[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15498]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH

  (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I am honored once again today to serve as a 
Congressional co-chair of National Preparedness Month. National 
Preparedness Month reminds us that we cannot become complacent in our 
efforts to build and improve emergency preparedness capabilities.
  Coming from the 10th Congressional District of the State of New 
Jersey, which had experienced Hurricane Sandy and the September 11 
attacks, I know that disasters can strike at any time.
  As the ranking member of the Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee, I 
have also observed a concerning gap in coordination between 
communication of emergency response plans for children and schools. 
Each day more than 65 million children are separated from their parents 
during work-hours, but roughly 42 percent of the parents do not know 
where to reunite with their children after a school evacuation.
  Parents, teachers, and emergency responders should engage with 
community partners so that responsibilities and resources are in place 
when disasters strike.

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