Written in matter-of-fact terms, the recommendations do not place blame on any official or government agency. But a spokeswoman for Senator Joe Lieberman, the top Democrat on the Senate panel, said he will file "additional views" to the report accusing Bush of failing "to provide critical leadership when it was most needed."
"That contributed to a grossly ineffective federal response to Hurricane Katrina," Lieberman said in a statement.
The House report, issued last month, similarly criticized Bush, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and FEMA's Brown for moving too slowly to trigger federal relief.
The White House report, which came a week later, took a softer tone and singled out the Homeland Security Department for most of the breakdowns.
Many of the rest of the Senate recommendations were far less dramatic, ranging from creating a Homeland Security Academy to encouraging plans to evacuate and shelter pets during a disaster.
Without specifying where the money would come from or how much was needed, the recommendations call for more funding for disaster planning and response at all levels of government. They also urge clarifying levee maintenance responsibilities -- a concern because of structural weaknesses of the New Orleans' flood walls that spawned deadly floods after Katrina hit -- and suggested better contracting procedures to avoid waste or fraud in the rush to get aid to disaster victims.
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