Incompetent and Corrupt

Administration Nominee to Relief Agency Draws Criticism
By Ken Silverstein
Times Staff Writer

5:36 PM PDT, September 30, 2005

WASHINGTON — Less than a month after the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency stepped down amid accusations of cronyism and incompetence, the Bush administration is being assailed for nominating another political ally to head a key agency for responding to foreign disasters.

One leading international relief group publicly is opposing the appointment of Ellen Sauerbrey to the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, and others have expressed private concerns over her lack of experience in emergency response work.

Sauerbrey, a former member of the Republican National Committee who was Bush's Maryland state campaign chairwoman in 2000, is serving as the U.S. representative to the U.N. commission on the status of women.

If confirmed by the Senate, which has not set a date for a hearing, Sauerbrey would head an agency with a $700 million annual budget that has responsibility for coordinating the U.S. government's response to refugee crises during natural disasters and wars.

The bureau coordinates with private and international organizations, such as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, to help set up refugee camps for victims of war and natural disasters and to ensure that they receive sufficient food and other aid. It has helped confront refugee crises around the globe, including in war-torn regions such as Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as in Southeast Asia following the tsunami earlier this year.

While appointing political allies to government jobs is a time-honored tradition in Washington, the refugee bureau is a complex agency with a broad portfolio. Past administrations, both Republican and Democratic, have generally turned to someone with technical expertise to head it.

Sauerbrey was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1978 and has been a conservative political activist for decades, but she has no direct experience mobilizing responses to humanitarian emergencies.

"This is a job that deals with one of the great moral issues of our time," said Joel R. Charny of Washington-based Refugees International, which is opposing Sauerbrey's nomination. "This is not a position where you drop in a political hack."

He and critics from other relief organizations -- who declined to be identified because they work closely with or receive funding from the bureau -- have pointed to the controversy over former FEMA director Michael D. Brown, who resigned Sept. 12 after his lack of disaster experience became an issue in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His agency's disorganized response to a major catastrophe widely was disparaged.

Sauerbrey's nomination came Aug. 31, two days after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.

"I don't want to say this is Michael Brown redux," Charny said, "but what qualifications does she have to deal with the core issue of refugees? The answer is none."

Erin Healy, a White House spokeswoman, defended Sauerbrey's qualifications.

"An important focus of the position is not only dealing with the aftermath of conflict and displacement of persons, but the prevention of refugee situations," she said. "Ambassador Sauerbrey understands the importance of stability and democracy, and how they prevent the displacement of persons."

Healy said that Sauerbrey has addressed issues related to refugees in her current U.N. position, because a majority of refugees worldwide are women and children, and that she has gained relevant diplomatic experience and contacts there as well.

"She will be able to build bridges and coalitions to achieve success," Healy said.

Sauerbrey did not respond to requests for comment.

A former schoolteacher and county census director, Sauerbrey, 68, served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1978 to 1994 and unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1994 and 1998. She then became a talk-show host and TV commentator. In 2000, the Bush campaign tapped her to lead the GOP's presidential effort in Maryland.

After the election, Bush named Sauerbrey to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. In 2003, the president appointed her to her current position.

While even critics say she has done a good job as an advocate for women's rights to education and economic opportunities, Sauerbrey has generated controversy with her opposition to abortion.

Earlier this year, she pressed other countries to include language in a U.N. declaration that specifically would have excluded abortion as a component of equal rights for women.

The move drew widespread opposition, and the language was dropped.

Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times