US Rep. Chris Carney (D-Pa.) said the Department of Homeland Security needs to be need reformed, adding that the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be removed from the department’s domain.

FEMA should be given “cabinet level status,” with direct access to the president, Carney said, as was the case under former President Bill Clinton, before FEMA became part of the Department of Homeland Security.

“An organization as important as important as FEMA gets a guy like Michael Brown running it,” Carney said referring to the former director who resigned following Hurricane Katrina. “We need someone qualified running that organization and we need to fund (Homeland Security) adequately and staff it adequately.”

Carney made his comments during an editorial board meeting with the Scranton Times-Tribune, owned by the same parent company as The Citizens’ Voice.

Carney, who faces Republican Chris Hackett in the 10th Congressional District, is seeking his first re-election. He focused his comments on what he called his “bi-partisan” approach as a congressman, and the need to “reach across the aisle.” Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in Carney’s district by about 32,000, making up 48.5 percent of the registered voters in the district, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State. ...