[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 153 (Thursday, September 28, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14560-S14561]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          THE AMERICAN PROMISE

 Mr. ROBB. Mr. President, I rise today to speak briefly about 
an important new PBS series entitled ``The American Promise'', which 
will premiere on October l, 2, and 3. ``The American Promise'' 
celebrates community based-democracy--the individual works of countless 
citizens throughout America who work every day to make their 
communities stronger and more vital.
  There is no question that our actions in this Capitol represent 
democracy's most visible work. It is the facet of democracy most 
studied in classrooms and most reported nationally by the media.
  But our legislative world, Mr. President, has increasingly, in my 
judgment, become a world of partisanship and competition. The focus too 
often turns to who wins and who loses rather than how we can work 
together to reach a positive goal. I believe this partisanship is 
making many of our citizens more frustrated and cynical.
  So we can not forget that our work in Washington is but one form of 
American democracy--and that American democracy is larger and more 
diverse than the business conducted here in this Capitol.
  In communities throughout our Nation, in ways both large and small, 
citizens decide every day to become a valuable part of the democratic 
process. They do this by joining an organization; by bringing others 
together to improve or expand an existing service; by asking how a 
practice that does not work can be changed; by engaging in a civil and 
respectful debate; by considering another viewpoint; or by taking 
responsibility to make a hard decision which will make a community 
better.
  When this happens, Mr. President, everybody in the community wins. 
When a community development bank is opened where none existed before, 
when individuals cooperate so that dry land can be irrigated, score 
keeping becomes irrelevant. Through action and energy, participation 
and deliberation, taking responsibility and seeking common ground, 
American democracy comes to life.
  ``The American Promise'', a new PBS television series, reminds us of 
the community-based democracy that is alive and well beyond this 
Capitol. And in doing so, it both strengthens our faith in our 
democracy and teaches our citizens how they can personally be a part of 
the democratic process in their own communities. And because ``The 
American Promise'' will be made available to high school and junior 
high school classes through the United States, young Americans will be 
able to have it as they study civics and government.
  In roughly fifty story segments taken from every region of the 
county, lessons are offered on the skills and values needed to bring 
our democracy to life. These vignettes illustrate core American values 
such as freedom, responsibility, opportunity, participation, and 
deliberation.
  Each 3 hour segment contains select historical reenactments, which 
serve to establish important contexts through which the remaining 
vignettes take on new meaning. The first of these reenactments, which 
appears the beginning of the documentary, is set in l769, in the 
streets of Williamsburg, VA. We watch as a young Thomas Jefferson, 
along with Patrick Henry, Colonel 

[[Page S 14561]]
George Washington, Peyton Randolph, George Mason, Richard Henry Lee, 
and others, take the first steps toward freedom. In the House of 
Burgesses, on the streets of Colonial Williamsburg, in a local tavern, 
the group draws up Virginia's plans to boycott English goods.
  We hear Washington's words, ``How far their attention to our rights 
and privileges is to be awakened or alarmed by starving their trade and 
manufacturers remains to be tried.'' The viewers of ``The American 
Promise'' see our Founding Fathers starting a rebellion that will 
gather strength for 7 more years before the Declaration of Independence 
is written.
  Although we sometimes think of our freedoms as a Nation being won at 
Concord, Bunker Hill or Yorktown, these freedoms were also the result 
of years of meetings and debate and consensus building. This serves as 
a true reminder of the communal instincts that helped create our great 
Nation.
  Mr. President, I urge my colleagues and viewers across the Nation to 
watch this important program. ``The American Promise'' reminds us what 
is right about America--and challenges us all to be good citizens 
always working to make our Nation stronger and greater.
 Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, would the Senator from Missouri, the 
chairman of the VA, HUD, and Indepdent Agencies Subcommittee, yield a 
few moments for me to address an issue of great important to the people 
of Hawaii and the Pacific?
  Mr. BOND. I would be happy to yield to the junior Senator from 
Hawaii.
  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I am concerned that the disaster needs of 
the Pacific are not being adequately addressed by the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency [FEMA]. In particular, I am concerned that FEMA lacks 
adequate staffing for its Pacific Area Office, located in Honolulu, to 
address fully this mitigation, training, and emergency response needs 
of this large and diverse area.
  As the Senator from Missouri knows, FEMA's Region IX, based in San 
Francisco, is currently responsible for administering emergency 
management assistance programs and responding to disasters throughout 
the Pacific--including American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Marianas Islands, the Federated State of Micronesia, the 
Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands--as well as 
in California, Arizona, and Nevada. It is by far the largest of FEMA's 
regions, covering an area greater in size than the U.S. mainland. But 
the current grouping of Hawaii and the Pacific Islands within Region IX 
results in the Pacific islands receiving less than adequate attention.
  The Pacific insular states are seven different jurisdictions that are 
culturally, economically, and politically distinct from mainland 
states. The estimated 110 FEMA employees who staff the San Francisco 
office are too remote, both geographically and culturally, to provide 
the full range of disaster-related assistance to the unique Pacific 
insular states. Quite understandingably, they are preoccupied by the 
vast emergency needs of the populations who live closer at hand, in 
California, Nevada, and Arizona.
  The Republic of Palau, for example, is 5,500 miles from San 
Franscisco--a 2-day journey from the continental U.S. by jet. Moreover, 
when FEMA officials finally arrive at the scene of a disaster that has 
occurred in the Pacific, they must contend with major differences in 
language, facilities, food, climate, and communications not to mention 
the idiosyncrasies of local political systems and administrative 
practices.
  The establishment of the Pacific Area Office in Honolulu 2 years ago 
vastly improved FEMA's ability to respond quickly to disasters in the 
central and South Pacific, if only because the facility is located 
thousands of miles closer to potential disaster sites. And, while the 
office has made a serious effort to maintain ongoing contact with the 
more remote insular jurisdictions, it is seriously limited in its 
ability to provide critical training, technical assistance, and hazard 
mitigation services that could significantly minimize loss of life and 
property.

  So, given the foregoing, I might ask the Senator from Missouri if he 
would consider the Pacific's emergency needs when the pending measure 
goes to conference.
  Mr. BOND. What is the Senator from Hawaii's specific request?
  Mr. AKAKA. After extensive consultation with emergency management 
officials and representatives of the Pacific insular states, I have 
determined that the service limitations I have described can only be 
overcome by augmenting the Pacific Area Office with a minimum of twelve 
(12) additional permanent staff. Of these, six, (6) are needed in the 
Pacific Area Office itself to support preparedness training, planning, 
mitigation, and logistical functions, and six (6) others are required 
as permanent liaison officers assigned to, and physically based in, 
each of FEMA's insular Pacific jurisdictions.
  Mr. BOND. So the Senator from Hawaii requests assistance in securing 
conference report language directing FEMA to assign 12 FTEE to the 
Pacific Area Office?
  Mr. AKAKA. That is my request. The vital assistance provided by such 
staff could save millions of dollars in property and economic activity, 
not to mention human lives. I would underscore the fact that I am not 
proposing the establishment of a new regional office, only that the 
existing satellite office in Hawaii be provided with the resources to 
meet the full range of our emergency management obligations in the 
Pacific.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. If I may interject. My colleagues may recall that as 
chairman of the VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Subcommittee in the 
102d Congress, I supported the original establishment of the Pacific 
Area Office. At that time, the subcommittee set aside $500,000 in the 
Senate report accompanying the FY92 VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies 
Appropriations bill for this initiative.
  The subcommittee's action reflected a concern that a permanent FEMA 
presence was needed in the Pacific. Until the office was opened in 
Honolulu in 1993, the agency had no forward-based staff or facilities 
in these jurisdictions; instead, all disaster activities were conducted 
directly from FEMA's Region IX office, located in San Francisco, 
thousands of miles from these jurisdictions.
  While the creation of this office has clearly improved FEMA's ability 
to deal with the many disasters that occur in the Pacific, the agency 
still falls short of fully providing for the emergency needs of our 
citizens and friends in the Pacific. I think we need to consider 
seriously making the Pacific Area Office a full-service office, one 
that can provide robust mitigation, training, and emergency response 
services in a timely, appropriate fashion.

  So, I would support the Senator from Hawaii's request that we 
consider taking this matter up in conference.
  Mr. AKAKA. The Senator from Maryland has ably summarized the essence 
of this issue. I appreciate her comments as well as her key role in 
originally establishing the Pacific Area Office.
  Mr. BOND. I also appreciate my colleague from Maryland's helpful 
comments on this issue. Given her support, and in view of the unique 
circumstances that exist in the Pacific, I would be pleased to consider 
seriously the Senator from Hawaii's request to raise this issue in 
conference. The Senator from Hawaii should, however, bear in mind that 
any efforts we make, if any, must be made in the context of FEMA's 
overall budget.
  Mr. AKAKA. I thank the managers of the bill for their thoughtful 
consideration of this matter. Any accommodation that can be achieved in 
conference regarding the emergency management needs of the Pacific 
would be very much appreciated. I yield the floor.

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