Chertoff Sees FEMA Operating Like A Successful Business.

This article reports that U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff plans to restructure the besieged Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to efficiently operate like a 21st century distribution company with the ability to track and locate supplies. Chertoff announced this summer, before hurricanes ravaged the Gulf Coast, that he would remove FEMA from underneath layers of bureaucracy and have its director report to him. Chertoff also took away the agency's preparedness responsibilities to focus solely on responding to catastrophic events. Some lawmakers and experts contend that FEMA should be returned to a stand-alone agency with a Cabinet-level director. But Chertoff said that the agency benefits from being housed under the Homeland Security Department and having access to other agencies' resources.