lead role?
At the congressional hearing, Representative Jim McCrery, a Louisiana Republican, called on Congress to reconsider whether to continue giving the Red Cross a lead role in responding to natural disasters. Having such a designation gave the organization a substantial boost in fundraising, absorbing about 60 percent of all donations, he said.
"If it is not the responsibility of the National Red Cross to step in when a Category 4 hurricane decimates a major metropolitan area and overwhelms one of their local chapters, whose responsibility is it?" McCrery asked.
Joseph Becker, senior vice president for response and preparedness for the Red Cross, said the group did its best.
"We chose to help those whom we could without delay, while striving to serve all who needed us," he said.
Paul Light, a professor of public service at New York University, said the rapid turnover at the helm of the Red Cross raised serious questions about the board of governors, which he described as too large and disjointed.
"Sacking the president isn't the panacea for what ails the Red Cross," he said.
He said that the group needs to upgrade its technology and organization, and recruit new vol-unteers "who are representative of the communities hit hardest by disasters."
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