Bush Pledges $1.5B For N.O. Levees

White House Admits Failures To House Panel For Katrina Response

(CBS/AP) 
Later on Capitol Hill, Powell said the government is waiting on a study next year before deciding whether to rebuild the levees to withstand a Category 5 storm.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., called the money "a real step in the right direction." Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said future plans should include a Category 5 design for the most populated areas, adding, "That should engender enormous confidence."

Nagin said he was pleased with the announcement.

"These levees will be as high as 17 feet in some areas. We've never had that," he said. "These levees will be fortified with rock and concrete. We've never had that before." He also said there would be pumping stations with "backup systems that we only dreamed about."

Nagin acknowledged that the most heavily damaged areas of the city, Lakeview and the Lower Ninth Ward, were not ready for returning residents, but he promised they would be eventually. He suggested that officials may need to find residents housing elsewhere in the city in the meantime.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has provided rental assistance to more than 650,000 families so far and is working to bridge that into longer-term assistance programs, said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

An estimated 55 million cubic yards of debris have been removed in New Orleans, which is a critical precondition to rebuilding, he said. More than $390 million in community disaster loan assistance has been provided as well as $205 million in unemployment insurance.

"In total, the federal government has now provided approximately $5.2 billion in direct assistance to victims of Katrina and Rita," Chertoff said. "So that's a lot of material assistance, but, of course, one of the greatest forms of assistance we can provide people is hope, hope that they can get back to the Gulf Coast and hope that they can get back on with their lives."

Mr. Bush's announcement came as senators questioned whether local, state or federal officials were responsible for making sure New Orleans levees were in good shape before Katrina hit. A Senate panel investigating the government's response to the storm also released interviews from a federal engineer who described confusion over who should fix the levees in Katrina's aftermath.

"Who is in charge?" Army Corps of Engineers Col. Richard P. Wagenaar said in a Nov. 15 interview with congressional investigators, recounting an instance when federal workers attempted to fill in the breached London Avenue canal and were told to stop. "At some point, you know, you've got to make some stuff happen. Because this was a bad situation."

Senators at the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing suggested officials at all levels of government should share in some blame.

"All of you didn't do the job that you were supposed to be doing," said Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio.

Also on Capitol Hill, the Senate was working on a package of tax breaks and other assistance that would fulfill Mr. Bush's call for a special business zone in the Gulf Coast. Lawmakers hurried to finish the bill before taking a holiday break. The House last week passed its own package of aid worth $7 billion for businesses hurt by Hurricane Katrina.