Senate panel: FEMA nominee Craig Fugate ‘right person for the job’

By Eun Kyung Kim, Gannett Washington Bureau 

WASHINGTON — Craig Fugate, President Barack Obama's pick to head the troubled Federal Emergency Management Agency, received widespread praise Wednesday from members of a key Senate panel who promised to move the nomination quickly to the Senate floor.

Fugate, 49, who currently heads Florida's disaster response operation, could be confirmed as early as next week, said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut independent who chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

FEMA was widely criticized in 2005 for its sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, one of the agency's harshest critics, told Fugate during his confirmation hearing, "You're the right person for this job."

But the Louisiana Democrat warned him the agency has much room for improvement. Landrieu chairs a Senate panel that recently released a report blasting FEMA for its slow response to Katrina and for failing to adequately support victims of that hurricane and Hurricane Rita.

"I think this area is still ripe for aggressive reform," she said. "I'm pledging to work with you today to help to get a better, stronger FEMA and identify the right team members to strengthen that team so we never have to see and experience what happened in Katrina and Rita."

Fugate pledged to work to stem rapid turnover within the agency and improve employee morale, issues that have plagued FEMA in recent years.

He also said he supports keeping the agency within the Department of Homeland Security instead of returning it to the Cabinet-level status it held during the Clinton administration.

Fugate received accolades for his work managing Florida's responses to Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis and Wilma and five other devastating storms that hit Florida in 2004 and 2005.

The former Alachua County firefighter has headed the Florida Division of Emergency Management since his 2001 appointment by former Gov. Jeb Bush. He was reappointed in 2006 by Gov. Charlie Crist.

Both governors are Republicans; Fugate is a Democrat who also worked under former Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles, a Democrat.

His ability to work with both Democrats and Republicans was reflected in his introduction Wednesday by Florida's two senators.

Republican Sen. Mel Martinez said Fugate's operation in Florida "has become a model emergency management program for the nation."

Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, praised the "homespun, Florida way" Fugate handles his duties.

"This is a skilled, experienced professional," Nelson said. "It's what this nation needs. It's what Florida has been fortunate to have."