Lack of expertise undermines preparedness

Today's New York Times takes an overdue hard look at Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's qualifications and handling of hurricane Katrina:

Serving as a federal government point man on hurricanes is hardly a role that Mr. Chertoff, 51, a former federal prosecutor and federal appeals court judge, expected when he took over at the Homeland Security Department in February. "I'm not a hurricane expert," he said recently. But in the aftermath of the widely criticized response to Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Chertoff said he fully realized that expert or not, the buck stopped with him.

The Times article echoes and supports observations of Deep Harm in Chertoff Speaks (October 19), and notes that Chertoff's ability to manage the huge department is now being questioned by some members of Congress, although he still has support from President Bush.

A broader issue, the lack of emergency management training among top officials at federal agencies, remains unexamined. Chertoff and Brown are only two of many examples of high level officials with emergency responsibilities who lack emergency management expertise, and many of those refuse to sign up for training. As a result, subordinates who do have appropriate expertise report frustration in getting management approval of needed improvements to preparedness.

We propose that Congress pass a law requiring all federal department secretaries, agency administrators and staff directors to complete, within 90 days of appointment, a government-provided program of instruction in all-hazards emergency management. Such a requirement would go a long way toward correcting deficiencies in federal preparedness, and could save countless lives.

National Security Chief Vows He Is Fixing What Hurricanes Showed Was Broken, by Eric Lipton, New York Times, October 25, 2005