Bush says 'to the extent that'...

[peteryoung]

Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government. And to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility. I want to know what went right and what went wrong.

I wonder what is the logical connection between the subordinate clause "the federal government didn't fully do its job right", and the main clause "I take responsibility"?
One of the problems I face in ascertaining the exact meaning of 'to the extent' is that whenever I find a definition for 'to the extent', it is almost always explained in terms of 'insofar as'. And when I look up the meaning for 'insofar as', it is almost always explained with 'to the extent'. Thus I'm almost always confused whenver coming across this word. Would anyone please give me a hand? Thanks a lot!

[Tdol]

He is accepting responsibilty, but only for the things the federal government did wrong. Things the city and state authorities did wrong are not his fault. I believe that the federal government cut funding for the levees, so that is probably his fault, but he couldn't send in the troops- that's a local power the press tells me- so he's not responsible for that delay, etc.

[Temico]

And to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility.

I wonder what is the logical connection between the subordinate clause "the federal government didn't fully do its job right", and the main clause "I take responsibility"?

If you substitute As to/regards for And to in the first sentence, you will see the "logical connection".

"As to/regards the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility."