[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;

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    (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.