The Washington Post reports on a September 11 congressional hearing in which state and local emergency responders raise fears that problems with disaster response that became evident during Hurricane Katrina are not fixed by the new National Response Framework [1] from the Bush Administration.

"FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison told the subcommittee that the new framework is a draft open for comment for 30 days. About 600 pages outlining specific emergency operations are included in about 30 annexes that will be open for comment for 60 days, he said," according to the Post.

But, the news report [2] added, "Tim Manning, director of homeland security and emergency management for New Mexico and spokesman for the National Emergency Management Association, whose members include his counterparts in the 49 other states, said he 'could not object more vociferously' to the framework's concept that separate operational and strategic plans will be developed for 15 federally designated disaster scenarios."