The bill, which was voted down 44 to 54, would have created a blue-ribbon bipartisan panel, modeled after the committee that probed the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington.

"Just as with 9/11, we did not get to the point where we believed we understood what happened until an independent investigation was conducted," Clinton said on the Senate floor.

"This legislation is modeled on the 9/11 commission. The president would appoint the chairman, the Republican and Democratic leaders appoint the members," the New York senator said.

"This will provide us the opportunity to do the investigation away from the work that needs to happen in this Congress and in the administration, to meet the immediate needs of the people on the Gulf Coast," said Clinton, a former first lady.

Clinton, considered a potential White House candidate for 2008, has taken a prominent role in criticizing the Bush administration for the sluggish early efforts to dispatch troops and relief supplies to hurricane-hit areas.

Her bill is one of several being considered in Congress to either help the affected areas respond to the devastation of Katrina, or to investigate shortcomings in the government's response before and after the deadly storm.