FEMA’s Turn To Get Saved
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was widely ridiculed for its pitiful response to Hurricane Katrina, may undergo big changes under President Obama. Agency critics say the nation's disaster-relief efforts have been hampered ever since FEMA was lumped into the Department of Homeland Security—the slow-footed bureaucratic behemoth created by the Bush administration after 9/11. Last week, officials from the International Association of Emergency Managers, which represents local disaster agencies, met with Obama aides and urged them to break FEMA free from Homeland Security and restore its previous status as an independent agency.
One person opposed to that idea: DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, who argues that divorcing the two agencies would wind up creating more layers of bureaucracy and would leave FEMA without easy access to key Homeland Security resources, such as helicopters and communications gear. Yet Homeland Security's efforts to coordinate 22 disparate agencies—some of which, like the U.S. Secret Service, have traditions of fierce independence—have been clumsy at best. The Government Accountability Office found that in the wake of Katrina, "purchase cards" issued by Homeland Security that were supposed to pay for relief supplies instead were used to buy such items as a 63-inch plasma TV, 100 laptop computers (all of which mysteriously disappeared) and 20 boats for which the government paid double the retail price.
An Obama transition spokeswoman said his team had no public comment on their work. But two people familiar with transition discussions, who asked for anonymity when talking about private deliberations, said Obama's advisers were indeed conducting a sweeping review of Homeland Security, which may result in a shake-up of the department.
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Mark Hosenball joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in November 1993, covering a range of issues for the National Affairs department. Most recently, he has written and reported numerous stories on terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks on America. He has also covered campaign finance, the Monica Lewinsky controversy, the death of Princess Diana, Whitewater, the crashes of EgyptAir flight 990 and TWA flight 800, as well as related air safety issues.
Hosenball came to Newsweek from "Dateline NBC," where he worked as an investigative producer. He also worked extensively as a print journalist, writing for a number of British and American publications, including the London Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard, Time Out, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. In addition, he has done commentaries for American Public Radio.
Hosenball has been honored with a number of prestigious awards. Most recently, along with a team of Newsweek correspondents, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club's most prestigious honor, the 2002 Ed Cunningham Memorial Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for Newsweek's coverage of the war on terror. His reporting and that of his colleagues earned Newsweek the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002 for its coverage of September 11 and its aftermath. And a story he co-authored was highlighted in a citation Newsweek received by the White House Correspondents' Association when it awarded the magazine the 2002 Edgar A. Poe Award for "excellence on a story of national or regional importance. "Newsweek's September 11 coverage started long before the attacks. An article in the magazine's February 19, 2001 issue warned with chilling accuracy: 'The threat posed by (Osama) bin Laden is growing -- and coming ever closer to home."
Hosenball was a contributor to the CANAL + TV documentary, "L'Argent de la Drogue" (Drug Money), which was awarded the "Sept D'Or," the French equivalent of an Emmy. He also contributed to NBC News' coverage of the BCCI scandal, which earned a 1991 Peabody Award.
He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College in Dublin. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and son.
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