    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 35 (Monday, September 4, 2006)]
    [Pages 1527-1528]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Executive Order 13411--Improving Assistance for Disaster Victims

    August 29, 2006

        By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and
    the laws of the United States of America, including the Robert T.
    Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended (42
    U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) (the ``Stafford Act''), and to take further actions
    to improve the delivery of Federal disaster assistance, it is hereby
    ordered as follows:
        Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the Federal Government to
    ensure that individuals who are victims of a terrorist attack, natural
    disaster, or other incident that is the subject of an emergency or major
    disaster declaration under the Stafford Act, and who are thereby
    eligible for financial or other assistance delivered by any department
    or agency of the executive branch (Federal disaster assistance) have
    prompt and efficient access to Federal disaster assistance, as well as
    information regarding assistance available from State and local
    government and private sector sources.
        Sec. 2. Task Force on Disaster Assistance Coordination. (a) Plan to
    Improve Delivery of Federal Disaster Assistance. To further the policy
    in section 1 of this order, there is established the interagency ``Task
    Force on Disaster Assistance Coordination'' (Task Force). The Task Force
    shall develop a plan to streamline and otherwise improve the delivery of
    Federal disaster assistance (Plan). The Plan shall:
        (i) include an inventory of Federal disaster assistance programs and
    assess the effectiveness of their respective delivery mechanisms;
        (ii) recommend specific actions to improve the delivery of Federal
    disaster assistance, which shall include actions to provide a
    centralized application process for Federal disaster assistance; provide
    a centralized and continuously updated clearinghouse from which disaster
    victims may obtain information regarding Federal disaster assistance and
    State and local government and private sector sources of disaster
    assistance; reduce unnecessarily duplicative application forms and
    processes for Federal disaster assistance; and strengthen controls
    designed to prevent improper payments and other forms of fraud, waste,
    and abuse; and
        (iii) include an implementation schedule for the Plan's
    recommendations that provides for the phased implementation of the Plan
    by December 31, 2008, including quarterly milestones and metrics to be
    used to measure and evaluate implementation.
        (b) Membership of the Task Force. (i) The Task Force shall consist
    exclusively of the following members, or their designees who shall be at
    the Assistant Secretary level (or its equivalent) or higher:
        (A) the Secretary of Homeland Security, who shall serve as Chair;
        (B) the Secretary of the Treasury;
        (C) the Secretary of Defense;
        (D) the Attorney General;
        (E) the Secretary of Agriculture;
        (F) the Secretary of Commerce;
        (G) the Secretary of Labor;
        (H) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
        (I) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
        (J) the Secretary of Education;
        (K) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs;

    [[Page 1528]]

        (L) the Director of the Office of Personnel Management;
        (M) the Commissioner of Social Security;
        (N) the Administrator of the Small Business Administration;
        (O) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; and
        (P) such other officers of the United States as the Secretary of
    Homeland Security may designate from time to time.
        (ii) The Secretary of Homeland Security, or the Secretary's
    designee, shall convene and preside at meetings of the Task Force,
    determine its agenda, direct its work, and, as appropriate to address
    specific subject matters, establish and direct subgroups of the Task
    Force. A member of the Task Force may designate, to perform Task Force
    subgroup functions of the member, any person who is part of such
    member's department or agency and who is either an officer of the United
    States appointed by the President or a member of the Senior Executive
    Service.
        (c) Plan Approval and Implementation. Not later than March 1, 2007,
    the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit the Plan to the
    President for approval through the Assistant to the President for
    Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and the Director of the Office of
    Management and Budget. Upon approval of the Plan by the President, the
    Secretary of Homeland Security, assisted by the Task Force, shall
    coordinate the implementation of the Plan. Until the completion of such
    implementation, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a
    quarterly progress report to the Assistant to the President for Homeland
    Security and Counterterrorism and the Director of the Office of
    Management and Budget.
        Sec. 3. Assistance and Support. To the extent permitted by law, the
    heads of all executive departments and agencies shall provide such
    assistance and information as the Secretary of Homeland Security may
    request in carrying out the Secretary's responsibilities under this
    order. Consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of
    appropriations, the Department of Homeland Security shall provide
    necessary funding and administrative support for the Task Force.
        Sec. 4. Administration. This order shall: (a) be implemented in a
    manner consistent with applicable laws, including Federal laws
    protecting the information privacy rights and other legal rights of
    Americans, and subject to the availability of appropriations;
        (b) be implemented in a manner consistent with the statutory
    authority of the principal officers of executive departments and
    agencies as heads of their respective departments or agencies; and
        (c) not be construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions of
    the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budget,
    administrative, regulatory, and legislative responsibilities.
        Sec. 5. Judicial Review. This order is intended only to improve the
    internal management of the Federal Government and is not intended to,
    and does not, create any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural,
    enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States,
    its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or
    agents, or any other person.
                                                    George W. Bush
    The White House,
    August 29, 2006.

    [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., September 5,
    2006]

    Note: This Executive order will be published in the Federal Register on
    September 6.