[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 28, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6717-S6724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER:
  S. 3594. A bill to help protect the public against the threat of 
attacks targeting nuclear power plants; to the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Secure 
Nuclear Facilities Act of 2006, which addresses an unacceptable gap in 
our Nation's homeland security. My bill would hold commercial nuclear 
powerplants to the same high security standards to which government 
nuclear facilities are subject.
  There are currently 104 nuclear powerplants licensed to operate in 
the United States, including two plants, with two reactors each, in my 
home state of California.
  These plants are potential targets for terrorists, and we are not 
doing enough to ensure they are protected. The 9/11 Commission report, 
issued on July 22, 2004, stated that nuclear powerplants were among the 
targets considered in the original plan for the September 11, 2001, 
attacks.
  An attack on a nuclear plant would be disastrous. The meltdown of a 
nuclear powerplant's nuclear reactor core, release of the spent nuclear 
fuel located at the site, removal from the site of radioactive 
materials, or other violation of the plant's security would greatly 
endanger public health and safety. Unfortunately, there are reports of 
nuclear plant operators' failure to effectively address vital security 
issues, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's failure to hold them 
sufficiently accountable.
  To make matters worse, commercial nuclear plant operators are not 
currently required to defend their plants against theft and diversion 
of nuclear material. Nonweapon nuclear facilities operated by the 
government, on the other hand, are required to defend against not only 
direct attacks, but also theft and diversion of nuclear material. This 
double standard makes no sense.
  Commercial nuclear plants contain materials that terrorists might 
attempt to steal, just like government nuclear facilities. The Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, NRC, concedes that terrorists might use these 
highly radioactive materials in a radiological bomb or, with the right 
equipment, reprocess it into weapons-grade material. But according to 
the NRC, it is not reasonable to expect a private facility to cope with 
this threat, because private facilities do not have the same resources 
as government facilities.
  The NRC's argument is deeply flawed. If nuclear plant owners and 
operators cannot address the full spectrum of terrorist threats they 
face, then they should not be in business. There is too much at stake 
in terms of the dangers posed by these threats for us to allow 
continued low security standards for commercial nuclear plants.
  My bill would require commercial nuclear plants to defend against the 
same potential threats as government nuclear facilities, including 
threat and diversion of nuclear materials. The bill would also 
strengthen State and local responders' ability to aid nuclear plants in 
case of an attack by terrorists. It offers grants to State and local 
responders to facilitate evacuations and medical treatment, as well as 
interoperable communications among first responders and plant 
operators.
  The Secure Nuclear Facilities Act of 2006 would make our country 
safer by ensuring better security at commercial nuclear plants. I urge 
my colleagues to support this important bill.
      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. Carper):
  S. 3595. A bill to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to 
establish the United States Emergency Management Authority, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3595

       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 ``United States Emergency 
     Management Authority Act of 2006''.

     SEC. 2. UNITED STATES EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY.

       Title V of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 311 
     et seq.) is amended by--
       (1) striking the title heading and inserting the following:

            ``TITLE V--NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE'';

       (2) striking sections 501 through 503;
       (3) striking sections 506 and 507;
       (4) redesignating sections 504, 505, 508, and 509 as 
     sections 519, 520, 521, and 522, respectively;
       (5) redesignating section 510 (relating to procurement of 
     security countermeasures for the strategic national 
     stockpile) as section 523;
       (6) redesignating section 510 (relating to urban and other 
     high risk area communications capabilities) as section 524; 
     and
       (7) inserting before section 519, as so redesignated by 
     this section, the following:

     ``SEC. 501. DEFINITIONS.

       ``In this title--
       ``(1) the term `all-hazards-plus' means an approach to 
     preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation that 
     emphasizes the development of capabilities that are common to 
     natural and man-made disasters, while also including the 
     development of capabilities that are uniquely relevant to 
     specific types of disasters;
       ``(2) the term `Authority' means the United States 
     Emergency Management Authority established under section 502;
       ``(3) the term `Administrator' means the Administrator of 
     the Authority;
       ``(4) the term `Federal coordinating officer' means a 
     Federal coordinating officer as described in section 302 of 
     the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
     Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5143);
       ``(5) the term `National Advisory Council' means the 
     National Advisory Council on Emergency Preparedness and 
     Response established under section 508;
       ``(6) the term `National Incident Management System' means 
     the National Incident Management System as described in the 
     National Response Plan;
       ``(7) the term `National Response Plan' means the National 
     Response Plan prepared under Homeland Security Presidential 
     Directive 5 or any presidential directive meant to replace or 
     augment that directive;
       ``(8) the term `Nuclear Incident Response Team' means a 
     resource that includes--
       ``(A) those entities of the Department of Energy that 
     perform nuclear or radiological emergency support functions 
     (including accident response, search response, advisory, and 
     technical operations functions), radiation exposure functions 
     at the medical assistance facility known as the Radiation 
     Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS), 
     radiological assistance functions, and related functions; and
       ``(B) those entities of the Environmental Protection Agency 
     that perform such support functions (including radiological 
     emergency response functions) and related functions;
       ``(9) the term `Regional Advisory Council' means a Regional 
     Advisory Council on Preparedness and Response established 
     under section 503;
       ``(10) the term `Regional Administrator' means a Regional 
     Administrator for Preparedness and Response appointed under 
     section 507;
       ``(11) the term `Regional Office' means a Regional Office 
     established under section 507; and
       ``(12) the term `surge capacity' means the ability to 
     rapidly and substantially increase the provision of search 
     and rescue capabilities, food, water, medicine, shelter and 
     housing, medical care, evacuation capacity, staffing, 
     including disaster assistance employees, and other resources 
     necessary to save lives and protect property during a 
     catastrophic incident, or other natural or man-made disaster.

     ``SEC. 502. UNITED STATES EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY.

       ``(a) In General.--There is established in the Department 
     the United States Emergency Management Authority, headed by 
     an Administrator.
       ``(b) Mission.--The mission of the Authority is to--
       ``(1) lead the Nation's efforts to prepare for, respond to, 
     recover from, and mitigate the risks of natural and man-made 
     disasters, including catastrophic incidents;
       ``(2) partner with State and local governments and 
     emergency response providers, with other Federal agencies, 
     with the private sector, and with nongovernmental 
     organizations to build a national system of emergency 
     management that can effectively and efficiently utilize the 
     full measure of the Nation's resources to respond to a 
     catastrophic incident or other natural or man-made disaster;
       ``(3) develop a Federal response capability that, when 
     necessary and appropriate, can act effectively, rapidly, and 
     proactively to deliver assistance essential to saving lives 
     or protecting or preserving property or public health and 
     safety in a natural or man-made disaster;
       ``(4) fuse the Department's emergency response, 
     preparedness, recovery, mitigation, and critical 
     infrastructure assets into a new, integrated organization 
     that can effectively confront the challenges of a natural or 
     man-made disaster;
       ``(5) develop and maintain robust Regional Offices that 
     will work with State and local

[[Page S6718]]

     governments and emergency response providers to identify and 
     address regional priorities;
       ``(6) under the leadership of the Secretary, coordinate 
     with the Commandant of the Coast Guard, the Director of 
     Customs and Border Protection, the Director of Immigration 
     and Customs Enforcement, and the National Operations Center, 
     and other agencies and offices in the Department to take full 
     advantage of the substantial range of resources in the 
     Department that can be brought to bear in preparing for and 
     responding to a natural or man-made disaster;
       ``(7) carry out the provisions of the Robert T. Stafford 
     Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 
     et seq.);
       ``(8) provide funding, training, exercises, technical 
     assistance, planning, and other assistance, to build local, 
     State, regional, and national capabilities, including 
     communications capabilities, necessary to respond to a 
     potential natural or man-made disaster;
       ``(9) implement an all-hazards-plus strategy for 
     preparedness that places priority on building those common 
     capabilities necessary to respond to both terrorist attacks 
     and natural disasters while also building the unique 
     capabilities necessary to respond to specific types of 
     incidents that pose the greatest risk to our Nation; and
       ``(10) promote, plan for, and facilitate the security of 
     critical infrastructure and key resources, including cyber 
     infrastructure, against a natural or man-made disaster, and 
     the post-disaster restoration of such critical infrastructure 
     and key resources.
       ``(c) Administrator.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall be appointed by 
     the President, by and with the advice and consent of the 
     Senate.
       ``(2) Qualifications.--The Administrator shall have not 
     less than 5 years of executive leadership and management 
     experience in the public or private sector and a demonstrated 
     ability to manage a substantial staff and budget.
       ``(3) Reporting.--The Administrator shall report to the 
     Secretary, without being required to report through any other 
     official of the Department.
       ``(4) Principal advisor on emergency preparedness and 
     response.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Administrator is the principal 
     emergency preparedness and response advisor to the President, 
     the Homeland Security Council, and the Secretary.
       ``(B) Advice and recommendations.--
       ``(i) In general.--In presenting advice with respect to any 
     matter to the President, the Homeland Security Council, or 
     the Secretary, the Administrator shall, as the Administrator 
     considers appropriate, inform the President, the Homeland 
     Security Council, or the Secretary, as the case may be, of 
     the range of emergency mitigation, preparedness, response, 
     and recovery options with respect to that matter.
       ``(ii) Advice on request.--The Administrator, as an 
     emergency preparedness and response advisor, shall provide 
     advice to the President, the Homeland Security Council, or 
     the Secretary on a particular matter when the President, the 
     Homeland Security Council, or the Secretary requests such 
     advice.
       ``(iii) Recommendations to congress.--After informing the 
     Secretary, the Administrator may make such recommendations to 
     Congress relating to emergency preparedness and response as 
     the Administrator considers appropriate.
       ``(C) Retention of authority.--Nothing in this paragraph 
     shall be construed as affecting the authority of the 
     Secretary under this Act.

     ``SEC. 503. AUTHORITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

       ``(a) In General.--The Administrator shall provide Federal 
     leadership necessary to prepare for and respond to a natural 
     or man-made disaster, including--
       ``(1) carrying out the mission to reduce the loss of life 
     and property and protect the Nation from all hazards by 
     leading and supporting the Nation in a comprehensive, risk-
     based emergency preparedness and response program of--
       ``(A) mitigation, by taking sustained actions to reduce or 
     eliminate long-term risk to people and property from hazards 
     and their effects;
       ``(B) preparedness, by planning, training, and building the 
     emergency preparedness and response workforce to prepare 
     effectively for, mitigate against, respond to, and recover 
     from any hazard;
       ``(C) response, by conducting emergency operations to save 
     lives and property through positioning emergency equipment, 
     personnel, and supplies, through evacuating potential 
     victims, through providing food, water, shelter, and medical 
     care to those in need, and through restoring critical public 
     services;
       ``(D) recovery, by rebuilding communities so individuals, 
     businesses, and governments can function on their own, return 
     to normal life, and protect against future hazards; and
       ``(E) critical infrastructure protection, by establishing 
     an inventory of, and protections for, public and private 
     sector critical infrastructure, including cyber and 
     communications assets;
       ``(2) increasing efficiencies, by coordinating efforts 
     relating to mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery, and 
     infrastructure protection;
       ``(3) helping to ensure the effectiveness of emergency 
     response providers in responding to a natural or man-made 
     disaster;
       ``(4) providing the Federal Government's response to a 
     natural or man-made disaster, including--
       ``(A) managing such response;
       ``(B) directing the Domestic Emergency Support Team, the 
     National Disaster Medical System, and (when operating as an 
     organizational unit of the Department under this title) the 
     Nuclear Incident Response Team;
       ``(C) overseeing the Metropolitan Medical Response System; 
     and
       ``(D) coordinating other Federal response resources, 
     including requiring deployment of the Strategic National 
     Stockpile, in the event of a natural or man-made disaster;
       ``(5) working with Federal, State, and local government 
     personnel, agencies, and authorities to build a comprehensive 
     national incident management system to respond to a natural 
     or man-made disaster;
       ``(6) with respect to the Nuclear Incident Response Team 
     (regardless of whether it is operating as an organizational 
     unit of the Department under this title)--
       ``(A) establishing standards and certifying when those 
     standards have been met;
       ``(B) conducting joint and other exercises and training and 
     evaluating performance; and
       ``(C) providing funds to the Department of Energy and the 
     Environmental Protection Agency, as appropriate, for homeland 
     security planning, exercises and training, and equipment;
       ``(7) helping to ensure that emergency response providers 
     acquire interoperable and sustainable technology;
       ``(8) assisting the President in carrying out the functions 
     under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
     Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.);
       ``(9) administering homeland security emergency management, 
     first responder, and other preparedness grants;
       ``(10) monitoring, evaluating, and ensuring the readiness 
     of each emergency support function under the National 
     Response Plan;
       ``(11) coordinating with the National Advisory Council;
       ``(12) ensuring the protection of critical infrastructure 
     by--
       ``(A) carrying out the responsibilities under paragraphs 
     (2) through (6) of section 201(d);
       ``(B) helping ensure the protection and resiliency of key 
     resources and critical infrastructure, including cyber 
     infrastructure, against a natural or man-made disaster; and
       ``(C) planning for, assisting with, and facilitating, the 
     restoration of key resources and critical infrastructure, 
     including cyber infrastructure, in the event of a natural or 
     man-made disaster;
       ``(13) establishing in each Regional Office a Regional 
     Advisory Council on Preparedness and Response, to advise the 
     Regional Administrator of that Regional Office on emergency 
     preparedness and response issues specific to the region; and
       ``(14) otherwise carrying out the mission of the Authority 
     as described in section 502(b).
       ``(b) Additional Responsibilities Related to Catastrophic 
     Incidents.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Administrator, in consultation with 
     the Secretary and other senior Department officials, shall 
     develop a national emergency management system that is 
     capable of responding to catastrophic incidents.
       ``(2) Identification of resources.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Administrator shall develop and 
     submit to Congress annually an estimate of the resources of 
     the Authority and other Federal agencies needed for and 
     devoted specifically to developing local, State, and national 
     capabilities necessary to respond to a catastrophic incident.
       ``(B) Contents.--Each estimate under subparagraph (A) shall 
     include the resources both necessary for and devoted to--
       ``(i) planning;
       ``(ii) training and exercises;
       ``(iii) Regional Office enhancements;
       ``(iv) staffing, including for surge capacity during a 
     catastrophic event;
       ``(v) additional logistics capabilities;
       ``(vi) other responsibilities under the Catastrophic 
     Incident Annex of the National Response Plan; and
       ``(vii) State and local catastrophic preparedness.
       ``(c) All-Hazards-Plus Approach.--In carrying out this 
     section, the Administrator shall implement an all-hazards-
     plus strategy that places priority on building those common 
     capabilities necessary to prepare for, respond to, recover 
     from, and mitigate the risks of terrorist attacks and natural 
     disasters, while also building the unique capabilities 
     necessary to prepare for, respond to, recover from, and 
     mitigate the risks of specific types of incidents that pose 
     the greatest risk to the Nation.

     ``SEC. 504. AUTHORITY COMPONENTS.

       ``There are transferred to the Authority the following:
       ``(1) The Federal Emergency Management Agency, including 
     the functions of the Under Secretary for Federal Emergency 
     Management relating thereto.
       ``(2) The Directorate of Preparedness, as constituted on 
     June 1, 2006, including the functions of the Under Secretary 
     for Emergency Preparedness relating to the Directorate, as 
     constituted on that date.

     ``SEC. 505. PRESERVING THE UNITED STATES EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 
                   AUTHORITY.

       ``(a) Distinct Entity.--The Authority shall be maintained 
     as a distinct entity within the Department.

[[Page S6719]]

       ``(b) Reorganization.--Section 872 shall not apply to the 
     Authority, including any function or organizational unit of 
     the Authority.
       ``(c) Prohibition on Changes to Missions.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may not substantially or 
     significantly reduce the authorities, responsibilities, or 
     functions of the Authority or the capability of the Authority 
     to perform those responsibilities, except as otherwise 
     specifically provided in an Act enacted after the date of 
     enactment of the United States Emergency Management Authority 
     Act of 2006.
       ``(2) Certain transfers prohibited.--No asset, function or 
     mission of the Authority may be diverted to the principal and 
     continuing use of any other organization, unit, or entity of 
     the Department, except for details or assignments that do not 
     reduce the capability of the Authority to perform its 
     missions.

     ``SEC. 506. DIRECTORS.

       ``(a) In General.--There shall be in the Authority a 
     Director for Preparedness and a Director for Response and 
     Recovery, each of whom shall be appointed by the President, 
     by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall 
     report to the Administrator.
       ``(b) Qualifications.--
       ``(1) In general.--A Director shall have--
       ``(A) not less than 5 years of--
       ``(i) executive leadership and management experience in the 
     public or private sector; and
       ``(ii) significant experience in crisis management or 
     another relevant field; and
       ``(B) a demonstrated ability to manage a substantial staff 
     and budget.
       ``(2) Concurrent experience.--Service during any period of 
     time may be used in meeting the requirements under both 
     clause (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(A).
       ``(c) Initial Directors.--The individual serving as the 
     Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and the individual 
     serving as the Under Secretary for the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency on the effective date of the United States 
     Emergency Management Authority Act of 2006 may serve as the 
     Director for Preparedness and the Director of Response and 
     Recovery, respectively, until a Director for Preparedness or 
     a Director of Response and Recovery, as the case may be, is 
     appointed under subsection (a).

     ``SEC. 507. REGIONAL OFFICES.

       ``(a) In General.--
       ``(1) Regional offices.--The Administrator shall establish 
     10 Regional Offices of the Authority.
       ``(2) Additional office.--In additon to the Regional 
     Offices established under paragraph (1), the Administrator 
     may designate the Office for National Capital Region 
     Coordination under section 882 as a Regional Office.
       ``(b) Management of Regional Offices.--
       ``(1) Regional administrator.--Each Regional Office shall 
     be headed by a Regional Administrator for Preparedness and 
     Response, who shall be appointed by the Secretary. Each 
     Regional Administrator for Emergency Preparedness and 
     Response shall report directly to the Administrator.
       ``(2) Qualifications.--Each Regional Office shall be headed 
     by an individual in the Senior Executive Service qualified to 
     act as a senior Federal coordinating officer to provide 
     strategic oversight of incident management when needed.
       ``(c) Responsibilities.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Regional Administrator shall work in 
     partnership with State and local governments, emergency 
     managers, emergency response providers, medical providers, 
     the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, 
     multijurisdictional councils of governments, and regional 
     planning commissions and organizations in the geographical 
     area served by the Regional Office to carry out the 
     responsibilities of a Regional Administrator under this 
     section.
       ``(2) Responsibilities.--The responsibilities of a Regional 
     Administrator include--
       ``(A) ensuring effective, coordinated, and integrated 
     regional preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery 
     activities and programs for natural and man-made disasters 
     (including planning, training, exercises, and professional 
     development);
       ``(B) coordinating and integrating regional preparedness, 
     mitigation, response, and recovery activities and programs 
     for natural and man-made disasters (including planning, 
     training, exercises, and professional development), which 
     shall include--
       ``(i) providing regional and interstate planning 
     assistance;
       ``(ii) organizing, in consultation with the Administrator, 
     regional training and exercise programs;
       ``(iii) providing support and coordination officers for 
     State and local government training and exercises;
       ``(iv) participating in emergency preparedness and planning 
     activities by State, regional, and local governments;
       ``(v) assisting in the development of regional capabilities 
     needed for a national catastrophic response system; and
       ``(vi) helping to coordinate and develop interstate 
     agreements;
       ``(C) establishing and overseeing 1 or more strike teams 
     within the region under subsection (e), which shall serve as 
     the focal point of the Federal Government's initial response 
     efforts for a natural or man-made disaster within that 
     region, and otherwise building Federal response capabilities 
     to respond to a natural or man-made disaster within that 
     region;
       ``(D) working with the private sector to assess weaknesses 
     in critical infrastructure protection in the region and to 
     design and implement programs to address those weaknesses;
       ``(E) coordinating all activities conducted under this 
     section with other Federal departments and agencies; and
       ``(F) performing such other duties relating to such 
     responsibilities as the Administrator may require.
       ``(d) Area Offices.--The Administrator shall establish an 
     Area Office for the Pacific and an Area Office for the 
     Caribbean, as components in the appropriate Regional Offices.
       ``(e) Regional Office Strike Teams.--
       ``(1) Establishment.--In coordination with other relevant 
     Federal agencies, each Regional Administrator shall establish 
     multi-agency strike teams that shall consist of--
       ``(A) a designated Federal coordinating officer;
       ``(B) personnel trained in incident management;
       ``(C) public affairs, response and recovery, and 
     communications support personnel;
       ``(D) a defense coordinating officer;
       ``(E) liaisons to other Federal agencies;
       ``(F) such other personnel as the Administrator or Regional 
     Administrator determines appropriate; and
       ``(G) individuals from the agencies with primary 
     responsibility for each of the emergency support functions in 
     the National Response Plan, including the following:
       ``(i) Transportation.
       ``(ii) Communications.
       ``(iii) Public works and engineering.
       ``(iv) Emergency management.
       ``(v) Mass care.
       ``(vi) Housing and human services.
       ``(vii) Public health and medical services.
       ``(viii) Urban search and rescue.
       ``(ix) Public safety and security.
       ``(x) External affairs.
       ``(2) Location of members.--The members of each Regional 
     Office strike team, including representatives from agencies 
     other than the Department, shall be based primarily at the 
     Regional Office that corresponds to that strike team.
       ``(3) Coordination.--Each Regional Office strike team shall 
     coordinate the training and exercises of that strike team 
     with the State and local governments and private sector and 
     nongovernmental entities which the strike team shall support 
     when a natural or man-made disaster occurs.
       ``(4) Preparedness.--Each Regional Office strike team shall 
     be trained, equipped, and staffed to be well prepared to 
     respond to natural and man-made disasters, including 
     catastrophic incidents.
       ``(5) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary to carry 
     out this subsection.

     ``SEC. 508. NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL ON EMERGENCY 
                   PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE.

       ``(a) Establishment.--Not later than 60 days after the date 
     of enactment of the United States Emergency Management 
     Authority Act of 2006, the Secretary shall establish an 
     advisory body under section 871(a), to be known as the 
     National Advisory Council on Emergency Preparedness and 
     Response.
       ``(b) Responsibilities.--The National Advisory Council 
     shall advise the Administrator on all aspects of emergency 
     preparedness and response.
       ``(c) Membership.--
       ``(1) In general.--The members of the National Advisory 
     Council shall be appointed by the Administrator, and shall, 
     to the extent practicable, represent a geographic (including 
     urban and rural) and substantive cross section of State and 
     local government officials and emergency managers, and 
     emergency response providers, from State and local 
     governments, the private sector, and nongovernmental 
     organizations, including as appropriate--
       ``(A) members selected from the emergency preparedness and 
     response fields, including fire service, law enforcement, 
     hazardous materials response, emergency medical services, and 
     emergency preparedness and response personnel;
       ``(B) health scientists, emergency and inpatient medical 
     providers, and public health professionals;
       ``(C) experts representing standards setting organizations;
       ``(D) State and local government officials with expertise 
     in terrorism preparedness and emergency preparedness and 
     response;
       ``(E) elected State and local government executives;
       ``(F) experts in public and private sector infrastructure 
     protection, cybersecurity, and communications;
       ``(G) representatives of the disabled and other special 
     needs populations; and
       ``(H) such other individuals as the Administrator 
     determines to be appropriate.
       ``(d) Applicability of Federal Advisory Committee Act.--
       ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 871(a) and 
     subject to paragraph (2), the Federal Advisory Committee Act 
     (5 U.S.C. App.), including subsections (a), (b), and (d) of 
     section 10 of such Act, and section 552b(c) of title 5, 
     United States Code, shall apply to the Advisory Council.
       ``(2) Termination.--Section 14(a)(2)(B) of the Federal 
     Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the 
     Advisory Council.

[[Page S6720]]

     ``SEC. 509. NATIONAL INCIDENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM INTEGRATION 
                   CENTER.

       ``(a) In General.--There is in the Authority a National 
     Incident Management System Integration Center.
       ``(b) Responsibilities.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Administrator, through the National 
     Incident Management System Integration Center, and in 
     consultation with other Federal departments and agencies and 
     the National Advisory Council, shall ensure ongoing 
     management and maintenance of the National Incident 
     Management System, the National Response Plan, any other 
     document or tool in support of Homeland Security Presidential 
     Directive 5, or any other Homeland Security Presidential 
     Directive relating to incident management and response.
       ``(2) Specific responsibilities.--The National Incident 
     Management System Integration Center shall--
       ``(A) periodically review, and revise, as appropriate, the 
     National Incident Management System and the National Response 
     Plan;
       ``(B) review other matters relating to the National 
     Incident Management System and the National Response Plan, as 
     the Administrator may require;
       ``(C) develop and implement a national program for National 
     Incident Management System and National Response Plan 
     education and awareness;
       ``(D) oversee all aspects of the National Incident 
     Management System, including the development of compliance 
     criteria and implementation activities at Federal, State, and 
     local government levels;
       ``(E) provide guidance and assistance to States and local 
     governments and emergency response providers, in adopting the 
     National Incident Management System; and
       ``(F) perform such other duties relating to such 
     responsibilities as the Administrator may require.

     ``SEC. 510. NATIONAL OPERATIONS CENTER.

       ``(a) Definition.--In this section, the term `situational 
     awareness' means information gathered from a variety of 
     sources that, when communicated to emergency preparedness and 
     response managers and decision makers, can form the basis for 
     incident management decisionmaking.
       ``(b) Establishment.--There is established in the 
     Department a National Operations Center.
       ``(c) Purpose.--The purposes of the National Operations 
     Center are to--
       ``(1) coordinate the national response to any natural or 
     man-made disaster, as determined by the Secretary;
       ``(2) provide situational awareness and a common operating 
     picture for the entire Federal Government, and for State and 
     local governments as appropriate, for an event described in 
     paragraph (1);
       ``(3) collect and analyze information to help deter, 
     detect, and prevent terrorist acts;
       ``(4) disseminate terrorism and disaster-related 
     information to Federal, State, and local governments;
       ``(5) ensure that critical terrorism and disaster-related 
     information reaches government decision-makers; and
       ``(6) perform such other duties as the Secretary may 
     require.
       ``(d) Responsibilities.--The National Operations Center 
     shall carry out the responsibilities of the Homeland Security 
     Operations Center, the National Response Coordination Center, 
     and the Interagency Incident Management Group, as constituted 
     on the date of enactment of the United States Emergency 
     Management Authority Act of 2006.

     ``SEC. 511. CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER.

       ``(a) In General.--There is in the Authority a Chief 
     Medical Officer, who shall be appointed by the President, by 
     and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Chief 
     Medical Officer shall report directly to the Administrator.
       ``(b) Qualifications.--The individual appointed as Chief 
     Medical Officer shall possess a demonstrated ability in and 
     knowledge of medicine and public health.
       ``(c) Responsibilities.--The Chief Medical Officer shall 
     have the primary responsibility within the Department for 
     medical issues related to natural and man-made disasters, 
     including--
       ``(1) serving as the principal advisor to the Secretary and 
     the Administrator on medical and public health issues;
       ``(2) coordinating the biosurveillance and detection 
     activities of the Department;
       ``(3) ensuring internal and external coordination of all 
     medical preparedness and response activities of the 
     Department, including training, exercises, and equipment 
     support;
       ``(4) serving as the Department's primary point of contact 
     with the Department of Agriculture, the Department of 
     Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, the 
     Department of Transportation, the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs, and other Federal departments or agencies, on 
     medical and public health issues;
       ``(5) serving as the Department's primary point of contact 
     for State and local government, the medical community, and 
     others within and outside the Department, with respect to 
     medical and public health matters;
       ``(6) discharging, in coordination with the Under Secretary 
     for Science and Technology, the responsibilities of the 
     Department related to Project Bioshield;
       ``(7) establishing doctrine and priorities for the National 
     Disaster Medical System, consistent with the National 
     Response Plan and the National Incident Management System, 
     supervising its medical components, and exercising 
     predeployment operational control, including--
       ``(A) determining composition of the teams;
       ``(B) overseeing credentialing of the teams; and
       ``(C) training personnel of the teams;
       ``(8) establishing doctrine and priorities for the 
     Metropolitan Medical Response System, consistent with the 
     National Response Plan and the National Incident Management 
     System;
       ``(9) managing the Metropolitan Medical Response System, 
     including developing and overseeing standards, plans, 
     training, and exercises and coordinating with the Office of 
     Grants and Training on the use and distribution of 
     Metropolitan Medical Response grants;
       ``(10) assessing and monitoring long-term health issues of 
     emergency managers and emergency response providers;
       ``(11) developing and updating, in consultation with the 
     Secretary of Health and Human Services, guidelines for State 
     and local governments for medical response plans for 
     chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive 
     weapon attacks;
       ``(12) developing, in consultation with the Secretary of 
     Health and Human Services, appropriate patient tracking 
     capabilities to execute domestic patient movement and 
     evacuations, including a system that has the capacity of 
     electronically maintaining and transmitting the health 
     information of hospital patients;
       ``(13) establishing and providing oversight for the 
     Department's occupational health and safety program, 
     including workforce health; and
       ``(14) performing such other duties relating to such 
     responsibilities as the Secretary or the Administrator may 
     require.
       ``(d) Long-Term Health Assessment Program.--The Chief 
     Medical Officer, in consultation with the Director of the 
     National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, shall 
     establish a program to assess, monitor, and study the health 
     and safety of emergency managers and emergency response 
     providers, following Incidents of National Significance 
     declared by the Secretary under the National Response Plan.

     ``SEC. 512. PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS.

       ``The Administrator shall promote public and community 
     preparedness.

     ``SEC. 513. SAVER PROGRAM.

       ``(a) In General.--In the Department there is a System 
     Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders Program to 
     provide impartial evaluations of emergency response equipment 
     and systems.
       ``(b) Requirements.--The program established under 
     subsection (a) shall--
       ``(1) provide impartial, practitioner relevant, and 
     operationally oriented assessments and validations of 
     emergency response provider equipment and systems that have 
     not already been third-party certified to a standard adopted 
     by the Department, including--
       ``(A) commercial, off-the-shelf emergency response provider 
     equipment and systems in all equipment list categories of the 
     Standardized Equipment List published by the Interagency 
     Board for Equipment Standardization and Interoperability; and
       ``(B) such other equipment or systems as the Secretary 
     determines are appropriate;
       ``(2) provide information that enables decision-makers and 
     emergency response providers to better select, procure, use, 
     and maintain emergency response provider equipment or 
     systems;
       ``(3) assess and validate the performance of products 
     within a system and subsystems; and
       ``(4) provide information and feedback to emergency 
     response providers through the Responder Knowledge Base of 
     the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of 
     Terrorism, or other appropriate forum.
       ``(c) Assessment and Validation Process.--The assessment 
     and validation of emergency response provider equipment and 
     systems shall use multiple evaluation techniques, including--
       ``(1) operational assessments of equipment performance on 
     vehicle platforms;
       ``(2) technical assessments on a comparative basis of 
     system component performance across makes and models under 
     controlled conditions; and
       ``(3) integrative assessments on an individual basis of 
     system component interoperability and compatibility with 
     other system components.
       ``(d) Personal Protective Equipment.--To the extent 
     practical, the assessment and validation of personal 
     protective equipment under this section shall be conducted by 
     the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory of the 
     National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

     ``SEC. 514. NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE RESPONSE SYSTEM.

       ``(a) National Search and Rescue Response System.--There is 
     established in the Authority an emergency response system 
     known as the National Search and Rescue Response System that 
     provides a national network of standardized search and rescue 
     resources to assist State and local governments in responding 
     to any natural or man-made disaster.
       ``(b) Administration of the System.--
       ``(1) Task force participation.--The Administrator shall 
     select eligible search and rescue teams that are sponsored by 
     State

[[Page S6721]]

     and local government entities to participate as task forces 
     in the National Search and Rescue Response System. The 
     Administrator shall determine the criteria for such 
     participation.
       ``(2) Agreements with sponsoring agencies.--The 
     Administrator shall enter into an agreement with the State or 
     local government entity that sponsors each search and rescue 
     team selected under paragraph (1) with respect the team's 
     participation as a task force in the National Search and 
     Rescue Response System.
       ``(3) Management and technical teams.--The Administrator 
     shall maintain such management and other technical teams as 
     are necessary to administer the National Search and Rescue 
     Response System.

     ``SEC. 515. METROPOLITAN MEDICAL RESPONSE SYSTEM.

       ``(a) In General.--There is in the Authority a Metropolitan 
     Medical Response System. Under the Metropolitan Medical 
     Response System, the Assistant Secretary for Grants and 
     Planning, in coordination with the Chief Medical Officer, 
     shall administer grants to develop, maintain, and enhance 
     medical preparedness systems that are capable of responding 
     effectively to a public health crisis or mass-casualty event 
     caused by a natural or man-made disaster.
       ``(b) Use of Funds.--The Metropolitan Medical Response 
     System shall make grants to local governments to enhance any 
     of the following activities:
       ``(1) Medical surge capacity.
       ``(2) Mass prophylaxis.
       ``(3) Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and 
     explosive detection, response, and decontamination 
     capabilities.
       ``(4) Emergency communications capabilities.
       ``(5) Information sharing and collaboration capabilities.
       ``(6) Regional collaboration.
       ``(7) Triage and pre-hospital treatment.
       ``(8) Medical supply management and distribution.
       ``(9) Fatality management.
       ``(10) Such other activities as the Secretary may provide.

     ``SEC. 516. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE COMPACT 
                   AUTHORIZATION.

       ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the 
     Administrator, may make grants for the purposes of 
     administering and improving the Emergency Management 
     Assistance Compact consented to by the Joint Resolution 
     entitled `Joint Resolution granting the consent of Congress 
     to the Emergency Management Assistance Compact' (Public Law 
     104-321; 110 Stat. 3877).
       ``(b) Uses.--A grant under this section shall be used to--
       ``(1) carry out recommendations identified in after-action 
     reports for the 2004 and 2005 hurricane season issued under 
     the Emergency Management Assistance Compact;
       ``(2) coordinate with the Department and other Federal 
     Government agencies;
       ``(3) coordinate with State and local government entities 
     and their respective national associations;
       ``(4) assist State and local governments with credentialing 
     emergency response providers and the typing of emergency 
     response resources; or
       ``(5) administer the operations of the Emergency Management 
     Assistance Compact.
       ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out 
     this section $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 
     2010. Amounts appropriated under this section shall remain 
     available for 3 fiscal years after the date on which such 
     funds are appropriated.

     ``SEC. 517. OFFICE FOR THE PREVENTION OF TERRORISM.

       ``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the 
     Department an Office for the Prevention of Terrorism, which 
     shall be headed by a Director.
       ``(b) Director.--
       ``(1) Reporting.--The Director of the Office for the 
     Prevention of Terrorism shall report directly to the 
     Secretary.
       ``(2) Qualifications.--The Director of the Office for the 
     Prevention of Terrorism shall have an appropriate background 
     with experience in law enforcement, intelligence, or other 
     anti-terrorist functions.
       ``(c) Assignment of Personnel.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall assign to the Office 
     for the Prevention of Terrorism permanent staff and other 
     appropriate personnel detailed from other components of the 
     Department to carry out the responsibilities under this 
     section.
       ``(2) Liaisons.--The Secretary shall designate senior 
     employees from each component of the Department that has 
     significant antiterrorism responsibilities to act a liaison 
     between that component and the Office for the Prevention of 
     Terrorism.
       ``(d) Responsibilities.--The Director of the Office for the 
     Prevention of Terrorism shall--
       ``(1) coordinate policy and operations between the 
     Department and State and local government agencies relating 
     to preventing acts of terrorism within the United States;
       ``(2) serve as a liaison between State and local law 
     enforcement agencies and the Department;
       ``(3) in coordination with the Office of Intelligence, 
     develop better methods for the sharing of intelligence with 
     State and local law enforcement agencies;
       ``(4) coordinate with the Office of Grants and Training to 
     ensure that homeland security grants to State and local 
     government agencies are adequately focused on terrorism 
     prevention activities; and
       ``(5) coordinate with the Authority, the Department of 
     Justice, the National Institute of Justice, law enforcement 
     organizations, and other appropriate entities to develop 
     national voluntary consensus standards for training and 
     personal protective equipment to be used in a tactical 
     environment by law enforcement officers.
       ``(e) Pilot Project.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Director of the Office for the 
     Prevention of Terrorism, in coordination with the Director 
     for Response, shall establish a pilot project to determine 
     the efficacy and feasibility of establishing law enforcement 
     deployment teams.
       ``(2) Function.--The law enforcement deployment teams 
     participating in the pilot program under this subsection 
     shall form the basis of a national network of standardized 
     law enforcement resources to assist State and local 
     governments in responding to a natural or man-made disaster.
       ``(f) Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
     construed to effect the roles or responsibilities of the 
     Department of Justice.

     ``SEC. 518. DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS.

       ``(a) Cybersecurity and Telecommunications.--There is in 
     the Department an Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and 
     Telecommunications.
       ``(b) United States Fire Administration.--The Administrator 
     of the United States Fire Administration shall have a rank 
     equivalent to an assistant secretary of the Department.''.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are 
     necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments made by 
     this Act.

     SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

       (a) Executive Schedule.--
       (1) Administrator.--Section 5313 of title 5, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``Administrator of the United States Emergency Management 
     Authority.''.
       (2) Directors.--Section 5314 of title 5, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``Directors, United States Emergency Management 
     Authority.''.
       (3) FEMA officers.--
       (A) Federal insurance administrator.--Section 5315 of title 
     5, United States Code, is amended by striking ``Federal 
     Insurance Administrator, Federal Emergency Management 
     Agency.''.
       (B) Inspector general.--Section 5315 of title 5, United 
     States Code, is amended by striking ``Inspector General, 
     Federal Emergency Management Agency.''.
       (C) Chief information officer.--Section 5315 of title 5, 
     United States Code, is amended by striking ``Chief 
     Information Officer, Federal Emergency Management Agency.''.
       (b) Officers of the Department.--Section 103(a) of the 
     Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 113(a)) is amended--
       (1) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the following:
       ``(5) An Administrator of the United States Emergency 
     Management Authority.'';
       (2) by striking paragraph (2); and
       (3) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (10) (as 
     amended by this subsection) as paragraphs (2) through (9), 
     respectively.
       (c) Table of Contents.--The table of contents in section 
     1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et 
     seq.) is amended by striking the items relating to title V 
     and sections 501 through 509 and inserting the following:

             ``TITLE V--NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE

       ``Sec. 501. Definitions.
       ``Sec. 502. United States Emergency Management Authority.
       ``Sec. 503. Authorities and responsibilities.
       ``Sec. 504. Authority components.
       ``Sec. 505. Preserving the United States Emergency 
           Management Authority.
       ``Sec. 506. Directors.
       ``Sec. 507. Regional Offices.
       ``Sec. 508. National Advisory Council on Emergency 
           Preparedness and Response.
       ``Sec. 509. National Incident Management System Integration 
           Center.
       ``Sec. 510. National Operations Center.
       ``Sec. 511. Chief Medical Officer.
       ``Sec. 512. Public and community preparedness.
       ``Sec. 513. SAVER Program.
       ``Sec. 514. National Search and Rescue Response System.
       ``Sec. 515. Metropolitan Medical Response System.
       ``Sec. 516. Emergency Management Assistance Compact 
           authorization.
       ``Sec. 517. Office for the Prevention of Terrorism 
           Coordination.
       ``Sec. 518. Department officials.
       ``Sec. 519. Nuclear incident response.
       ``Sec. 520. Conduct of certain public health-related 
           activities.
       ``Sec. 521. Use of national private sector networks in 
           emergency response.
       ``Sec. 522. Use of commercially available technology, 
           goods, and services.
       ``Sec. 523. Procurement of security countermeasures for 
           strategic national stockpile.
       ``Sec. 524. Urban and other high risk area communications 
           capabilities.''.

     SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall take 
     effect on January 1, 2007.


[[Page S6722]]


  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I thank Chairman Collins who has been 
good enough to allow me to speak for a few moments first because I have 
an engagement I am supposed to be at around noon.
  I am pleased to join with Chairman Collins today to both introduce 
and speak in favor of this legislation to reinvent and rebuild FEMA 
into an agency capable of responding efficiently and effectively to a 
catastrophe the size and scope of Hurricane Katrina, but also to the 
natural disasters that in the normal course of events have affected and 
will affect the American people.
  The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee spent 7 
months last year and into this year investigating the failed Government 
response to Hurricane Katrina. Our report recounts a double tragedy of 
epic proportions, a tragedy caused, in the first instance, by nature, 
and then a tragedy compounded by human folly and the failure of 
leadership, including the failure of preparation.
  We found that government at all levels--from the Federal Government 
to the local government, from the White House to FEMA to the Governor's 
office in Louisiana to the mayor's office in New Orleans--were 
unprepared, even though the hurricane and its effect on the New Orleans 
levee system had long been predicted. Likewise, all levels of 
government were unequipped to deal with the human suffering that 
followed the storm's landfall and galvanized the attention that 
ultimately produced the enormous embarrassment and anger of the 
American people as we watched our fellow Americans suffering in New 
Orleans and throughout the gulf coast without the support and help they 
have a right to expect from their government at all levels in a time of 
disaster.
  These failings were caused by negligence, lack of resources, lack of 
capability, and a lack of leadership. Though we can legislate 
requirements for those in positions of leadership--and we do in the 
legislation we are introducing--we cannot legislate leadership. That is 
a personal quality. But we can legislate bold changes at the Federal 
level that are critical for our Nation to develop the capacity 
necessary to protect our people in times of disaster, whether natural 
or terrorist.
  So in the aftermath of our report, we made a number of 
recommendations about what we believed on a bipartisan basis was needed 
to improve our preparations, response, and recovery the next time 
disaster strikes, as it surely will.
  One of our recommendations--perhaps the key recommendation--is to 
rebuild FEMA into a more powerful, better managed, better integrated, 
better supported organization. Our recommendation was to give the 
reinvented FEMA, probably for the first time in its history, the 
authority and muscle to respond to natural disasters and to 
catastrophes--which is what Katrina was--in the way the American people 
have a right to expect their Government to respond--with speed, with 
efficiency, and with effect.
  Today we introduce legislation that will do that. We call this new 
organization the U.S. Emergency Management Authority, U.S.-EMA. But no 
matter what we call it, this organization, we have concluded, must be 
in the Department of Homeland Security; in fact, must be at the core of 
that Department, just as FEMA was originally intended to do when we 
proposed the new Department in 2002 based on the recommendations of the 
Hart-Rudman Commission which said that the new Department must be 
centered around FEMA.
  The legislation we are introducing today is the first step in this 
process. Chairman Collins and I expect soon to introduce a broader bill 
that will encompass all of our report's key recommendations. But we 
begin today by reaffirming how important it is to keep this critical 
national emergency management function in the Department of Homeland 
Security and how critical it is to strengthen it and rejoin the 
functions of disaster response with disaster preparedness.
  Our investigation of Hurricane Katrina made it clear to us that 
preparedness and response are two sides of the same coin. In the years 
before Katrina, FEMA, the agency charged with coordinating our Nation's 
response to terrorist attacks or natural disasters, too often was out 
of the loop when critical decisions about how to prepare--such as how 
to spend billions of dollars in grants--were made. Exercises were 
designed and held without serious input by FEMA. FEMA's ability to 
respond was crippled because it was not central to preparedness, and 
thus did not have the close relationships needed with state and local 
officials on the front lines. The preparers and the responders need to 
be working hand in hand with State and local officials, other Federal 
agencies, and the private and non-profit sectors if both functions are 
to work as well as we expect them to.
  Our legislation first and foremost will ensure that our preparedness 
efforts are closely linked, inseparable from the capabilities we need 
to respond.
  Our investigation also made clear that part of FEMA's problem during 
Hurricane Katrina was that it was an agency weakened by years of budget 
and staff cuts. At the time the 
hurricane made landfall, FEMA had been operating with a 15-percent 
vacancy rate for over a year. And it had a senior political management 
largely without emergency management experience.
  We address these problems by giving the new authority a special 
status within the Department of Homeland Security--the same special 
status the Coast Guard and Secret Service now have. With this status, 
changes to the agency's functions and assets can only be made through 
statute. Furthermore, we would require that the Administrator and other 
key officials have the necessary experience and qualifications to get 
the job done. U.S.-EMA will not be plagued by unqualified appointees 
like FEMA has been.
  The chairman and I also believe FEMA is too Washington-oriented and 
too disconnected from the real work of preparing for disasters where 
they actually occur, so we envision a rebuilt agency with robust 
regional offices to focus on preparedness and response coordination 
with local and State agencies. Each regional office would house a 
permanent ``strike team'' that would include representatives from other 
Federal agencies involved in emergency response to ensure the feds are 
familiar with regional threats and with state and local emergency 
personnel.

  I know some of my colleagues believe FEMA should be removed from DHS 
and given the full independent status it once had. But Senator Collins 
and I know this is not the solution. Removing the agency from the 
Department will only create additional problems. It would be like 
removing the Army from the Department of Defense.
  The U.S.-EMA, the Government's chief response agency, must have 
access to the vast resources of the Department of Homeland Security and 
it needs to work seamlessly with the other agencies that have critical 
roles to play during catastrophes. The Coast Guard, which performed so 
admirably during Katrina, might need to be activated. The Department's 
communications capabilities, law enforcement, intelligence offices, and 
infrastructure protection will all be needed in response to a 
catastrophe. In other words, the Federal response must be integrated 
and that will occur if all agencies have a history of working together 
within the same Department, if the officials know one another, and if 
they ultimately serve the same Secretary of Homeland Security.
  Furthermore, taking FEMA out of DHS would create more and duplicative 
bureaucracy. DHS would have to develop its own response capabilities. 
FEMA would have to develop its own preparedness capabilities. And both 
would need to have tools for obtaining situational awareness. We do not 
have the resources to waste on that kind of duplication.
  Returning FEMA to an independent agency is not a guarantee that it 
will be competent. Even when it was independent, FEMA never did develop 
the capabilities needed to respond to a catastrophe like Katrina. In 
fact, its response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992--a much smaller storm, 
killing about 50 people compared to Katrina's 1,500--was a disaster in 
itself, leading the Government Accounting Office to conclude that it 
had ``serious doubts about whether FEMA is capable of responding to 
catastrophic disasters.'' The agency did improve subsequent to 
Hurricane

[[Page S6723]]

Andrew but never had the ability to respond to a storm such as Katrina.
  The desperate conditions of gulf coast communities in the week after 
Katrina's landfall shocked the country. There are many other American 
communities that are similarly vulnerable--whether to a natural 
disaster or to terrorist attack. The next catastrophe is coming. We 
know that. We also know there are significant flaws in the Nation's 
readiness. We can't afford another response like the one to Katrina.
  Our proposal is not about fiddling with bureaucratic flow charts or 
re-branding, or rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It is about 
plugging the gash in the hull and building a better deck. It is about 
saving people's lives by bringing together the skills, resources, 
missions, and authority for effective preparedness and response to 
catastrophes when local and State agencies are overwhelmed by a terror 
attack or a natural disaster.
  I ask my colleagues for their support of this legislation.
  Mr. President, I yield to Chairman Collins for the rest of the 
introduction of this legislation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I am very pleased to join my friend and 
colleague, Senator Lieberman, in introducing a bill that addresses an 
urgent challenge facing our Nation: the need to ensure a strong and 
effective capability to deal with natural and manmade disasters, 
whether they are hurricanes and ice storms or terrorist attacks and 
pandemic diseases.
  The U.S. Emergency Management Authority Act is intended to remedy 
many of the glaring deficiencies that we all saw in the preparation and 
response to Hurricane Katrina. The U.S.-EMA bill reflects the evidence 
that the Senate Homeland Security Committee examined during the course 
of an exhaustive and bipartisan 7-month investigation. The committee 
convened 22 hearings, heard testimony from 85 witnesses, conducted more 
than 325 formal interviews, and examined more than 838,000 pages of 
documents.
  The result is a 737-page report that contains 88 recommendations for 
improving our emergency management system at all levels of government.
  Our legislation is an important first step toward implementing the 
committee's major recommendations for reforming FEMA. We will, as my 
colleague, Senator Lieberman, indicated, be introducing subsequent 
legislation to implement other recommendations.
  The four key features of the bill that we introduce today will, 
first, give the new authority statutory protection against actions that 
could diminish its capabilities and effectiveness, such as departmental 
reorganizations; second, ensure that the administrator of U.S.-EMA has 
direct access to the President; third, reunite preparedness functions 
with response capabilities while expanding U.S.-EMA's authority over 
other key functions; and fourth, strengthen the authority's regional 
focus with Federal strike teams for faster, more coordinated and 
effective responses.
  Senator Lieberman and I strongly believe that the best way to achieve 
the goal of improving the Federal Government's ability to protect 
American citizens from disaster, to mitigate the impacts, and to 
promote recovery is to strengthen and expand the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, which we have proposed to rename the U.S. Emergency 
Management Authority. As we saw so starkly and so tragically 
demonstrated last year, FEMA simply must be made far more effective.
  We believe FEMA needs special status within the Department of 
Homeland Security. Our bill would extend to the reconstituted FEMA the 
same kinds of statutory protections against departmental 
reorganizations and raids on resources that currently shield the Coast 
Guard and the Secret Service. I acknowledge the critical role played by 
the Senator from Mississippi, Mr. Lott, in helping us draft this 
portion of the bill.
  FEMA would also require more regional focus and closer coordination 
with local State entities, as well as with our nongovernmental 
partners. They are the first line of response in a disaster. Our 
legislation bolsters the role of FEMA's regional centers by authorizing 
the creation of multiagency strike teams to ensure rapid and effective 
cooperation with first responders and public officials in disaster 
areas. These strike teams would comprise representatives from all of 
the Federal agencies that play a role in responding to the disasters. 
They would train and exercise with their State and local counterparts.
  I was struck by the fact that during our investigation, we learned 
that FEMA sent officials from region I--New England--down to help out 
in New Orleans. Often they were the lead officials. These were trained 
and dedicated people, but just think how much more effective they could 
have been if they had been stationed in the region and working 
regularly with the public officials in that region and with the first 
responders.
  We believe FEMA needs top-level access and visibility. The 
administrator of the new U.S. Emergency Management Authority would be 
designated by our bill as the principal adviser to the President on 
matters of emergency management and would have direct access to the 
President. This would establish the administrator in a capacity that is 
analogous to that of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 
addition, the administrator would be authorized to communicate any 
recommendations, any needs and requirements directly to Congress.
  Our intention to keep the strengthened FEMA as part of DHS has 
stirred more debate than perhaps any other of our recommendations 
emerging from the Katrina investigation. Some Members of this Chamber, 
as well as proponents of a bill introduced in the House, insist that 
FEMA must be extracted from the Department of Homeland Security and 
restored to independent status. We share the view that the actions of 
both FEMA and DHS officials before and during the Katrina disaster 
revealed troubling and, at times, shocking lapses in awareness, 
agility, and judgment. But we also believe that both logic and 
practical realities point to reform, not amputation, as the best 
approach to improved protection for our citizens.
  Please recall that it was only 5 years ago--before the 9/11 terror 
attacks--that the distinguished panel chaired by two of our former 
colleagues, Senator Hart and Senator Rudman, recommended that America 
establish a single agency to plan, coordinate, and integrate homeland 
security operations. The Commission correctly deduced that FEMA was the 
``necessary core'' of that new department, and Congress agreed. The 
logic of that decision stands intact. The Department of Homeland 
Security's mission extends to all types of hazards and to preparation 
and mitigation as well as to response. DHS needs FEMA's capabilities 
and would have to re-create many of them at great cost and with great 
duplication of effort if FEMA were to be removed from the Department.
  Even if that re-creation could somehow be done economically--and the 
evidence is that it would cost billions of dollars--the result would be 
new problems for State and local officials who direct first responders. 
Bifurcated, competing preparedness systems would force State and local 
officials to engage one system to prepare for natural disasters and 
another to prepare for terrorist attacks. That does not make sense. 
Many of the response capabilities are exactly the same whether the 
catastrophe is caused by a natural disaster such as a hurricane or 
whether it is the result of a terrorist attack. We know planning and 
response capabilities are already far too weak in many States. DHS's 
recent survey of the States proves that. We should not make the problem 
worse.
  For those who argue that FEMA simply cannot thrive, cannot be 
successful within DHS, an obvious and telling question arises: How, 
then, did the U.S. Coast Guard, also a unit within DHS, emerge as the 
universally acclaimed hero of the Katrina response? Everyone believes 
the Coast Guard was the stellar performer, yet the Coast Guard is part 
of the Department of Homeland Security. So clearly FEMA's problem does 
not lie in its placement within DHS. Unlike FEMA, however, the Coast 
Guard has congressionally mandated protections, and our legislation 
would extend that exact same protection to FEMA's successor agency.
  The temptation to think that the answer is simply to remove FEMA is

[[Page S6724]]

strong, but it is wrong. Just as not all motion is forward, not every 
change is progress. Emergency management expert Professor Donald Kettl 
of the University of Pennsylvania put it well when he told our 
committee:

       It is tempting to send a strong signal by pulling FEMA out 
     of DHS. But that would only undermine its ability to 
     accomplish its mission. Breaking these pieces apart--
     separating response to terrorism from response to natural 
     disasters, separating preparedness from response, separating 
     FEMA from DHS--would inevitably bring problems.

  I would suggest these are just a few of the serious implications that 
severing FEMA from DHS would cause.
  First, coordination and reaction time would suffer. David Paulison, 
the new Director of FEMA, says that he closely coordinates with the 
Coast Guard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol, and 
the Secret Service through weekly meetings. In times of disaster, he 
can simply make a request to these fellow DHS units; he doesn't have to 
go through a bureaucratic, formal process. They are all parts of the 
same department.
  Second, training and preparedness would suffer. ADM Thad Allen of the 
Coast Guard testified before the committee that having FEMA within DHS 
has allowed much closer working ties and a 350-percent increase in 
joint training exercises.
  Third, DHS's mission capability would suffer. The Homeland Security 
Act specifies that part of DHS's mission was to act as the focal point 
for natural and manmade emergencies and for emergency planning. As the 
Comptroller General has said:

       Removing FEMA from DHS might impact the ability of the 
     department and its remaining components and FEMA itself in 
     fully addressing the close links between preparedness, 
     prevention, response, and recovery from all hazards.

  Fourth, State and local governments would suffer. If preparedness 
functions for natural disasters and terrorist attacks were divided, 
State and local governments would have to deal with two primary points 
of contact, two sets of regulations, two sources of funding, and two 
sets of officials. It greatly complicates their tasks.
  Fifth, I strongly believe that FEMA would suffer. Removed from DHS, 
FEMA would lose many of the working relationships I have already 
described as well as the direct access to the information-gathering and 
analysis capabilities of other DHS agencies. This would degrade FEMA's 
ability to plan and train for both natural and manmade disasters and to 
make efficient use of grant-making authority.
  To me, it is clear that a strengthened--a much strengthened--FEMA 
still belongs in DHS, that the necessary reforms can be carried out 
while it remains in DHS, and that severing FEMA from DHS would create a 
host of new problems, resulting in considerable extra expense and 
duplication, without securing any significant benefits. It is worth 
noting that America's largest group of first responders has come to the 
same conclusion. The president of the 274,000-member International 
Association of Firefighters has written us to say:

       Removing FEMA would hinder--rather than help--efforts to 
     reform our Nation's emergency response system. Having both a 
     DHS and an independent FEMA would create confusion among 
     local response personnel and lead to an unproductive 
     duplication of efforts and turf battles.

  Having summarized what I see as compelling arguments for 
strengthening and protecting FEMA as a component of DHS, let me outline 
some of the key provisions of our U.S.-EMA bill.
  First, the bill establishes a strong position for the Administrator 
of the U.S. Emergency Management Authority. Once nominated by the 
President and confirmed by the Senate, the Administrator will have the 
standing of a Deputy Secretary, and will operate on a reporting and 
chain of command model like that of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff. Day to day, the Administrator will report to the DHS Secretary, 
but the bill explicitly provides a direct line of communication between 
the President and the Administrator during a catastrophe. In addition, 
the Administrator may make whatever recommendations to Congress that he 
or she deems appropriate.
  The bill provides for directors, nominated by the President and 
confirmed by the Senate, to provide the Administrator with highly 
qualified professionals in Preparedness and Mitigation, Response, and 
Recovery. Apart from bolstering the organization, authorizing these 
posts would send a clear signal to the Nation's Governors and mayors 
that they will have people of stature with whom to work and confer.
  Besides providing the Administrator of U.S.-EMA with an advisory link 
to the President, the bill specifically tasks the Administrator with 
providing the federal leadership necessary to prepare for and respond 
to a disaster, whether man-made or natural. It gives the Administrator 
responsibility for administering preparedness grant programs, and for 
monitoring and evaluating the readiness of each of the emergency 
support functions under the national response plan. These are critical 
steps for ensuring close cooperation and oversight of preparedness at 
all levels of government.
  The bill specifies that U.S.-EMA is a distinct entity and protects it 
from reorganization without explicit Congressional approval. This gives 
U.S.-EMA security identical to that of the Coast Guard.
  Another critical element of the bill authorizes a strong regional 
structure for U.S.-EMA and creates regionally based federal strike 
teams for rapid response. This will ensure that U.S.-EMA officials are 
familiar with the people, the vulnerabilities, and the resources of the 
regions they protect, and will not be introducing themselves to 
strangers on unfamiliar ground when disaster strikes.
  Further recognizing the importance of mult-level government 
coordination, the bill creates a national advisory council on emergency 
preparedness and response--made up of State and local officials and 
emergency management professionals from public, private and NGO 
sectors--to advise the Administrator of U.S.-EMA.
  Our bill provides a statutory basis for chief medical officer to 
advise the DHS Secretary on medical and public-health issues. Other 
sections promote public and community preparedness; evaluate the 
effectiveness of equipment for first responders; reauthorize and expand 
the emergency management assistance compact; and create an office of 
terrorism prevention at DHS.
  Mr. President, the U.S. Emergency Management Authority Act is not a 
symbolic gesture, or a quick fix for our problems. It is a thoroughly 
researched, carefully drafted collection of reforms that will lay the 
foundation for years of hard work.
  The result, we firmly believe, will be a significantly more effective 
national system of preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery 
against natural disasters and terror attacks. Building on the insights 
of the Hart-Rudman Commission and on the important advances embodied in 
the Homeland Security Act, the U.S.-EMA bill will greatly improve the 
protections that American citizens need, and deserve.
  Mr. President, my statement has outlined the reforms we are making to 
this new agency. They are considerable. They are going to make a real 
difference, and I hope we can pass legislation before the end of this 
year to greatly strengthen and improve FEMA and our emergency response 
system and preparedness on all levels of government.

                          ____________________