II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1622 

To establish a congressional commission to examine the Federal, State, and 

local response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the 

Gulf Region of the United States especially in the States of Louisiana, 

Mississippi, Alabama, and other areas impacted in the aftermath and 

make immediate corrective measures to improve such responses in the 

future. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 7, 2005 

Mrs. CLINTON (for herself, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. LAUTENBERG, 

Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. REED, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. OBAMA, and Mrs. BOXER) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a congressional commission to examine the Federal, State, and local response to the devastation wrought 

by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Region of the United 

States especially in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, 

Alabama, and other areas impacted in the aftermath 

and make immediate corrective measures to improve such 

responses in the future. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

2 There is established in the legislative branch the 

3 Katrina Commission (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Com4 mission’’). 

5 SEC. 2. COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION. 

6 (a) MEMBERS.—The Commission shall be composed 

7 of 10 members, of whom— 

8 (1) 1 member shall be appointed by the Presi9 dent, who shall serve as chairman of the Commis10 sion; 

11 (2) 1 member shall be appointed by the leader 

12 of the Senate (majority or minority leader, as the 

13 case may be) of the Democratic Party, in consulta14 tion with the leader of the House of Representatives 

15 (majority or minority leader, as the case may be) of 

16 the Democratic Party, who shall serve as vice chair17 man of the Commission; 

18 (3) 2 members shall be appointed by the senior 

19 member of the Senate leadership of the Democratic 

20 Party; 

21 (4) 2 members shall be appointed by the senior 

22 member of the leadership of the House of Represent23 atives of the Republican Party; 

24 (5) 2 members shall be appointed by the senior 

25 member of the Senate leadership of the Republican 

26 Party; and 
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1 (6) 2 members shall be appointed by the senior 

2 member of the leadership of the House of Represent3 atives of the Democratic Party. 

4 (b) QUALIFICATIONS; INITIAL MEETING.— 

5 (1) POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION.—Not more 

6 than 5 members of the Commission shall be from 

7 the same political party. 

8 (2) NONGOVERNMENTAL APPOINTEES.—An in9 dividual appointed to the Commission may not be an 

10 officer or employee of the Federal Government or 

11 any State or local government. 

12 (3) OTHER QUALIFICATIONS.—It is the sense of 

13 Congress that individuals appointed to the Commis14 sion should be prominent United States citizens who 

15 represent a diverse range of citizens and enjoy na16 tional recognition and significant depth of experience 

17 in such professions as governmental service, emer18 gency preparedness, mitigation planning, cataclysmic 

19 planning and response, intergovernmental manage20 ment, resource planning, recovery operations and 

21 planning, Federal coordination, military coordina22 tion, and other extensive natural disaster and emer23 gency response experience. 
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1 (4) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All mem2 bers of the Commission shall be appointed on or be3 fore October 1, 2005. 

4 (5) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall 

5 meet and begin the operations of the Commission as 

6 soon as practicable. 

7 (c) QUORUM; VACANCIES.—After its initial meeting, 

8 the Commission shall meet upon the call of the chairman 

9 or a majority of its members. Six members of the Commis10 sion shall constitute a quorum. Any vacancy in the Com11 mission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in 

12 the same manner in which the original appointment was 

13 made. 

14 SEC. 3. DUTIES. 

15 The duties of the Commission are to— 

16 (1) examine and report upon the Federal, 

17 State, and local response to the devastation wrought 

18 by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Region of the 

19 United States of America especially in the States of 

20 Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and other areas 

21 impacted in the aftermath; 

22 (2) ascertain, evaluate, and report on the infor23 mation developed by all relevant governmental agen24 cies regarding the facts and circumstances related to 
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1 Hurricane Katrina prior to striking the United 

2 States and in the days and weeks following; 

3 (3) build upon concurrent and prior investiga4 tions of other entities, and avoid unnecessary dupli5 cation concerning information related to existing 

6 vulnerabilities; 

7 (4) make a full and complete accounting of the 

8 circumstances surrounding the approach of Hurri9 cane Katrina to the Gulf States, and the extent of 

10 the United States government’s preparedness for, 

11 and response to, the hurricane; 

12 (5) planning necessary for future cataclysmic 

13 events requiring a significant marshaling of Federal 

14 resources, mitigation, response, and recovery to 

15 avoid significant loss of life; 

16 (6) an analysis as to whether any decisions dif17 fered with respect to response and recovery for dif18 ferent communities, neighborhoods, parishes, and lo19 cations and what problems occurred as a result of a 

20 lack of a common plan, communication structure, 

21 and centralized command structure; and 

22 (7) investigate and report to the President and 

23 Congress on its findings, conclusions, and rec24 ommendations for immediate corrective measures 

25 that can be taken to prevent problems with Federal 
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1 response that occurred in the preparation for, and in 

2 the aftermath of, Hurricane Katrina so that future 

3 cataclysmic events are responded to adequately. 

4 SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS OF COMMISSION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The functions of the Commission 

6 are to— 

7 (1) conduct an investigation that— 

8 (A) investigates relevant facts and cir9 cumstances relating to the catastrophic impacts 

10 that Hurricane Katrina exacted upon the Gulf 

11 Region of the United States especially in New 

12 Orleans and surrounding parishes, and im13 pacted areas of Mississippi and Alabama; and 

14 (B) shall include relevant facts and cir15 cumstances relating to— 

16 (i) Federal emergency response plan17 ning and execution at the Federal Emer18 gency Management Agency, the Depart19 ment of Homeland Security, the White 

20 House, and all other Federal entities with 

21 responsibility for assisting during, and re22 sponding to, natural disasters; 

23 (ii) military and law enforcement re24 sponse planning and execution; 
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1 (iii) Federal mitigation plans, pro2 grams, and policies including prior assess3 ments of existing vulnerabilities and exer4 cises designed to test those vulnerabilities; 

5 (iv) Federal, State, and local commu6 nication interoperability successes and fail7 ures; 

8 (v) past, present, and future Federal 

9 budgetary provisions for preparedness, 

10 mitigation, response, and recovery; 

11 (vi) the Federal Emergency Manage12 ment Agency’s response capabilities as an 

13 independent agency and as part of the De14 partment of Homeland Security; 

15 (vii) the role of congressional over16 sight and resource allocation; 

17 (viii) other areas of the public and 

18 private sectors determined relevant by the 

19 Commission for its inquiry; and 

20 (ix) long-term needs for people im21 pacted by Hurricane Katrina and other 

22 forms of Federal assistance necessary for 

23 large-scale recovery; 

24 (2) identify, review, and evaluate the lessons 

25 learned from Hurricane Katrina including coordina-
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1 tion, management policies, and procedures of the 

2 Federal Government, State and local governments, 

3 and nongovernmental entities, relative to detection, 

4 planning, mitigation, asset prepositioning, and re5 sponding to cataclysmic natural disasters such as 

6 Hurricane Katrina; and 

7 (3) submit to the President and Congress such 

8 reports as are required by this Act containing such 

9 findings, conclusions, and recommendations as the 

10 Commission shall determine, including proposing or11 ganization, coordination, planning, management ar12 rangements, procedures, rules, and regulations. 

13 SEC. 5. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

15 (1) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The Commis16 sion or, on the authority of the Commission, any 

17 subcommittee or member thereof, may, for the pur18 pose of carrying out this Act— 

19 (A) hold such hearings and sit and act at 

20 such times and places, take such testimony, re21 ceive such evidence, administer such oaths; and 

22 (B) subject to paragraph (2)(A), require, 

23 by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and 

24 testimony of such witnesses and the production 

25 of such books, records, correspondence, memo-
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1 randa, papers, and documents, as the Commis2 sion or such designated subcommittee or des3 ignated member may determine advisable. 

4 (2) SUBPOENAS.— 

5 (A) ISSUANCE.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—A subpoena may be 

7 issued under this subsection only— 

8 (I) by the agreement of the 

9 chairman and the vice chairman; or 

10 (II) by the affirmative vote of 6 

11 members of the Commission. 

12 (ii) SIGNATURE.—Subject to clause 

13 (i), subpoenas issued under this subsection 

14 may be issued under the signature of the 

15 chairman or any member designated by a 

16 majority of the Commission, and may be 

17 served by any person designated by the 

18 chairman or by a member designated by a 

19 majority of the Commission. 

20 (B) ENFORCEMENT.— 

21 (i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of con22 tumacy or failure to obey a subpoena 

23 issued under subsection (a), the United 

24 States district court for the judicial district 

25 in which the subpoenaed person resides, is 
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1 served, or may be found, or where the sub2 poena is returnable, may issue an order re3 quiring such person to appear at any des4 ignated place to testify or to produce docu5 mentary or other evidence. Any failure to 

6 obey the order of the court may be pun7 ished by the court as a contempt of that 

8 court. 

9 (ii) ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT.—In 

10 the case of any failure of any witness to 

11 comply with any subpoena or to testify 

12 when summoned under authority of this 

13 section, the Commission may, by majority 

14 vote, certify a statement of fact consti15 tuting such failure to the appropriate 

16 United States attorney, who may bring the 

17 matter before the grand jury for its action, 

18 under the same statutory authority and 

19 procedures as if the United States attorney 

20 had received a certification under sections 

21 102 through 104 of the Revised Statutes 

22 of the United States (2 U.S.C. 192 

23 through 194). 

24 (b) CONTRACTING.—The Commission may, to such 

25 extent and in such amounts as are provided in appropria-
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1 tion Acts, enter into contracts to enable the Commission 

2 to discharge its duties under this Act. 

3 (c) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission is author5 ized to secure directly from any executive depart6 ment, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, 

7 independent establishment, or instrumentality of the 

8 Government, information, suggestions, estimates, 

9 and statistics for the purposes of this Act. Each de10 partment, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, 

11 independent establishment, or instrumentality shall, 

12 to the extent authorized by law, furnish such infor13 mation, suggestions, estimates, and statistics di14 rectly to the Commission, upon request made by the 

15 chairman, the chairman of any subcommittee cre16 ated by a majority of the Commission, or any mem17 ber designated by a majority of the Commission. 

18 (2) RECEIPT, HANDLING, STORAGE, AND DIS19 SEMINATION.—Information shall only be received, 

20 handled, stored, and disseminated by members of 

21 the Commission and its staff consistent with all ap22 plicable statutes, regulations, and Executive orders. 

23 (d) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

24 (1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.— 

25 The Administrator of General Services shall provide 
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1 to the Commission on a reimbursable basis adminis2 trative support and other services for the perform3 ance of the Commission’s functions. 

4 (2) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—In 

5 addition to the assistance prescribed in paragraph 

6 (1), departments and agencies of the United States 

7 may provide to the Commission such services, funds, 

8 facilities, staff, and other support services as they 

9 may determine advisable and as may be authorized 

10 by law. 

11 (e) GIFTS.—The Commission may accept, use, and 

12 dispose of gifts or donations of services or property. 

13 (f) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 

14 the United States mails in the same manner and under 

15 the same conditions as departments and agencies of the 

16 United States. 

17 SEC. 6. NONAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM18 MITTEE ACT. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Advisory Committee 

20 Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Commission. 

21 (b) PUBLIC MEETINGS AND RELEASE OF PUBLIC

22 VERSIONS OF REPORTS.—The Commission shall— 

23 (1) hold public hearings and meetings to the ex24 tent appropriate; and 
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1 (2) release public versions of the reports re2 quired under section 10. 

3 (c) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—Any public hearings of the 

4 Commission shall be conducted in a manner consistent 

5 with the protection of information provided to or developed 

6 for or by the Commission as required by any applicable 

7 statute, regulation, or Executive order. 

8 SEC. 7. STAFF OF COMMISSION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

10 (1) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION.—The 

11 chairman, in consultation with the vice chairman, in 

12 accordance with rules agreed upon by the Commis13 sion, may appoint and fix the compensation of a 

14 staff director and such other personnel as may be 

15 necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its 

16 functions, without regard to the provisions of title 5, 

17 United States Code, governing appointments in the 

18 competitive service, and without regard to the provi19 sions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 

20 of such title relating to classification and General 

21 Schedule pay rates, except that no rate of pay fixed 

22 under this subsection may exceed the equivalent of 

23 that payable for a position at level V of the Execu24 tive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United 

25 States Code. 
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1 (2) PERSONNEL AS FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The executive director 

3 and any personnel of the Commission who are 

4 employees shall be employees under section 

5 2105 of title 5, United States Code, for pur6 poses of chapters 63, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, 

7 and 90 of that title. 

8 (B) MEMBERS OF COMMISSION.—Subpara9 graph (A) shall not be construed to apply to 

10 members of the Commission. 

11 (b) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government employee 

12 may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement 

13 from the Commission, and such detailee shall retain the 

14 rights, status, and privileges of his or her regular employ15 ment without interruption. 

16 (c) CONSULTANT SERVICES.—The Commission is au17 thorized to procure the services of experts and consultants 

18 in accordance with section 3109 of title 5, United States 

19 Code, but at rates not to exceed the daily rate paid a per20 son occupying a position at level IV of the Executive 

21 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States 

22 Code. 

23 SEC. 8. COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES. 

24 (a) COMPENSATION.—Each member of the Commis25 sion may be compensated at not to exceed the daily equiva-
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1 lent of the annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position 

2 at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 

3 of title 5, United States Code, for each day during which 

4 that member is engaged in the actual performance of the 

5 duties of the Commission. 

6 (b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from their 

7 homes or regular places of business in the performance 

8 of services for the Commission, members of the Commis9 sion shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem 

10 in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons em11 ployed intermittently in the Government service are al12 lowed expenses under section 5703(b) of title 5, United 

13 States Code. 

14 SEC. 9. SECURITY CLEARANCES FOR COMMISSION MEM15 BERS AND STAFF. 

16 The appropriate Federal agencies or departments 

17 shall cooperate with the Commission in expeditiously pro18 viding to the Commission members and staff appropriate 

19 security clearances to the extent possible pursuant to ex20 isting procedures and requirements, except that no person 

21 shall be provided with access to classified information 

22 under this Act without the appropriate security clearances. 

23 SEC. 10. REPORTS OF COMMISSION; TERMINATION. 

24 (a) INTERIM REPORTS.—The Commission may sub25 mit to the President and Congress interim reports con-
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1 taining such findings, conclusions, and recommendations 

2 for corrective measures as have been agreed to by a major3 ity of Commission members. 

4 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission 

6 shall submit to the President and Congress a final report 

7 containing such findings, conclusions, and recommenda8 tions for corrective measures as have been agreed to by 

9 a majority of Commission members. 

10 (c) TERMINATION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, and all the 

12 authorities of this Act, shall terminate 60 days after 

13 the date on which the final report is submitted 

14 under subsection (b). 

15 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES BEFORE TER16 MINATION.—The Commission may use the 60-day 

17 period referred to in paragraph (1) for the purpose 

18 of concluding its activities, including providing testi19 mony to committees of Congress concerning its re20 ports and disseminating the final report. 

21 SEC. 11. FUNDING. 

22 (a) EMERGENCY APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS.—There 

23 are authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 for purposes 

24 of the activities of the Commission under this Act and 
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1 such funding is designated as emergency spending under 

2 section 402 of H. Con. Res. 95 (109th Congress). 

3 (b) DURATION OF AVAILABILITY.—Amounts made 

4 available to the Commission under subsection (a) shall re5 main available until the termination of the Commission. 

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