One of the first things we must do is retool FEMA and enhance this vital agency's capabilities so that it can fulfill its historic and critical mission of supporting response and recovery,

[Katrina had provided an] extraordinary test ... We now know that its capabilities were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the storm.

Well, I think first of all there was a failure to have real, clear information at our disposal. There was a real lack of situational awareness. We didn't have the capabilities on the ground to give us real-time, accurate assessments of the physical condition of the city.

including a permanent deputy director to augment the resources available to assist with FEMA's vital mission.

I think that that predication unhappily turned out to be correct and one of the things I said was we're racing the clock. Unfortunately, the hurricane beat us,

We face an extraordinary threat to our national security and physical safety of the American people of a character that, at least in my lifetime, we have never faced before,