[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1891 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1891

  To promote the development of disaster plans that will protect the 
  maximum number of citizens; to foster public trust, confidence, and 
     cooperation with these plans; and to encourage greater public 
 participation in homeland security by allowing the American people to 
    have a direct and influential role in developing and modifying 
  community disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation 
 plans in collaboration with government officials, emergency managers, 
    health authorities, and professional responders, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 17, 2007

 Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Langevin, 
Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Zoe Lofgren 
 of California, Mr. Gonzalez, and Mr. Cohen) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
    Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and 
    Commerce and Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To promote the development of disaster plans that will protect the 
  maximum number of citizens; to foster public trust, confidence, and 
     cooperation with these plans; and to encourage greater public 
 participation in homeland security by allowing the American people to 
    have a direct and influential role in developing and modifying 
  community disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation 
 plans in collaboration with government officials, emergency managers, 
    health authorities, and professional responders, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ready, Willing, and Able Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Research indicates that effective responses to 
        emergencies, particularly terrorist attacks, require the United 
        States to adopt a new paradigm for developing disaster plans. 
        The current emergency management approach mistakenly assumes 
        the general public to easily be prone to panic and social chaos 
        and expects citizens to comply with disaster plans they had 
        little or no direct influence in developing. Keeping the 
        general public away from participating in the actual 
        development of disaster plans, and failing to incorporate their 
        ``common-sense'' knowledge, has alienated many citizens and 
        jeopardized the ability of the United States to respond 
        effectively to domestic emergencies:
                    (A) According to the New York Academy of Medicine's 
                report, ``Redefining Readiness: Terrorism Planning 
                Through the Eyes of the Public'', despite this Nation's 
                investment in working out logistics and purchasing 
                technology for responding to terrorist attacks and 
                other disasters, current emergency response plans will 
                ultimately fall significantly short of expectations 
                because they were developed without the direct 
                involvement of the public and therefore fail to account 
                for all of the risks citizens would face in a disaster. 
                Because current plans do not protect the millions of 
                Americans who would be at risk of developing 
                complications from the smallpox vaccine, 60 percent of 
                citizens surveyed said they would not go to a public 
                vaccination site in a smallpox outbreak. Because 
                schools and workplaces have not been prepared to 
                function as safe havens, 40 percent of citizens 
                surveyed said they would not shelter in place for as 
                long as told in a dirty bomb explosion. Only 20 percent 
                of people believe disaster planners know very much 
                about their concerns and needs in the event of a 
                disaster; only 50 percent are confident that they would 
                receive the help they might require in the wake of a 
                disaster; and only 30 percent believe the public can 
                have a lot of influence on disaster plans being 
                developed. Nonetheless, even in communities that have 
                never experienced a terrorist attack, over one-third of 
                the population has a very strong interest in personally 
                helping government agencies and community organizations 
                develop disaster plans.
                    (B) According to the Heritage Foundation Executive 
                Memorandum, ``Beyond Duct Tape: The Federal 
                Government's Role in Public Preparedness'', community 
                public safety measures and disaster response activities 
                will succeed only if they are community-based. Every 
                community is unique and local preparedness planning 
                must account for local conditions of culture, 
                geography, language, infrastructure, politics, and 
                numerous other factors. Programs are much more 
                effective when members of the community are engaged in 
                preparedness planning, sharing their concerns and ideas 
                with emergency officials.
                    (C) Direct, participatory disaster planning, unlike 
                the current approach, is a fail-safe against developing 
                unrealistic emergency plans. It benefits lawmakers, 
                government officials, and professional responders by 
                identifying the full range of risks that the public 
                would face in disaster situations, by instructing what 
                is feasible and not feasible in terms of crisis 
                management, and by facilitating closer relations with 
                leaders from different communities, which in turn 
                fosters greater public trust and confidence. This is 
                particularly important, as some communities may be less 
                resilient to the consequences of disasters than others. 
                For example, different communities have different 
                degrees of access to health care, use languages other 
                than English, and have variable levels of trust in 
                traditional news sources, the medical community, and 
                government officials.
            (2) According to ``Clinical Infectious Diseases: 
        Confronting Biological Weapons'', in June 2001, the simulated 
        bioterrorism exercise, Dark Winter, was conducted to examine 
        the challenges senior-level policymakers would face if 
        confronted with a bioterrorist attack that initiated outbreaks 
        of a contagious disease. The exercise was intended to increase 
        awareness of the scope and character of the threat posed by 
        biological weapons among senior national security experts and 
        to bring about actions that would improve prevention and 
        response strategies. One of the important lessons learned was 
        that individual actions of United States citizens will be 
        critical in ending the spread of a contagious disease, and 
        leaders must gain the cooperation of the American people. Dark 
        Winter participants concluded--
                    (A) it is not possible to forcibly vaccinate the 
                public or impose travel restrictions on large groups of 
                the population without their cooperation;
                    (B) to gain cooperation, the public must believe 
                there is fairness in the distribution of vaccines and 
                other vital resources; and
                    (C) the public must be convinced that disease-
                containment measures are for the general good of 
                society and that all possible measures are being taken 
                to prevent the further spread of the disease.
            (3) Decades of social scientific research unequivocally 
        demonstrate that people are often at their finest during 
        crises, contrary to the widely held belief that disasters 
        easily lead to panic and a breakdown in social order:
                    (A) Rather than panicking, members of the public 
                typically converge en masse to help when disasters 
                strike. Numerous studies document the fact that 
                individuals and groups in the immediate impact area of 
                a disaster help manage evacuations, perform rescues, 
                locate and dig out victims who are trapped, transport 
                them to emergency care providers, and repeatedly put 
                themselves in danger to ensure that others are safe. 
                For example, in the immediate wake of the World Trade 
                Center's collapse, numerous ordinary citizens acted 
                swiftly and collectively in supporting search and 
                rescue activities despite the obvious hazards and 
                uncertainty about additional attacks.
                    (B) During disasters, people rarely panic, turn 
                against their neighbors, or suddenly forget personal 
                ties and moral commitments. Instead, the more 
                consistent pattern is for people in disasters to bind 
                and work together to help one another. For example, on 
                September 11th, people successfully evacuated from 
                lower Manhattan in one of the largest waterborne 
                evacuations in history. Barges, fishing boats, ferries, 
                and pleasure boats spontaneously and collectively 
                supported the Coast Guard and harbor pilots in moving 
                hundreds of thousands of people away from danger, as 
                well as transporting emergency personnel and equipment 
                to docks near ``Ground Zero''.
                    (C) Despite the fact that people may feel terrified 
                in disaster situations, even to the point of feeling 
                that their own lives are in imminent danger, 
                individualistic, competitive behavior is rare. Instead, 
                social bonds remain intact, and the sense of 
                responsibility to family members, friends, fellow 
                workers, neighbors, and even total strangers remains 
                strong. For example, there are numerous accounts of 
                healthy office workers delaying their evacuation in 
                order to help injured and disabled colleagues down the 
                stairwells of the World Trade Center.
                    (D) Highly adaptive and pro-social behavior by the 
                public is common in various types of crises, including 
                public health crises. For example, when the greater 
                Toronto area faced an outbreak of SARS in 2003 that 
                sickened a disproportionate number of health care 
                workers, hundreds of American physicians volunteered to 
                aid their Canadian colleagues despite the fact that 
                SARS was a potentially lethal disease.
                    (E) Often, people focused on the managerial and 
                technical challenges of crisis management misinterpret 
                the general public as panic-stricken and chaotic when 
                they are, in fact, engaging in rational behavior. Such 
                behaviors include seeking more information, questioning 
                authorities, and undertaking precautionary measures 
                even if authorities believe these measures are 
                unwarranted.
                    (F) While there always exists a possibility for a 
                breakdown in the social order during a crisis, numerous 
                disaster experts agree that the most effective ways for 
                government officials to counter any potential for panic 
                and to facilitate recovery are--
                            (i) to provide the public with the most 
                        accurate and timely information possible during 
                        a crisis and not withhold vital information;
                            (ii) to make provisions for the ethical and 
                        rational distribution of vital resources that 
                        could have a direct impact on health; and
                            (iii) to include community residents in 
                        disaster preparedness efforts before a crisis 
                        occurs to ensure that response plans are 
                        realistic and address the full range of risks 
                        that the public would face.
            (4) Civil-society organizations, those organizations 
        created to bring people together for common pro-social 
        purposes, such as professional societies, business groups, 
        labor unions, service organizations, neighborhood associations, 
        and faith-based groups, have assumed critical roles in 
        responding to disasters. In the wake of the attacks on the 
        World Trade Center and the Pentagon, civil-society 
        organizations and their members organized themselves to aid the 
        search-and-rescue efforts and the longer-term recovery process. 
        Unions, tenant associations, professional societies, 
        businesses, churches, and other groups galvanized existing 
        social ties, leadership structures, and communication links to 
        channel crucial aid:
                    (A) The American Medical Association contacted 
                State and local medical societies and specialty 
                organizations to request volunteers. More than 1,700 
                medical personnel responded to requests for critical-
                care specialists.
                    (B) Building trades and labor unions immediately 
                gathered crews of engineers, ironworkers, laborers, 
                Teamsters, and others to set up equipment and to look 
                for architectural drawings in order to perform the 
                dangerous work of searching through the rubble for 
                survivors. One union hall located in Tribeca was 
                converted into a Red Cross Disaster Service Center that 
                helped connect affected residents with critical relief 
                services.
                    (C) Members of the Independence Plaza North 
                Tenants' Association in lower Manhattan effectively 
                directed streams of people to safety and away from the 
                World Trade Center complex; they organized ``urgent 
                needs'' crews to canvass the area around ``Ground 
                Zero'' looking for homebound residents who required 
                assistance; and they acted as volunteers for local 
                businesses when paid employees could not get to the 
                area.
                    (D) The Seamen's Church Institute of New York and 
                New Jersey, headquartered in lower Manhattan, dedicated 
                its cooking facilities to feeding rescue and recovery 
                workers; members of the Episcopal churches in the area 
                took turns staffing the kitchen.
            (5) Effective communication by government and emergency 
        officials helps facilitate the public's productive responses to 
        disasters:
                    (A) According to the Presidential/Congressional 
                Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management, risk 
                communication and analysis should be integrated at all 
                stages of the risk management process so emergency 
                managers and government officials address issues of 
                concern to the public and share information in a way 
                that facilitates effective action and creates public 
                confidence.
                    (B) According to the New York Academy of Medicine's 
                report, ``Redefining Readiness: Terrorism Planning 
                Through the Eyes of the Public'', officials cannot 
                effectively communicate risk to the public until they 
                first learn the full range of risks the public would 
                actually face in particular disaster situations.
                    (C) According to the Heritage Foundation Executive 
                Memorandum, ``Beyond Duct Tape: The Federal 
                Government's Role in Public Preparedness'', the most 
                vital role the Federal Government can have in enhancing 
                the public response to a terrorist attack is to ensure 
                that its communications are understandable, credible, 
                and actionable.

SEC. 3. GOALS.

    The goals of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To promote the development of disaster plans that will 
        protect the maximum number of citizens; to foster public trust, 
        confidence, and cooperation with these plans; and to encourage 
        greater public participation in homeland security by allowing 
        the American people to have a direct and influential role in 
        developing and modifying community disaster preparedness, 
        response, recovery, and mitigation plans in collaboration with 
        government officials, emergency managers, health authorities, 
        and professional responders.
            (2) To create a working group composed of Federal officials 
        and State, county, local, and tribal Citizen Corps Council 
        members to coordinate the efforts of different government 
        agencies in identifying, developing, and implementing 
        strategies to allow the American public to have such a role.
            (3) To encourage greater public participation in homeland 
        security and to improve disaster plans by enabling the States 
        and localities to effectively incorporate volunteers from the 
        general public to assume a direct and influential role in 
        community-based disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and 
        mitigation planning efforts in collaboration with State and 
        local government officials, emergency managers, health 
        authorities, and professional responders, thereby integrating 
        these volunteers' collective experiential knowledge into 
        disaster plans which will ultimately protect many more citizens 
        than would otherwise be possible.
            (4) To encourage integration of risk communication and 
        analysis protocols into all stages of the risk management 
        process within the Department of Homeland Security and the 
        Department of Health and Human Services so that emergency 
        managers, health officials, and government officials can better 
        address issues of concern to the public and can share that 
        information in a way that more effectively facilitates action 
        and promotes greater public confidence and safety.

SEC. 4. WORKING GROUP TO INCREASE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNITY-
              BASED DISASTER PLANNING EFFORTS.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Homeland Security and the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting jointly, shall establish 
a working group to perform the duties described in subsection (b).
    (b) Duties.--The working group shall--
            (1) assist the Department of Homeland Security and the 
        Department of Health and Human Services--
                    (A) to promote the development of disaster plans 
                that will protect the maximum number of citizens, to 
                foster greater public trust, confidence, and 
                cooperation with these plans, as well as to encourage 
                greater public participation in homeland security, by 
                identifying, developing, and reviewing strategies that 
                provide the American people the means to volunteer to 
                develop community-based disaster preparedness, 
                response, recovery, and mitigation plans, and to modify 
                pre-existing disaster plans, in collaboration with 
                State and local government officials, emergency 
                managers, health authorities, and professional 
                responders;
                    (B) to help State and local officials provide the 
                necessary means and infrastructure for the American 
                public to volunteer to assume a direct and influential 
                role in community-based disaster preparedness, 
                response, recovery, and mitigation planning efforts, 
                and to modify pre-existing disaster plans, in 
                collaboration with State and local government 
                officials, emergency managers, health authorities, and 
                professional responders, thereby integrating these 
                volunteers' collective experiential knowledge into 
                disaster plans which will ultimately protect many more 
                citizens than would otherwise be possible; and
                    (C) to develop standards to measure the success of 
                a community's level of direct, participatory disaster 
                planning efforts in--
                            (i) building partnerships between State and 
                        local government officials, emergency managers, 
                        health authorities, professional responders, 
                        and community-based leaders of: industry and 
                        business, civil society organizations, schools, 
                        infrastructure (such as utilities, transit 
                        systems, railroads, ports, and airports) and 
                        health care organizations;
                            (ii) identifying the full range of risks 
                        citizens would actually face as a result of a 
                        conventional or unconventional terrorist 
                        attack, as well as the most likely other 
                        disasters for their particular community;
                            (iii) developing community-based disaster 
                        preparedness, response, recovery, and 
                        mitigation plans, and modifying pre-existing 
                        plans, which take into account the full range 
                        of risks identified pursuant to clause (ii); 
                        and
                            (iv) developing communication links for 
                        government authorities to disseminate, in a 
                        timely manner, vital health and safety 
                        information to community-based leaders, 
                        allowing the information to be forwarded to the 
                        greater general public by individuals who speak 
                        the same languages and are part of their 
                        community's particular culture and day-to-day 
                        life;
            (2) consult with the Department of Justice, the Department 
        of Defense, the Department of Education, the Department of 
        Commerce, the Department of Labor, the American Red Cross, and 
        other agencies and organizations deemed appropriate by the 
        working group to identify and develop strategies for--
                    (A) promoting greater public participation in 
                homeland security by facilitating community-based 
                disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and 
                mitigation planning efforts; and
                    (B) helping State and local officials to 
                incorporate public volunteers into community-based 
                disaster planning efforts;
            (3) consult with and provide guidance to State and local 
        governments for the purpose of helping them to provide the 
        necessary means and infrastructure for the American public to 
        have a direct and influential role in developing and reviewing 
        community disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and 
        mitigation plans, and to modify pre-existing disaster plans, in 
        collaboration with State and local government officials, 
        emergency managers, health authorities, and professional 
        responders, thereby integrating these volunteers' collective 
        experiential knowledge into disaster plans which will 
        ultimately protect many more citizens than would otherwise be 
        possible; and
            (4) not later than the working group's termination date 
        described in subsection (g), prepare and present to the 
        Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Health and 
        Human Services specific recommendations on how the Department 
        of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human 
        Services may--
                    (A) promote the development of disaster plans that 
                will protect the maximum number of citizens; to foster 
                public trust, confidence, and cooperation with these 
                plans; and to encourage greater public participation in 
                homeland security by providing the American people with 
                the necessary means to volunteer to develop and modify 
                community disaster preparedness, response, recovery, 
                and mitigation plans in collaboration with government 
                officials, emergency managers, health authorities, and 
                professional responders; and
                    (B) help State and local officials provide the 
                necessary means and infrastructure for the American 
                public to volunteer to assume a direct and influential 
                role in community-based disaster preparedness, 
                response, recovery, and mitigation planning efforts, 
                and to modify pre-existing disaster plans, in 
                collaboration with State and local government 
                officials, emergency managers, health authorities, and 
                professional responders, thereby integrating these 
                volunteers' collective experiential knowledge into 
                disaster plans which will ultimately protect many more 
                citizens than would otherwise be possible.
    (c) Membership.--
            (1) Composition.--The working group shall be composed of 21 
        members, as follows:
                    (A) Three representatives of the Department of 
                Homeland Security, as follows:
                            (i) The Secretary of Homeland Security (or 
                        the Secretary's designee).
                            (ii) The Under Secretary for Federal 
                        Emergency Management (or the Under Secretary's 
                        designee).
                            (iii) The Under Secretary for Preparedness 
                        (or the Under Secretary's designee).
                    (B) Three representatives of the Department of 
                Health and Human Services, as follows:
                            (i) The Secretary of Health and Human 
                        Services (or the Secretary's designee).
                            (ii) The Director of the Centers for 
                        Disease Control and Prevention (or the 
                        Director's designee).
                            (iii) The Assistant Secretary for 
                        Preparedness and Response (or the Assistant 
                        Secretary's designee).
                    (C) Fifteen members appointed by the Comptroller 
                General of the United States in accordance with 
                paragraph (2).
            (2) Appointed members.--
                    (A) Qualifications.--The Comptroller General of the 
                United States may appoint an individual under paragraph 
                (1)(C) only if the individual--
                            (i) is a current member of a State, county, 
                        local, or tribal Citizen Corps Council;
                            (ii) is not a Federal, State, or local 
                        government employee or elected official; and
                            (iii) is not an employee, volunteer, or 
                        representative of a business, association, or 
                        advocacy organization involved in homeland 
                        security services other than volunteer services 
                        to Citizen Corps.
                    (B) Diversity.--The Comptroller General of the 
                United States shall ensure that the members appointed 
                under paragraph (1)(C)--
                            (i) reflect a broad geographic and cultural 
                        representation;
                            (ii) include at least 3 representatives 
                        from urban areas, 3 representatives from 
                        suburban areas, and 3 representatives from 
                        rural areas; and
                            (iii) include 5 representatives who serve 
                        on a State Citizen Corps Council and 10 
                        representatives who serve on either a county, 
                        local, or tribal Citizen Corps Council.
                    (C) Terms.--Each member appointed under paragraph 
                (1)(C) shall be appointed for the life of the working 
                group.
                    (D) Chairperson.--Not later than 14 days after the 
                date on which the Comptroller General of the United 
                States completes the appointment of the 15 members 
                required to be appointed under paragraph (1)(C), the 
                Comptroller General shall designate the chairperson of 
                the working group from among such members.
                    (E) Vacancies.--A vacancy in the working group 
                shall not affect the powers or the duties of the 
                working group and shall be filled in the same manner in 
                which the original appointment was made.
    (d) Subcommittees.--The working group may establish subcommittees 
for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of the working group.
    (e) Meetings.--The working group shall meet not less than 4 times 
each year.
    (f) Staff.--The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services may detail, on a reimbursable basis, 
personnel of the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of 
Health and Human Services, respectively, to the working group to assist 
the working group in carrying out the duties described in subsection 
(b).
    (g) Termination.--The working group shall terminate not later than 
3 years after the date on which the working group adjourns its first 
meeting.
    (h) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) The term ``disaster'' includes terrorist attacks and 
        any other emergency event designated by the working group 
        involved.
            (2) The term ``working group'' means the working group 
        established under this section.

SEC. 5. STATE COOPERATION WITH WORKING GROUP.

    Clause (ii) of section 319C-1(b)(1)(A) of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 247d-3a(b)(1)(A)) is amended--
            (1) in subclause (IV), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subclause (V), by striking ``or'' at the end and 
        inserting ``and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                                    ``(VI) will take specific steps to 
                                comply with the recommendations of the 
                                working group established pursuant to 
                                section 4 of the Ready, Willing, and 
                                Able Act to provide the means and 
                                infrastructure necessary for the public 
                                to volunteer to assume a direct and 
                                influential role in community-based 
                                disaster preparedness, response, 
                                recovery, and mitigation planning 
                                efforts, and to modify pre-existing 
                                disaster plans, in collaboration with 
                                government officials, emergency 
                                managers, health authorities, and 
                                professional responders, thereby 
                                integrating these volunteers' 
                                collective experiential knowledge into 
                                disaster plans which will ultimately 
                                protect many more citizens than would 
                                otherwise be possible; or''.

SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than 1 year after receiving the recommendations of the 
working group established pursuant to section 4, the Secretary of 
Homeland Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
acting jointly, shall submit a report to the Congress that includes 
each of the following:
            (1) The recommendations of the working group relevant to 
        the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Health 
        and Human Services.
            (2) A description of the steps that have or have not been 
        taken by each Federal department to implement the 
        recommendations of the working group.
            (3) Thorough explanations for rejection of any 
        recommendations by the working group.
            (4) Other steps taken to meet the goals of this Act.
                                 <all>