[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20345]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCING THE DISASTER PREPARATION AND LOCAL ACTION NOW ACT OF 2005

  (Mrs. CAPPS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Katrina highlights the need for 
disaster preparedness. Across the country, everyone is asking: Are we 
prepared?
  Every level of government is reexamining how we can make our 
communities more disaster resistant. In James Lee Witt's FEMA, we had a 
tool to make that happen: Project Impact. This proven program brought 
together local leaders, citizens, and businesses to prepare for and 
protect themselves against the worst that nature could throw at them; 
and at the Federal level funding worked to leverage support from 
private sources, multiplying their effectiveness.
  Unfortunately, this administration unwisely tossed aside Project 
Impact and broke a model that had worked so well. Today, I will 
introduce legislation to bring Project Impact back to life. The 
Disaster Plan Act will reauthorize FEMA's predisaster mitigation grant 
program. None of us can stop natural disasters from happening, but we 
can and we must be prepared for what happens when a disaster occurs. 
Project Impact was a program that worked in a FEMA that worked, and now 
we need to bring it back.

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