Two of the leading candidates in Vermont for the U.S. House say the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be made independent again.
Republican Martha Rainville and Democrat Peter Welch say the agency doesn’t belong in the Department of Homeland Security.
They timed their comments to the start of the hurricane season.
They point to the failures of FEMA in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast last year when Hurricane Katrina struck.
Rainville says she’s unwilling to cast blame for the problems but Welch says the president needs to be held accountable.
Welch also has been critical of Congress for not appropriating more money to FEMA.