Friday, January 06, 2006
House Pannel Investigating Government
The Republican chairman of a special House panel investigating the government's response to Hurricane Katrina decided Wednesday to reject, at least for now, a proposal to subpoena the White House for documents detailing internal communications before and after the storm hit on August 29.
The panel's chairman, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Virginia, left open the possibility of subpoenaing the White House later.
"We cannot do our job if we don't get these documents, and we won't get these documents if we don't subpoena them," said Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Louisiana, who sought to get internal memos, e-mails, and other communications from the White House and the Pentagon.
The committee, which is wrapping up its investigation and plans to issue its findings February 15, requested hundreds of thousands of documents more than two months ago from the Bush administration, state and locals officials in Washington and the Gulf Coast. Though Davis said the White House has handed over some documents, it has refused others sent to and from White House chief of staff Andrew Card, citing executive privilege.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers also agreed to shelve subpoenas against Mississippi and Alabama officials for now after the states said they were trying to locate all the documents. Louisiana has handed over more than 100,000 documents to the committee.
The panel's chairman, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Virginia, left open the possibility of subpoenaing the White House later.
"We cannot do our job if we don't get these documents, and we won't get these documents if we don't subpoena them," said Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Louisiana, who sought to get internal memos, e-mails, and other communications from the White House and the Pentagon.
The committee, which is wrapping up its investigation and plans to issue its findings February 15, requested hundreds of thousands of documents more than two months ago from the Bush administration, state and locals officials in Washington and the Gulf Coast. Though Davis said the White House has handed over some documents, it has refused others sent to and from White House chief of staff Andrew Card, citing executive privilege.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers also agreed to shelve subpoenas against Mississippi and Alabama officials for now after the states said they were trying to locate all the documents. Louisiana has handed over more than 100,000 documents to the committee.
# posted by Cincinnati Change @ 7:19 PM 
