NEW YORK - Spurred by a New York Daily News investigative series into post-Sept. 11 waste, fraud and abuse, the House Homeland Security Committee will Wednesday introduce legislation to establish an inspector general to oversee disaster aid.

The proposal follows congressional hearings held last summer into allegations raised by The News starting with its December 2005 "9/11 Money Trough" series.

Sponsors said The News investigation, along with allegations of rampant fraud following Hurricane Katrina, make immediate reform critical.

Those introducing the bill include committee chairman Rep. Pete King, R-L.I., Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J, several other key Democrats and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., who chaired the hearings.

In both Sept. 11 and Katrina, multiple agencies responded, sometimes duplicating efforts or missing blatant abuse.

A deputy inspector general for response and recovery would act as both coordinator and field monitor - choreographing oversight following natural disasters and terrorist attacks.

The sponsors cited a News report about a freelance photographer that FEMA found in the phone book the day after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Photographer Gregg Brown wound up copyrighting 30,000 photos of Ground Zero for himself because the city neglected to get such rights for itself.

The bill would require that any contract include a provision to make sure that agencies maintain "proprietary rights."

The bill also takes note of The News' finding that many large businesses were able to secure millions of dollars worth of post-Sept. 11 small-business grants through multiple subsidiaries.

The bill would require applicants to reveal affiliations with larger companies and require all agencies to report back within six months to federal agencies handing out money on how the funds were being spent.

The bill specifically requires that government agencies do a better job verifying the identity and claims made by all those who contend they were economically hurt.