Washington ? Hundreds of federal search-and-rescue workers and large numbers of boats, aircraft and bulldozers were offered to FEMA in the hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, but the aid proposals were either ignored or not effectively used, newly released documents show.

The Interior Department, which made the offers, also proposed dispatching as many as 400 of its law enforcement officers to provide security in Gulf Coast cities ravaged by flooding and looting. But nearly a month would pass before FEMA put the officers to work, according to an Interior Department document obtained by The Washington Post.

“Although we attempted to provide these assets we were unable to efficiently integrate and deploy these resources,” Interior officials said in written response to questions by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Acting in the “immediate aftermath” of the hurricane, Interior officials provided FEMA with a comprehensive list of assets that were “immediately available for humanitarian and emergency assistance,” according to the memo, dated Nov. 7, 2005. Those assets included more than 300 boats, 11 aircraft, 119 pieces of heavy equipment, 300 dump trucks and other vehicles, as well as lands that could be used as staging areas or emergency shelters.

The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has scheduled hearings this week to explore some of the more shortcomings in the federal government’s response.

Bush administration officials have acknowledged mistakes were made and have pledged changes to the emergency response system.

“We are participating in a very comprehensive after-action review,” said Russ Knocke, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA. “We want to be our own toughest critics.”