CRS: Blanco took steps needed

The Congressional Research Service, the non-partisan research arm of the Library of Congress, has issued a report on the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. The report was requested by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) of the House Judiciary Committee.

There have been assertions that Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D-LA) dragged her feet on getting the feds involved. In fact, she issued a request to the feds on August 27, 2005 for President Bush to declare a state of emergency for Louisiana.

From Rep. Conyers' press release:

All necessary conditions for federal relief were met on August 28. Pursuant to Section 502 of the Stafford Act, "[t]he declaration of an emergency by the President makes Federal emergency assistance available," and the President made such a declaration on August 28. The public record indicates that several additional days passed before such assistance was actually made available to the State;

Read the CRS report in PDF.