[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 111 (Thursday, September 8, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9741-S9743]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRADITIONAL ROLE OF FEMA
Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, my thoughts are with all of those from the
Gulf Coast States affected by Hurricane Katrina as they mourn the loss
of family and friends and neighbors. We wish them well.
I know there are no words that can provide the needed comfort. I
believe there must be an extensive examination of what went wrong with
the Government's response to this natural disaster.
As hundreds of thousands of Americans look toward rebuilding their
lives, our first priority must be to ensure that all possible Federal
resources are at their disposal. However, it is Congress's job to get
to the bottom of what went wrong and to do whatever is necessary to
ensure that it never happens again. I join those who say we must not
engage in a blame game but, rather, we must come together to undertake
responsible oversight.
I say this from an interesting vantage point because throughout the
debate over the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in
2002, I repeatedly expressed my strong concern that nonhomeland
security functions of the Federal Government would be diminished if
included in the new Department. I said that eliminating the Federal
Emergency Management Agency's status as an independent agency to join
this proposed Department could seriously affect FEMA's traditional role
of responding to natural disasters.
At Under Secretary Michael Brown's confirmation hearing to be Deputy
Director of FEMA in June 2002, 5 months before the Homeland Security
Act passed, I spoke about the perils of converting FEMA into a homeland
security centric agency. At the time, I said:
The President's proposal for a new Department of Homeland
Security will include the Federal Emergency Management
Agency. A key question is how will this new role for FEMA in
homeland security affect its traditional mission?
. . . Many of the agencies impacted by this proposal,
including FEMA, have a number of core responsibilities
unrelated to their homeland security missions. Most of what
FEMA does every day, and what Americans
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expect from FEMA, does not fall under the category of
homeland security.
Because of my strong belief that the nonhomeland security functions
of FEMA, the Coast Guard, and other agencies that are now part of DHS
would be diminished when merged into this massive agency, I
successfully offered an amendment to the Governmental Affairs
Committee's version of the Homeland Security Act, cosponsored by
Senator Carper, that required all nonhomeland security functions of
each of the 22 legacy agencies to be identified, along with the
resources needed to preserve these functions.
Unfortunately, the version of the bill passed by Congress failed to
include my amendment, which is one of the reasons that I was one of
eight Senators who voted against the creation of DHS.
In a further effort to ensure constancy of the nonhomeland security
functions of DHS, I introduced in April 2003 legislation that would
have required the Department to identify annually the resources,
personnel, and capabilities devoted to nonhomeland security functions.
My measure would have required DHS to include this information in its
annual performance report, as well as required the Government
Accountability Office to evaluate the Department's performance of
essential nonhomeland security missions.
When introducing my bill, S. 910, the Nonhomeland Security Mission
Performance Act of 2003, I said:
The cost of creating a Department of Homeland Security
should not come at the expense of these essential missions.
Agencies should strike the proper balance between new
homeland security responsibilities and their critical
nonhomeland security missions. Enhancing traditional missions
also enhances domestic security which depends on sound
management strategies that ensure adequate resources and
personnel.
S. 910 was reported favorably by the Governmental Affairs Committee
but was, unfortunately, never considered by the full Senate.
I stand before my colleagues today to ask that we look at the
disaster that has befallen the people of the gulf coast as a reminder
that preventing terrorism is not the only business of the Department of
Homeland Security. My colleagues and I must carefully reexamine whether
critical nonhomeland security missions have been compromised by their
decisions in DHS.
I ask unanimous consent that my statement from the Governmental
Affairs Committee hearing for Michael Brown's confirmation to be Deputy
Director of FEMA on June 19, 2002, and my statement on the introduction
of S. 910, the Nonhomeland Security Mission Performance Act, on April
11, 2003, be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs
Nomination hearing for Michael Brown to be Deputy Director of FEMA,
June 19, 2002
I wish to welcome our nominee to the Committee. Since you
and I met a month ago, it seems that the nature of the
position to which you have been nominated has changed
dramatically.
The President's proposal for a new Department of Homeland
Security will include Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA). A key question is how will this new role for FEMA in
Homeland Security affect its traditional mission?
There is already a Federal Response Plan that does what the
President says the new Department will do, that is, ``the
Homeland Security Department will integrate the Federal
interagency emergency response plans into a single
comprehensive, government-wide plan.'' Since 1992, a Federal
Response Plan has managed the activities of 26 Federal
agencies and the Red Cross during all phases of a disaster,
including readiness, response, recovery, and mitigation. In
1999, FEMA published the second edition of the Federal
Response Plan Terrorism Incident Annex.
When necessary, FEMA has made agreements with specific
government agencies to address terrorism. In January 2001,
FEMA and the Department of Justice released an Interagency
Domestic Terrorism Concept of Operations Plan (CONPLAN). FEMA
is currently working with the Catastrophic Disaster Response
Group (CDRG), made up of representatives of all federal
agencies, to update the Federal Response Plan in light of the
lessons learned from September 11th. These changes are to be
integrated with the national strategy for homeland security,
on which Governor Ridge has spent the past eight months
working.
I hope the proposed department will build on all the
different plans and agreements already in place. We do not
need a brand new coordination plan. What we need is better
communication and implementation of the plans we have.
The President and his staff compare this reorganization to
the creation of the Department of Defense after World War II.
However, there are many differences. The Departments of the
Navy and the Army shared the primary mission of defending the
United States. They were both military departments with
similar cultures and management priorities.
In contrast, many of the agencies impacted by this
proposal, including FEMA, have a number of core
responsibilities unrelated to their homeland security
missions. Most of what FEMA does every day, and what
Americans expect from FEMA, does not fall under the
description of homeland security.
Homeland security is strengthened through developing assets
that are built day-by-day and community-by-community. These
assets include well-trained firefighters and law-enforcement
officers, well-equipped medical personnel, and well-exercised
emergency response drills.
An example is when FEMA partnered with local and state
agencies to help residents on the Island of Hawaii in the
wake of tropical storms and flooding last year. It is the
dedicated men and women who form the FEMA family who continue
to build on these relationships and provide federal
assistance to those most in need. Just this year, FEMA
assisted flood victims in West Virginia, Kentucky, and
Illinois and is working with communities devastated by
wildfires in Colorado and New Mexico.
Every state in the Union, including Hawaii, works with FEMA
to include disaster mitigation when rebuilding after an
event. Cities and counties across the country are working
with FEMA to lessen the impact of future natural disasters
through mitigation programs.
These efforts are all-hazard and will help communities
respond to floods and terrorist attacks. However, there are
those in the Administration who have criticized mitigation
efforts and have questioned their cost and benefit.
FEMA's pre-disaster mitigation program was eliminated in
the President's 2002 budget because it was deemed ineffective
by the Office of Management and Budget. Congress disagreed
and saved the $25 million program only to see the
Administration's FY03 budget proposal seek to eliminate
FEMA's post-disaster mitigation program, which was also
judged ineffective by OMB.
I believe that Mr. Brown and Director Allbaugh appreciate
the importance of disaster mitigation. Unfortunately,
traditional cost-benefit analysis is not appropriate for
mitigation and prevention programs, and OMB has not given
FEMA guidelines on what factors will be used in the future.
I am concerned that these same problems will haunt the new
Homeland Security Department. What factors will OMB use to
determine the effectiveness of different homeland security
programs? I hope Governor Ridge will shed some light on this
when he appears before us tomorrow.
The Deputy Director will be responsible to make sure that
core functions are not neglected. Over the past decade, FEMA
has regained the confidence of local and state emergency
managers. Individuals and families rely on FEMA when their
lives are torn apart by natural disasters. I believe
confidence and trust are among America's most important
assets in our struggle to make our communities safer and more
secure.
FEMA has these assets because of it employees. The Deputy
Director also will be responsible for ensuring that these
dedicated federal workers have the resources, training, and
support necessary to do their jobs. Likewise, FEMA's core
missions are too important to take the best and most
experienced staff away from traditional disaster response and
mitigation to fill new homeland security activities.
Mr. Brown, thank you again for your dedication and
willingness to serve your Nation. You have a tough road
ahead. If we are to use the parallel between this
reorganization and the creation of the Department of Defense
in 1947, we must remember that it took years, even decades,
to shape a truly integrated armed forces. Unfortunately, we
do not have years to reshape how our country prepares for
terrorism.
We can, and should, pass legislation to create a homeland
security department. However, we must remember that the issue
is not a new federal department, but what is most effective
in protecting Americans.
____
Non-Homeland Security Mission Performance Act of 2003, April 11, 2003
Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation to
preserve important non-homeland security missions in the
Department of Homeland Security. I am pleased to be joined by
the Senator from Delaware, Mr. Carper, and the Senator from
New Jersey, Mr. Lautenberg, in this effort to guarantee the
fulfillment of non-homeland security functions Americans rely
on daily.
Many of these non-homeland security functions are
especially important to the state of Hawaii. The Coast Guard
provides essential search and rescue, fisheries enforcement,
and protection of our coastline. The Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service protects the state's fragile ecosystem
from invasive species. The Federal Emergency Management
Agency assists municipalities in reducing the destructive
effects of natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes, and
tidal waves.
To preserve these vital functions, the ``Non-Homeland
Security Mission Performance Act of 2003'' would require the
Department of Homeland Security to identify and
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report to Congress on the resources, personnel, and
capabilities used to perform non-homeland security functions,
as well as the management strategy needed to carry out these
missions.
The measure would require the Department to include
information on the performance of these functions in its
annual performance report. Our legislation also calls for a
General Accounting Office (GAO) evaluation of the performance
of essential non-homeland security missions.
The establishment of the Department of Homeland Security
created additional management challenges and has fueled
growing concerns that the performance of core, non-homeland
security functions will slip through the cracks. Just last
week, the GAO testified before the House Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure that the Coast Guard has
experienced a substantial decline in the amount of time spent
on core missions. Moreover, GAO found that the Coast Guard
lacks the resources to reverse this trend. Coast Guard
Commandant Thomas H. Collins is quoted as saying that his
agency has more business than it has resources and is
challenged like never before to do all that America wants it
to do.
These same concerns extend to the entire Department of
Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security's
Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration services provides
asylum for refugees and helps immigrants become American
citizens. The Customs Service protects and monitors foreign
trade so essential for a healthy American economy. And the
Secret Service protects and monitors against identity theft,
counterfeiting, and other financial crimes. In fact, the
General Accounting Office has added the transformation of and
implementation of the Department to the GAO High Risk list,
partially as the result of existing management challenges to
fulfill non-homeland security missions.
The cost of creating a Department of Homeland Security
should not come at the expense of these essential missions.
Agencies should strike the proper balance between new
homeland security responsibilities and their critical non-
homeland security missions. Enhancing traditional missions
also enhances domestic security which depends on sound
management strategies that ensure adequate resources and
personnel.
I urge my colleagues to support the ``Non-Homeland Security
Mission Performance Act of 2003.'' Our bill takes important
steps to ensure that Americans will not see a decline in non-
homeland security services as a result of the creation of the
Department of Homeland Security.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the
bill be printed in the Record following this statement.
Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I yield back my time.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Democratic leader.
____________________