WASHINGTON - Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco asked Congress on Wednesday for help in rebuilding her devastated state, saying Hurricanes Katrina and Rita “knocked us down but they did not knock us out.”

Appearing before the Senate Finance Committee, Blanco in her opening statement did not mention former FEMA director Michael Brown, who on Tuesday had blamed state and local officials in Louisiana for not responding appropriately to the storm.

“We are looking forward, not backward, “ Blanco said.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley also were testifying before the committee via teleconference hookup from their state capitols. The Senate panel is working on a long-term tax bill to help revitalize the hurricane-devastated Gulf Coast.

Blanco said 40 percent of Louisiana’s businesses were lost or damaged in the storm and said the state’s most pressing need is jobs.

“That’s what we need,” she said. “That’s exactly what we need in the face of this suffering and hardship — jobs.”

Auditors examine contracts
Across the Capitol, a House panel was hearing pledges from government auditors that they will closely examine millions of dollars in contracts the Bush administration awarded to politically connected companies for Hurricane Katrina relief.

The inspectors general from half a dozen agencies, as well as officials from the Government Accountability Office, on Wednesday were addressing a House subcommittee on the Katrina cleanup and announcing several new audits to combat waste and fraud.

They are pledging strong oversight that includes a review of no-bid contracts and close scrutiny of federal employees who now enjoy a $250,000 — rather than a $2,500 — purchase limit for Katrina-related expenses on their government-issued credit cards.

“When so much money is available, it draws people of less than perfect character,” H. Walker Feaster, inspector general of the Federal Communications Commission, said. “It underscores the need for internal controls of the money going out.”

The joint appearance of government auditors comes amid a flurry of legislation pending in Congress that would create additional layers of oversight to the Katrina contracting and award process.

It also comes amid growing charges of favoritism that critics say led to government missteps in the wake of the Katrina disaster.

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