[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 23, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H3124-H3125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  H.R. 5351 AND DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time 
of the gentleman from California.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from North 
Carolina is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, this evening I rise on the floor to speak 
for a few minutes in support of H.R. 5351, the National Emergency 
Management Reform and Enhancement Act, and to address the need for 
reform of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This legislation 
represents a significant victory for democratic principles of effective 
Federal action for the American people.
  Hurricane season starts in a little over a week, and just yesterday 
scientists at NOAA told us to expect another several months of 
dangerous storms. The devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina and 
Hurricane Rita on our fellow citizens on the gulf coast serves as a 
wake-up call that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was badly 
broken.
  Unfortunately, the inept response of many FEMA officials and the 
administration to this national disaster illustrated the degradation of 
an agency that once was a showplace of government responsiveness, 
efficiency, and professionalism.
  My State of North Carolina has been no stranger to hurricanes and 
natural

[[Page H3125]]

disasters over the years, and FEMA personnel performed admirably as our 
State struggled to recover from Hurricane Fran in 1996 and Hurricane 
Floyd in 1999, as well as other floods, tornadoes, and ice storms. Fran 
featured devastating winds and Floyd produced a 500-year flood in 
northeastern North Carolina. Fortunately, then-FEMA director James Lee 
Witt was a professional with marching orders from the White House to do 
whatever was needed to save life and property. FEMA in the 1990s 
delivered vital services the American people have a right to expect. 
Unfortunately, that model of success was replaced by the current 
administration with the failed approach of cronyism and incompetence. 
Congress must now step in and provide leadership to fix a broken 
system.
  However, unlike some of my colleagues in this body, my solution to 
fixing FEMA is not to strip it out of the Department of Homeland 
Security. This action will not only result in an ill-conceived division 
of duties, resources and responsibilities, but also increase 
bureaucracy, interagency turf wars and red tape.
  I don't need to tell you, but the American people will not stand for 
more red tape and bureaucracy. The last thing they want to see after a 
disaster are Federal government officials trading business cards 
instead of assisting the victims of the storm. My Democratic colleagues 
and I have worked for months on the Homeland Security Committee to 
reform FEMA and to restore its standing as a quality government 
organization.
  I am pleased that our Republican colleagues have joined together and 
the Homeland Security Committee passed a bill on a unanimous bipartisan 
vote.
  H.R. 5351 addresses many of the problems and deficiencies that 
prevented FEMA from providing efficient and effective support of State 
and local officials after a disaster, whether they be natural or man-
made. This legislation creates a stronger autonomous mission-oriented 
FEMA within the framework of the Department of Homeland Security. It 
restores control of the accepted emergency management cycle of 
preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation to the agency.
  It requires that the director of FEMA be a recognized emergency 
management professional who would serve as the day-to-day principal 
adviser to the President of the United States for emergency management 
matters. The legislation would elevate the director to the President's 
cabinet during times of crisis so no one could obstruct the speedy 
delivery of relief, personnel and resources to devastated areas in this 
country and around the world.
  H.R. 5351 reinvigorates FEMA's regional offices and staffs them with 
emergency management professionals with both experience and a 
familiarity with the people, geography, and threats to our States and 
municipalities.
  Importantly, this bill gives FEMA budgetary independence and prevents 
the Secretary of Homeland Security from siphoning money away from 
disaster and terrorism prevention and preparedness for other agency 
initiatives.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me as a cosponsor of this 
bipartisan, commonsense legislation; and I urge the leadership to 
schedule for a vote this legislation as soon as possible. Our Nation 
and its people will not stand for another botched response from this 
Federal Government, nor should they. This administration should be held 
accountable for its many mistakes, and this bill would allow FEMA to 
fulfill its mission as a primary Federal responder and support agency 
in times of disaster.

                          ____________________