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85–708 PDF 2003

S. HRG. 107–888

FEMA’S ROLE IN TERRORISM

RESPONSE

HEARING

BEFORE A

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE

COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

SPECIAL HEARING

FEBRUARY 27, 2002—WASHINGTON, DC

Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate
(II)

COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia, Chairman

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii

ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont

TOM HARKIN, Iowa

BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland

HARRY REID, Nevada

HERB KOHL, Wisconsin

PATTY MURRAY, Washington

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California

RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana

JACK REED, Rhode Island

TED STEVENS, Alaska

THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi

ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania

PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico

CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri

MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky

CONRAD BURNS, Montana

RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama

JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire

ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah

BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado

LARRY CRAIG, Idaho

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas

MIKE DEWINE, Ohio

TERRENCE E. SAUVAIN, Staff Director

CHARLES KIEFFER, Deputy Staff Director

STEVEN J. CORTESE, Minority Staff Director

LISA SUTHERLAND, Minority Deputy Staff Director

SUBCOMMITTEE ON VA, HUD, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES

BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland, Chairman

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont

TOM HARKIN, Iowa

ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia

HERB KOHL, Wisconsin

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota

ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina

CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri

CONRAD BURNS, Montana

RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama

LARRY CRAIG, Idaho

PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico

MIKE DEWINE, Ohio

TED STEVENS, Alaska (ex officio)

Professional Staff

PAUL CARLINER

GABRIEL A. BATKIN

ALEXA SEWELL

JON KAMARCK (Minority)

CHEH KIM (Minority)
(III)

CONTENTS

Page

Statement of Joe M. Allbaugh, Director, Federal Emergency Management

Agency ................................................................................................................... 1

Opening statement of Senator Barbara A. Mikulski ............................................ 1

Statement of Senator Richard C. Shelby ............................................................... 3

Prepared statement of Joe M. Allbaugh ................................................................ 9

State and local relationship .................................................................................... 9

Recovery update ....................................................................................................... 10

Monitoring air quality ............................................................................................. 10

Ensuring appropriate safety and preventive measures ........................................ 10

Health monitoring ................................................................................................... 11

Assistance for clean up to ensure safe reentry of buildings ................................. 11

Lessons learned ........................................................................................................ 11

Meeting the challenge ahead—Office of National Preparedness ......................... 12

Office of Homeland Security ................................................................................... 12

ONP: Mission and Activities in Support of Homeland ......................................... 12

Organization ............................................................................................................. 13

First responder initiative ........................................................................................ 13

Fire grants ................................................................................................................ 13

Citizen Corps Initiative ........................................................................................... 13

(1)

FEMA’S ROLE IN TERRORISM RESPONSE

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2002

U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON VA, HUD, AND

INDEPENDENT AGENCIES, COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, DC.

The subcommittee met at 9:30 a.m., in room SD–124, Dirksen

Senate Office Building, Hon. Barbara A. Mikulski (chairman) presiding.

Present: Senators Mikulski, Shelby, Stevens, and Domenici.

FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

STATEMENT OF JOE M. ALLBAUGH, DIRECTOR

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BARBARA A. MIKULSKI

Senator MIKULSKI. Good morning, everybody. The VA–HUD/

FEMA Appropriations Subcommittee will now come to order. This

morning, we will have the benefit of the testimony of Mr. Joe

Allbaugh, the head of Federal Emergency Management.

I called this hearing today to examine FEMA’s role in responding

to acts of terrorism. I want to acknowledge the fact that Senator

Bond, my ranking member, is on the floor to manage—has been the

Republican manager for election reform. He’ll be joining us later.

And if his staff has questions they particularly want answered, I’ll

be very happy to—Senator Feinstein, as well. And we’re very

pleased to have our colleague, Senator Shelby, here.

What a difference a year makes. About a year ago, we had Mr.

Allbaugh here for his very first appearance before the committee,

presenting the administration’s appropriations on Federal Emergency Management. We were talking about a new fire-grant program, how to be ready, about many things. And along the way,

something horrific happened to the United States of America. The

aerial attack on the United States of America on September 11 was

unprecedented. The subsequent impact of Anthrax was also unprecedented.

And today we want to know: What were the lessons learned from

the last several months? What was FEMA’s experience? What were

the experiences that they gained from that? And what are their

plans for dealing with this in the future?

I know that under Presidential Directive PD–39, FEMA is designated as the lead agency for consequence management, for responding to acts of terrorism. We want to listen to Mr. Allbaugh

today to find out: Did the Federal response plan that FEMA is
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charged with really work? How did FEMA respond to September

11, and what were those crucial lessons learned? What can we say

now about FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Team? And what

changes, if any, do we need to improve the program or to expand

the program? What is the role of the new Office of National Preparedness that Mr. Allbaugh began to work on last year? And what

is the president proposing for FEMA’s future?

Mr. Allbaugh, I want you to know that I support the president’s

war on terrorism and his commitment to homeland security. I support the commitment of resources to our first responders, particularly our firefighters. And, like you, I want to make sure that

FEMA remains an all-hazards agency.

I believe we can get double value for our investment. Whatever

we put into homeland security into our first responders, they’re

going to be ready. In my own hometown of Baltimore, we have several chemical factories. If there is an accident or whether there is

an attack, the consequence management is the same. So I believe

that whatever public investments we make at the local level are

going to protect our people against—whether it’s a national disaster, an accidental disaster, or a malevolent hostile attack on us—

we want to make sure that FEMA does stay an all-hazards agency,

ready for everything from earthquakes to dealing with weapons of

mass destruction.

I’m going to have several questions for you. We need to know

how FEMA responded, were there problems in coordination with

other agencies, how well did the Urban Search and Rescue Team

respond?

I’m particularly proud by the fact that one of the FEMA Urban

Search and Rescue Teams is located in Montgomery County and

dashed to the Pentagon, stayed there for several days, and did, I

think, an outstanding job with local fire departments filling in

where they had gone. We need to know what those gaps are.

We also note that the president’s proposal is talking about dou- bling FEMA’s budget, focusing $3.5 billion on a first-responder initiative, consolidating first-responder programs, and the Justice Program for Domestic Preparedness. I think that’s a little organizationally controversial, but we need to have a better understanding

of this proposal.

For example, under the president’s proposal, the fire grant would

be rolled into the first responder initiative. I’m concerned that our

firefighters might not get the same level of support they have

under a separate program. Our colleagues in Commerce, State,

Justice have very serious reservations about it. Senator Hollings

and our colleague, Senator Judd Gregg, who is really an authority

in counter-terrorism effort, really made 3 days of hearings last year

to focus on where we are, and I think their concerns should be

taken seriously.

We want to know about this Office of National Preparedness and

what it does and how it’s going to work, and, of course, we’re very

interested in the president’s Citizens Corps. But, most of all, we

want to make sure that, not only is FEMA fit for duty, but that

working with and through FEMA, that our first responders, the

first people on the scene, at often the greatest risk, who literally

and figuratively put themselves in the line of fire, are the best
3

equipped, the best trained, the best prepared that America can be

able to offer, because they really are our soldiers in Homeland Security. And I look forward to taking your testimony here today.

Colleagues, I’m going to turn to you as we prepare for the vote.

Senator Shelby, you were here. Of course, I—the full chairman.

With your indulgence, Senator Stevens, do you want to wait your

turn or——

Senator SHELBY. I’ll yield to him.

Senator STEVENS. I have no prepared statement.

Senator MIKULSKI. Okay. Senator Shelby?

STATEMENT OF SENATOR RICHARD C. SHELBY

Senator SHELBY. Thank you, Madam Chairman.

Director Allbaugh, I appreciate your being here today to talk to

us about FEMA’s role in responding to acts of terrorism.

I’m very interested in this topic, as you know, for several reasons. First, the Center for Domestic Preparedness and the Noble

Training Center located at what was Fort McClellan in Anniston,

Alabama. You probably know this. Both of these facilities provide

unique training capabilities of our Nation’s first responders and

medical personnel. In addition, the Anniston Chemical Destruction

Facility on Anniston Army Depot is located in Calhoun County,

nearby.

In light of the attacks on September the 11, many of my constituents have raised concerns about the safety of the facility and

FEMA’s role there. Over the past few years, Congress has made a

significant investment there in the Center for Domestic Preparedness and Noble Training Center so that they can train thousands

of first responders and medical personnel. I’m hopeful that the new

emphasis on domestic terrorism will allow us to further increase

our investment in these facilities.

As part of the five-member National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, the CDP has the unique distinction of housing the only

live-agent training facility in the United States. At the CDP, first

responders are trained with live agents to give them hands-on experience responding to, detecting, and dealing with live agents that

they may encounter in the field.

But this is not just about facilities. We have an exceptional training program in place at the Department of Justice. I believe that

it’s extremely important to maintain the integrity and the capabilities of these training programs.

I’m troubled by the administration’s proposal to transfer the Office of Emergency Preparedness from the Department of Justice to

FEMA. Primarily, I’m deeply concerned that ongoing first-responder training efforts could be compromised by this proposal to

switch lead agencies mid-stream. Director Allbaugh, you bear the

burden to justify, I believe, the necessity for this transfer. Any disruption in training activities could result in serious consequences.

Beyond the issue of whether you could implement a successful

transfer without interruption, the question still remains: Why are

we doing this? Judge Gregg, Senator Gregg, that the chairwoman

mentioned, and also Senator Hollings, are going to ask these same

questions. Why are we taking the chance that training could be interrupted? I do not know why.
4

To date, I’ve been provided little information to convince me that

this will be a valuable transfer. Furthermore, the information that

I’ve received leads me to believe that your agency is just beginning

to do their homework regarding the Nation’s first-responder training programs.

Director Allbaugh, although I look forward to working with you

as this process continues, and learning how this transfer will, in

the end, better serve our Nation’s first responders and our country,

I’m troubled.

Director Allbaugh, I would also like to touch on another subject

that relates to FEMA’s role in responding to acts of terrorism. That

subject regards the protection of the communities that are home to

U.S. chemical weapons stockpiles. I’m sensitive to the concerns of

the people who live in these communities. I’m encouraged by the

steps the Army and the FAA have taken to increase the security

of these stockpile facilities.

FEMA is responsible for all off-post emergency preparedness activities in relation to the Nation’s chemical stockpile sites. Technical and bureaucratic problems have plagued the CSEPP program

in Anniston, Alabama. My primary concern has and continues to be

the safety of the community, of the people there. The Alabama delegation has worked diligently with the Army and FEMA for years

to ensure that maximum protection is realized. The governor of

Alabama has recognized problems with the CSEPP program and

has exercised his option to seek a judicial remedy.

Major issues remain to be addressed within the CSEPP program

in Calhoun County, and I welcome your thoughts regarding these

critical safety measures and how FEMA plans to fulfill its commitment to the community.

Thank you.

Senator STEVENS. Madam Chair? Mr. Allbaugh, I probably won’t

be back, because we’ve got a Defense hearing, too, right after our

10 o’clock vote, at the Defense Appropriations Committee.

I’ve heard both the chairman and Senator Shelby. I want you to

know, I think, to a great extent, what we face is the problem of getting prepared to really increase our security for our homeland, but

without increasing the number of entities that are involved.

You know, I’ve still got an open mind about this concept of

FEMA being the lead agency. I think it has trained people that

have dealt with disasters, and we have more disasters than anyone

in the country, as you know, so we know FEMA, and we trust

FEMA. And I think that there are a lot of places that don’t have

disasters that don’t know your people and don’t have that same

basis of trust that we do. Through earthquakes and floods and

tsunamis and everything else, FEMA has been our connection with

the national government.

I think that one real question we have now, in terms of the overall concept, is communication. Federal agencies are going to a LAN

mobile-radio concept of total communication, but I don’t see yet an

integration of State and local entities in that, and I would hope

that that’s going to be in the forefront of our objective as we review

this.

And Senator Byrd has told me he has some questions about the

plans that are being made. And, you know, it’s been in the public—
5

I told our caucus yesterday that Senator Byrd had expressed a desire that Governor Ridge come and speak to the whole committee

at one time, because I think each subcommittee is going to have

these questions unless we get that basic planning out in front of

us and we understand the overall scheme. I hope that that will be

worked out.

But right now, I do believe we all should sit back and try to understand what has been done in terms of this planning and to analyze the budget and see if it’s going to be adequate to meet the national needs, particularly in this homeland-defense area.

I welcome the opportunity to work with you on it. I am certain

someone has to be in charge. We’re going to see a new plan now

in the Department of Defense, probably this week, about who is

going to be in charge of that, as far as homeland defense. So it is

going to be a complicated matter that’s going to take some time,

and my urging to my colleagues here is for us to wait and listen

and analyze and see if we can make an input that’s meaningful,

as far as our understanding, our background on the issues that we

deal with here on this committee.

But I’m pleased to see you here, and I wish that I could stay the

whole time, but I will not be back after the vote. Thank you very

much.

Senator MIKULSKI. Senator?

Senator DOMENICI. Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. My

situation on voting is about the same as his. I will try to come back

and be here for the second round of questions.

Senator Shelby, I have the same concerns as you have. The State

of New Mexico has taken the lead through one of our small technical scientific schools with Alabama, and they’re doing the basic

training the underpinning of the training—with science and technology that goes into that.

But let me just say this to the director. I am not at all sure that,

ultimately, FEMA should have all of the authority that the president currently contemplates giving you. None of that is said in any

way to indicate you do anything but the best job. You do. FEMA

does an excellent job. You do a great job. But the question is going

to arise as to where you’re going to get the authority to do all of

the detailed things that we’re giving you the money to do. And will

we not just transfer the money to you and then have to let the

agencies in different statutorily-authorized entities spend the

money?

So this leads me to three fundamental things that concern me.

First, has the entire activity of first-responder training been transferred to FEMA, or does DOJ still retain some aspects of this critically important function? I think that’s a very important question.

Second, would the shift in first-responder training responsibility require legislative authorization by the Congress? And if not, what

are the appropriate legal authorities that the administration cites

as the basis for proposing and proceeding with this reorganization

of national domestic preparedness and first-responder training? I

think that’s a very important question.

Senator MIKULSKI. I think that’s the bottom—that’s the launch

pad here.
6

Senator DOMENICI. Under the leadership of Senator Gregg, who

was the then-chairman of the Senate Commerce, Justice, State,

and Judiciary Appropriations Subcommittee he’s now ranking

member—a very important initiative came into fruition. It needs to

go beyond its current state, but the Department of Justice took the

mission over because it was given to them.

First responders exist in America. You’re aware of that. We have

126 cities, who, at the end of last fiscal year, had been trained as

first-responder cities. I don’t know if the committee knows that.

That’s New York, and that’s everyone. That was authorized under

the 1996 Act called Nunn-Lugar-Domenici. Now we’ve got to follow

up and do with those cities and others—not for preparedness, but

carrying it out. I assume that’s the job you all have been given, but

I’m not sure. I can’t tell from what I’ve read.

I thank you very much. I’ll try to get back and ask the questions

myself.

Senator MIKULSKI. Senator Domenici, and to all of my colleagues,

those—every point that you’ve raised are valid. That’s the point of

this hearing. And I don’t think it will be the only discussion we

should have. We had a very robust exchange with the Attorney

General yesterday on this topic.

But we all, I think, are unified in what is our national goal,

which is to have the best-trained, the best-equipped, the best-prepared first responders that America can do.

Well, Mr. Allbaugh, why don’t you proceed with your testimony.

By the time you’ve concluded, there will be a vote, and then we’ll

come back and—with the questions. And we hope that as many of

our colleagues who can return will. Please.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman and members of

the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today. It’s

always a pleasure to come before this committee to discuss FEMA’s

response to the September 11 terrorist attacks and our ongoing involvement in Federal-homeland security efforts.

Our country learned much on September 11, and we at FEMA

were no exception. We learned, as we do in every emergency situation, what works and what needs improvement. On the plus side,

the Federal Response Plan, the blueprint for government response

activities, worked. The proper people and resources from around

the country and from all levels of government and expertise were

deployed to all three disaster sites. Of the more than 3500 Federal

workers deployed in New York, more than 500 are still working at

the Disaster Field Office providing human services, public assistance and support.

One of the lessons we have taken from our experience on September 11 is the inequity of training, equipment, exercising, and

planning in the response community. While at Ground Zero in New

York City, we also saw volunteers, including first responders from

around the country, turned away because of the inability of response managers to put them to proper use.

The breathing apparatus used by the fire department of New

York City is different from those used by other fire departments.

Even so, when extra manpower and equipment arrived and was

made available, they often could not be used. The same was true

of communications. Different devices were used as well as different
7

frequencies, thus limiting the device’s usefulness and responders’

abilities on the ground.

I personally witnessed, on many occasions, emergency managers

and first responders passing each other handwritten notes as the

most efficient way of communicating. By establishing national

standards and a more robust intra-and interstate mutual aid

agreements, these compatibility issues can be addressed. We are already working with States and other Federal agencies on these solutions.

The New York experience also showed the need for state-of-theart personal protective equipment for firefighters and emergency

medical personnel. In the case of a potential chemical or biological

threat in the future, the on-hand availability of this equipment and

the training that would go along with it would become all the more

crucial. As such, we need to expand the training of FEMA’s Urban

Search and Rescue teams to prepare all of them for the hazards of

such weapons of mass destruction. Currently, we only have six of

our 28 USAR teams that are prepared for WMD.

The scope of the September 11 attacks was also a lesson. No

longer can we assume an attack will include a single target. To better prepare for multi-attack targets, we must establish a single-incident command structure for the entire country. Command incompatibility in our emergency management response system will cost

lives. To me, these points are not only simply public-policy debates

to be engaged, but life-and-death problems to be solved.

Twenty years from now, when my kids or my grandkids ask me

if I did everything I could to help prepare our Nation to respond

to these threats, I want to be able to say, yes, I did—we all did.

Any other answer is unacceptable.

Today we have an unprecedented opportunity to train and equip

our first responders, prepare our citizens, and protect property.

Missing this opportunity simply is not an option.

So given these lessons and others, how do we plan to move forward in the future? Well, to begin with, the president, as you

know, submitted, in his 2003 budget, a request for FEMA with new

responsibilities and authorities for homeland security, first responders, and citizen preparedness. The total appropriation the

president asked for is $6.4 billion, which would essentially double

our current budget.

As we move into the appropriations process, our team at FEMA

feels especially fortunate to have this subcommittee overseeing our

future. We’ve seen how well the members and your respective

staffs know the issues that we’ll be dealing with in the future, and

we look forward to working with you to complete this process.

Let me address two particular issues with the time that I have

left. First, let me give you an idea of how we plan to account for

and allocate this new money, keeping in mind that there are three

types of individuals in our country—one, those who can count, and,

two, those who can’t. That’s a bad joke. I’m sorry.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. The staff needs to make a note, no more jokes

in front of committee.

Second, let me explain why I believe it’s so important that the

first responders and national preparedness initiatives need to be

consolidated under FEMA’s authority.
8

The First Responders Initiative would include $3.5 billion in

grants to State and local jurisdictions for specific needs in their

fire, police, and emergency medical services. These grants will be

designed along with long-term goals of building State and local capabilities that would initially be targeted in four areas: planning,

equipment, training, and exercises. Our plan would be to take in

all the facts, look at all the assessments, and get the money quickly

to those communities that need it most. FEMA will work with

these States to provide maximum flexibility while we develop

standards to ensure accountability.

My second point, the reason I believe that this money should be

folded into FEMA’s responsibility, is that the target areas of this

First Responder Grant program fit perfectly with the tasks that the

president has given us in the Office of National Preparedness. ONP

is already working closely with the Office of Homeland Security

and Governor Tom Ridge to create the strategies properly to be put

in place to respond to man-made disasters. We will develop national standards for State and local first responders, which will

help solve compatibility issues. These standards will pertain to

training, equipment, communications, mutual aid, and exercising,

so that every part of our national emergency response system is on

the same page.

Finally, FEMA has been asked and tasked by the president with

the responsibility for coordinating a Citizen Corps, our new network of local citizen and community preparedness volunteer organizations. Some of the member programs are already established and

others are being developed as we speak.

The citizencorp.gov Web site recently logged its one-millionth hit,

evidence that the president’s faith in the selfless spirit of the American people is well founded. We Americans realize preparedness is

not a spectator sport. FEMA will provide funds to State and local

jurisdictions to set up their local volunteer networks, help train

volunteers, and develop comprehensive preparedness and response

plans. More often than not, the first responder is a private citizen,

a witness to attacks. And Citizen Corps will train volunteers to

help respond to such situations.

FEMA’s relationships with State and local governments, and our

record of quickly and efficiently getting grant monies out the door,

already makes us the primary point of contact for first responders

around the Nation. This grant program, added to the established

coordinating responsibilities of the ONP and Citizen Corps, will improve training, equipment, and compatibility of our first responders

and citizens across the country making our communities stronger,

safer, and better prepared.

I thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before you

today, and I’d be happy to entertain any questions to the best of

my ability.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Allbaugh. I

think that—that, and then your—I believe you also had a more detailed testimony——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I did—submitted for the record.

Senator MIKULSKI. Yes, and it’s now been——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Yes, ma’am.

Senator MIKULSKI [continuing]. Submitted to the record.
9

Mr. ALLBAUGH. If the committee would accept that, I would appreciate it.

Senator MIKULSKI. Yes.

[The statement follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JOE M. ALLBAUGH

INTRODUCTION

Good morning, Madam Chairwoman and Members of the subcommittee. I am Joe

Allbaugh, Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Thank

you for this opportunity to update you on FEMA’s response to the terrorist attacks

on September 11 and FEMA’s evolving role in the area of homeland security, and

the status of our Office of National Preparedness.

We continue, along with our partners, to provide assistance to alleviate the suffering of those impacted by the September 11 terrorist attacks. While I can assure

you that tremendous work has already been accomplished, there is much left to do,

and we will continue to work hard to speed assistance to those still struggling to

overcome losses from the tragic events of September 11.

The level of cooperation, dedication and professionalism exhibited by the first responders and others who have worked on the response and recovery efforts has been

outstanding. We won’t forget what they have done and commit to providing the continued support they need. Some 3,500 Federal workers were deployed to New York

to support the response, about 1,300 from FEMA, and almost 2,000 from other Federal departments and agencies. These responders have had a single focus, to help

the victims recover from this terrible National tragedy. There are still 491 people

working on the recovery in New York at the Disaster Field Office.

BACKGROUND

FEMA is the Federal Agency responsible for leading the nation in preparing for,

responding to and recovering from Presidentially declared major disasters. Our success depends on our ability to organize and lead a community of local, State, and

Federal agencies and volunteer organizations. We know whom to bring to the table

when a disaster strikes in order to ensure the most effective management of the response. We provide management expertise and financial resources to help State and

local governments when they are overwhelmed by disasters.

The Federal Response Plan (FRP) forms the heart of our management framework

and lays out the process by which interagency groups work together to respond as

a cohesive team to all types of disasters. This team is made up of 26 Federal departments and agencies, and the American Red Cross, and is organized into interagency

functions based on the authorities and expertise of the members and the needs of

our counterparts at the State and local level.

Since 1992, and again in response to the terrorist events of September 11, 2001,

the FRP has proven to be an effective and efficient framework for managing all

phases of disasters and emergencies. The FRP is successful because it builds upon

existing professional disciplines, expertise, delivery systems, and relationships

among the participating agencies. FEMA has strong ties to the emergency management and fire service communities and we routinely plan, train, exercise, and operate together to remain prepared to respond to all types of disasters.

STATE AND LOCAL RELATIONSHIP

Much of our success in emergency management can be attributed to our historically strong working relationship with our State and local partners. Through our

preparedness programs we provide the financial, technical, planning, training, and

exercise support to give State, local and Tribal governments the capabilities they

need to protect public health, safety and property both before and after disaster

strikes. Our programs foster the partnerships that are so critical to creating a

strong comprehensive National emergency preparedness system. Terrorism consequence management is just one component of our overall emergency management

effort. For example, after September 11, Governor Ridge and I agreed that there

was a need to quickly assess State capabilities to effectively respond to acts of terrorism. We assembled an interagency team with members from Department of Defense, Department of Education, Health and Human Services, Department of Justice

and Environmental Protection Agency to visit the 50 States and territories to assess

their readiness against 18 criteria and identify priorities and shortfalls. We examined several categories like critical infrastructure, personnel, plans, equipment and
10

supplies communications and related capabilities. The results were provided in a

classified report to Governor Ridge right before Thanksgiving.

RECOVERY UPDATE

As I said, we have already provided a lot of assistance to help with the recovery.

Federal funds distributed by FEMA, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA),

the Department of Labor (DOL), and the State of New York exceeds $1 billion.

—FEMA has registered more than 61,000 people seeking disaster assistance

through our toll free registration telephone system. More than 85,000 people

have visited one of the City-State-Federal Disaster Assistance Service Centers.

—We have provided more than $30.2 million in grants to 5,500 households for

temporary housing assistance to help people return their homes to a livable condition or find alternative housing.

—FEMA and the State of New York have committed more than $4 million to the

State-run Individual and Family Grant Program (IFG) to assist affected individuals and households with essential and necessary needs.

—FEMA, in coordination with the New York Department of Labor, has provided

more than $5.9 million of Disaster Unemployment Assistance to 2,500 workers

and business owners who lost employment as a result of the attack and are not

covered by regular unemployment programs (e.g. self-employed).

—The State of New York was awarded $25 million from the U.S. Department of

Labor under the Workforce Investment Act dislocated worker National Emergency Grant Disaster Relief Employment Assistance Program. The funds are

being used to help workers, who lost their jobs as a result of 9/11, find or qualify for new jobs. The State has allocated the funds to at least fourteen local

agencies to assist the workers.

—SBA has approved more than 3,300 disaster assistance loans totaling nearly

$300 million to business owners in and around lower Manhattan.

—Nearly 33,000 individuals have received $3.8 million in United States Department of Agriculture Disaster Food Stamps.

—FEMA provided a $22.7 million grant to New York for its crisis-counseling program, Project Liberty (administered by the NY State Office of Mental Health).

—FEMA has funded $245 million in emergency assistance payments for recovery

activities, such as activation of the Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Task

Forces. In the World Trade Center and Pentagon responses 26 of our 28 task

forces were deployed and the remaining 2 placed on alert.

—More than $428 million in Public Assistance funding has been approved to reimburse State and local government agencies for costs incurred responding to

and recovering from losses associated with the attack. FEMA is funding 100

percent of the Public Assistance support, most of which has been for debris removal and emergency protective measures.

—More than 1.2 million tons of the estimated 1.4 million tons of debris have been

removed from the WTC site.

MONITORING AIR QUALITY

The importance of air quality, emergency responder health, environmental degradation, and related issues are very important to us, in addition to responding to

the needs of the victims. We have worked closely with the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA), the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to monitor and address

air quality concerns. Funding was provided to EPA to conduct air sampling throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island and the air quality monitoring continues today with numerous monitoring sites providing data that can be used to

evaluate health and safety standards.

ENSURING APPROPRIATE SAFETY AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES

The health and safety of emergency responders is also of paramount concern to

us. Right after the attacks, numerous government agencies such as the Occupational

Safety and Health Administration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and

Health, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), EPA, and State and City

agencies dispatched representatives to the site to provide advice on health issues

and establish appropriate safety measures and protocols. In fact, a comprehensive

Health and Safety Plan was developed with input from numerous Federal, State,

and New York City agencies. FEMA is a strong supporter of site safety. Our experience in disaster responses has taught us the importance of ensuring the safety of

the emergency responders so that they do not also become disaster victims.
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Federal personnel and teams deployed into the disaster area, such as the US&R

Task Forces, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnel, and medical personnel from

the HHS, arrived with the necessary protective gear. Based on health and safety

advisories that were issued, they were able to adopt required safety protocols. In

the first weeks, FEMA’s Safety Officer closely coordinated with and participated

daily in the New York City Interagency Health and Safety Meeting and, as a result,

was able to pass on advisories and provide training from the meetings.

HEALTH MONITORING

We took measures to address immediate health concerns involving emergency responders through our coordination with HHS/Public Health Service. Five Disaster

Medical Assistance Teams, four Disaster Mortuary Teams, one Veterinary Medical

Assistance Team, and one Mental Health Assistance Team, were dispatched to New

York City to provide health care and related assistance. The Naval Hospital Ship

USNS Comfort and burn nurses were also deployed to support the response.

Base line medical testing was funded by FEMA for medical surveillance of 11,000

firefighters and 4,000 State emergency responders working at Ground Zero. Blood

samples were drawn by local clinics coordinated by the FDNY Medical Office. These

samples are being used to help establish a health baseline. Follow-up and additional

testing will be completed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) over the next

12 months. Nine million dollars has been made available for testing, analysis and

management of this effort with CDC as the lead agency.

In an effort to be cautious, we asked the US&R Task Forces that deployed to WTC

to notify us of any medical problems/illnesses resulting from or related to their deployment. More than 1,300 US&R Task Force personnel and their 84 search and

rescue dogs were deployed to the WTC. The Task Forces represented 14 States and

did a superb job.

ASSISTANCE FOR CLEAN UP TO ENSURE SAFE REENTRY OF BUILDINGS

Because of the amount of dust and debris from the building collapses, clean up

of residences and the surrounding area has been a major priority. We provided

housing assistance grants for clean up of residences. In addition, the New York

State-administered Individual and Family Grant program provided grants for items

such as High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) air filters, vacuum cleaners, and

other eligible items to help residents with reentry into their homes. In many cases

landlords and/or insurance companies funded clean up measures. I should also mention that voluntary agencies were very active and helped with clean up for special

needs residents.

We also supported the New York City Department of Health Community Teams

in distributing to residents flyers containing recommendations on actions needed in

order to be able to re-occupy buildings and homes. FEMA’s Outreach Teams also

distributed the flyers. This flyer addressed clean up and safety and health concerns

and was developed to facilitate individuals moving back into their homes.

Eligible government clean-up costs and monitoring activities are being funded 100

percent through FEMA’s Public Assistance program. For example, the New York

City Board of Education’s clean up of schools near Ground Zero is an eligible expense as is the clean up of city vehicles such as fire trucks and police cars.

We will do whatever it takes to ensure recovery in New York City. Most recently

I have taken additional steps to deal with emerging environmental and health

issues surrounding the World Trade Center response. I have asked HHS and EPA

to work with us to develop more comprehensive plans of action to address responder

health issues and short-and long-term indoor and outdoor environmental issues arising from the attacks in New York.

LESSONS LEARNED

We learn from every disaster experience and incorporate these lessons wherever

possible into our planning and processes to improve the next disaster response. For

example, an assessment of the Oklahoma City bombing led to the creation of the

FEMA Urban Search & Rescue teams as well as the processes for monitoring the

long-term health of 1st responders. The World Trade Center and Pentagon disaster

responses are no different. We have learned from both. We recognize that better

personal protective equipment is needed for our first responders. More training and

exercises, better communications and improved interoperability of the equipment,

and enhanced medical response capabilities and mutual aid agreements are also

needed. I am committed to ensuring that those needs are met.
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MEETING THE CHALLENGE AHEAD—OFFICE OF NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS

Although the challenge of meeting these needs may represent an expansion of our

duties, in many respects, FEMA’s role in responding to terrorist attacks was identified well before September 11. On May 8, 2001, the President tasked me with creating the Office of National Preparedness within FEMA to ‘‘coordinate all Federal

programs dealing with weapons of mass destruction consequence management within the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Justice, and Energy,

the Environmental Protection Agency, and other Federal agencies.’’ Additionally, the

ONP was directed to ‘‘work closely with State and local governments to ensure their

planning, training, and equipment needs are met.’’

The President’s decision to create ONP was a vital solution for a problem long

recognized but rarely acted upon—the need for central coordination among the myriad of Federal programs dealing with terrorism preparedness. Some forty Federal

Departments and Agencies have been involved in the overall effort to build the National capability for preparedness and response to the consequences of terrorist incidents. Federal terrorism preparedness programs and activities are vested with several departments and agencies based on their statutory authorities, Presidential direction, and Congressional jurisdiction, including legislation and specific funding

earmarks. Many of these activities have been primarily focused on the development

or enhancement of Federal capabilities to deal with terrorist incidents, including

plans, personnel and physical security upgrades, and specialized resources such as

protection and detection technology and response teams.

Various independent studies and commissions have recognized the problems inherent in this uncoordinated approach. Recommendations by the Gilmore Commission, for example, stress the importance of giving States and first responders a single point of contact for Federal assistance for training, exercises and equipment.

Many first responders themselves are baffled by the maze of programs and agencies that provide preparedness assistance. In recent testimony before Congress one

first responder Chief Ray Alfred, on behalf of the International Association of Fire

Chiefs said, ‘‘ Some of my colleagues in the fire service have... spoken of their

concerns as to the lack of a coordinated Federal effort, both in terms of the preparedness and support programs I have discussed and the seemingly endless Federal response capabilities that appear duplicative and continue to grow.’’

FEMA is the natural Federal Agency to be the single point of contact to facilitate

and oversee the implementation of the National effort to build preparedness capabilities. FEMA is the lead Federal agency for all-hazard emergency management activities involving preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation. As the designated

lead agency for consequence management, FEMA coordinates Federal disaster and

emergency assistance programs and activities to support State and local governments in their response and preparedness efforts.

OFFICE OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Following the September 11 attacks, the President appointed Governor Ridge to

head the newly established Office of Homeland Security (OHS) with the charge to

‘‘develop and coordinate the implementation of a comprehensive National strategy

to secure the United States from terrorist threats or attacks.’’ In carrying out this

activity, the OHS was tasked to ‘‘coordinate the executive branch’s efforts to detect,

prepare for, prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks

within the United States.’’ Since that time, FEMA has been working closely with

Governor Ridge and the OHS, and other agencies to identify and develop the most

effective ways to quickly build and enhance the overall domestic capability to respond to terrorist attacks. In conjunction with OHS, FEMA will provide critical support for homeland security initiatives, particularly in the area of local and State capability building. FEMA will also have a significant role supporting the development

of the National strategy; participating in interagency forums and working groups,

including the Homeland Security Council, and Policy Coordinating Committees; and

contributing to the interagency budget strategy and formulation process.

ONP: MISSION AND ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF HOMELAND

The Office of National Preparedness’ (ONP) mission is to provide leadership in the

coordination and facilitation of all Federal efforts to assist State and local first responders (including fire, medical and law enforcement) and emergency management

organizations with planning, training, equipment and exercises necessary to build

and sustain capability to respond to any emergency or disaster, including a terrorist

incident involving a weapon of mass destruction and other natural or manmade hazards.
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FEMA has made the following changes to support this expanded mission to support the Office of Homeland Defense:

—Realigned preparedness activities from the Readiness, Response and Recovery

Directorate to ONP;

—Realigned all training activities into the U.S. Fire Administration to allow

greater coordination between training for emergency managers and training for

firefighters;

— Moved the authority for credentialing, training and deploying Urban Search

and Rescue teams from the Readiness, Response and Recovery Directorate to

the U.S. Fire Administration.

ORGANIZATION

The ONP is organized in FEMA Headquarters under a Director (reporting directly

to the FEMA Director) and supported by a Management Services Unit and four Divisions to carry out key its functions to coordinate and implement Federal programs

and activities aimed at building and sustaining the National preparedness capability. The divisions and their functional responsibilities include the following:

—Administration Division—Provide financial and support services, and management of the grant assistance activities for local and State capability building efforts.

—Program Coordination Division—Ensure development of a coordinated National

capability involving Federal, State, and local governments, to include citizen

participation in the overall efforts to effectively deal with the consequences of

terrorist acts and other incidents within the United States.

—Technological Services Division—Improve the capabilities of communities to

manage technological hazard emergencies-whether accidental or intentional-and

leverage this capability to enhance the capability for dealing with terrorist attacks.

—Assessment and Exercise—Provide guidance, exercise, and assess and evaluate

progress in meeting National goals for development of a domestic consequence

management capability.

We continue to work with all 55 States and territories and Federally recognized

Indian Tribes and Alaskan Native Villages to implement our current and other

grant programs to assist State, Tribal and local government to enhance their capabilities to respond to all types of hazards and emergencies such as chemical incidents, incidents involving radiological substances, natural disasters, etc.

FIRST RESPONDER INITIATIVE

The President’s First Responder Initiative will be led by FEMA and implemented

under the Office of National Preparedness. The President’s proposed fiscal year 2003

budget includes significant Federal funding to dramatically enhance the homeland

security response capabilities of America’s first responders with funds targeted to

purchase equipment, train personnel and develop response plans.

The initiative builds on existing capabilities at the Federal, State and local level.

It will include the development of standards to ensure maximum interoperability

and provides incentives to develop mutually supportive programs to maximize effective response capability.

The President is proposing $3.5 billion to train firefighters, police officers and

emergency medical technicians to improve response to chemical or biological events,

provide new equipment, and help local governments develop comprehensive plans

to prepare for and respond to terrorist attacks. FEMA would be tasked with administering these funds.

FIRE GRANTS

FEMA, through the United States Fire Administration (USFA), has completed its

Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program grants for fiscal year 2001. In a ninemonth period, FEMA/USFA created and administered a new grant program that focused on the basic firefighting and equipment needs of our nation’s local fire departments and fire service organizations.

Given their significant role as 1st responders to a disaster, as was shown by their

bravery on September 11, the need of firefighters for additional training and equipment to respond to future terrorist attacks will be addressed by ONP.

CITIZEN CORPS INITIATIVE

Citizen Corps is part of the overall effort of Freedom Corps to assist individuals

and communities with implementing Homeland Security Programs in their areas.
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Since September 11, 2001, Americans are more aware than ever of the threat of terrorist acts on home soil. In the days following the attacks we saw immediate and

selfless volunteering, generous monetary gifts, blood donations, and an outpouring

of support and patriotism across America. Sustaining that spirit of volunteerism and

unity is crucial to defending the freedoms America holds dear.

In order to help Americans strengthen their communities, President Bush tasked

FEMA with overseeing Citizen Corps. This broad network of volunteer efforts will

harness the power of the American people by relying on their individual skills and

interests to prepare local communities to effectively prevent and respond to the

threats of terrorism, crime, or any kind of disaster.

The Citizen Corps builds on existing crime prevention, natural disaster preparedness, and public health response networks. The Citizen Corps will initially consist

of participants in the following five programs: the Volunteers in Police Service Program; an expanded Neighborhood Watch Program; the Medical Reserve Corps; Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), and Operation TIPS. FEMA has the

responsibility for approving additional programs to be affiliated with Citizen Corps

in the future. Individuals who participate in any of the Citizen Corps programs will

be members of Citizen Corps.

The Citizen Corps will bring together local government, law enforcement, educational institutions, the private sector, faith-based groups and volunteers into a cohesive community resource. The Federal role is to provide general information, to

develop training standards and materials, and to identify volunteer programs and

initiatives that support the goals of the Corps.

What we need to do now is break down the firewalls and allow the ONP to coordinate and facilitate all preparedness programs. As I said before we need one Agency,

one place for all 1st responders to receive assistance for planning, training, equipping and exercising in preparation for future WMD or terrorism events.

Operationally, FEMA is well prepared and equipped to respond to terrorist disasters. Similar to natural disasters, following a terrorist event FEMA aims to ensure

that the Federal Government and its partners provide needed support to disaster

victims, first responders, and local governments.

I look forward to working with Members of the Subcommittee and Congress as

a whole as we go forward in helping our nation to better prepare for the future.

Senator MIKULSKI. Yes. And I, of course, will be back after the

vote. I want to turn to my colleagues as a—just in senatorial courtesy. For those who might not come back—be able to come back because of other demands, I’m very happy for you to read off the

questions and be sure that they are heard. And then we can come

back to me after the vote.

Mr. Chairman, did you have some questions?

Senator STEVENS. Yeah, I have just one, Mr. Allbaugh, and that

is about this—it concerns what I’ve mentioned before—and that is,

what are the plans for integrating the State and local response

agencies into the LAN mobile radio system that you are proposing?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. That’s one of our greatest problems across the

country—the incompatibility of systems and individuals to communicate with one another. I wouldn’t mind if we took $2 billion of

this additional $3.5 [billion] and solved that problem with getting

the right software in place, not to be in a position of telling a community they need to buy Ericsson or Motorola or a specific type of

equipment, but establish the standards so it would allow individuals—police, fire, and emergency medical teams—to communicate

with one another.

We had so many people show up in New York City. The systems

were totally incompatible. We had fire trucks that would show up,

pumper trucks, and they couldn’t connect the hoses, for example,

because New York City had a different standard.

We need to have national standards when it comes to equipment,

when it comes to training, when it comes to communication. If you

cannot pump, it costs lives. That is an unfortunate down side.
15

We’re making the first steps at the national level, as you have

alluded to, with the Federal agencies. It is a bold first step, and

I congratulate members of Congress for forcing us to do this. We

need to do this. We need to set those same standards at the State

and local communities and adhere to those standards, enforce those

standards, and make sure communities have the ability to talk to

one another during an incident.

Senator STEVENS. Well, it’s not unlike the problem we faced

when we changed the radios—and the communication divides for

our ships off our shore. We did change them—twice, in my time

here in the Senate. And in both instances, we had to have a period

in which people could adapt to these new regulations. And it was

an expensive thing to change radios on—not only pleasure craft,

but on the fishing boats and the marine safety boats and the Coast

Guard Auxiliary. It took a lot of money to do that.

Unless there is money available for these local people to make

that change, they’re not going to be able to comply.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I would agree with that, sir.

Senator STEVENS. And the difficulty is, if you change into LAN

mobile radio first, your people are going to come on the scenes and

be talking to each other, but the guys who are there first are going

to be talking in a different language. And that bothers us considerably, particularly those of us who come from very sparsely populated areas and have enormous problems in dealing with the security of the homeland for everybody concerned. I mean, we’re stuck

out there, half the coastline of the United States off one State.

And if we’re going to be able to follow the lead of the Federal

Government, some consideration has to be given of the cost of and

the time frame for compliance. All we ask is to be able to try to

work together. I’d hate to see FEMA convert completely in the Federal system of communications devices that could not be used because we don’t have the type of devices that are necessary to understand one another. It’s the largest problem for us, and I hear

you say it’s the largest one for you.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. The largest problem in the Nation right now that

faces us is the ability to communicate, and I don’t think this is a

problem that can be solved in 1 year, or 2 years. This is a multiyear problem, and it’s going to require assisting State and local

communities in funding by way of grants to achieve these standards we need to set in place.

Senator STEVENS. How long will it take us to devise the standards?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. We can devise the standards probably in 3 to 6

months, easily, with necessary input. We’ve already done a lot of

groundwork in this area, and I think that emergency managers,

fire and police across the country recognize the problem. They want

to solve the problem as much as we do. And we can’t put the entire

burden on their back. This has to be something we solve shoulder

to shoulder, and I’m anxious to tackle the problem.

Senator STEVENS. Thank you very much.

Senator MIKULSKI. Senator, are you coming back, or——

Senator DOMENICI. I have both appropriations and a budget

hearing.
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Senator MIKULSKI. Well, you have a question about the authority, again, with——

Senator DOMENICI. I’ll submit four, if you will submit them for

me, Senator Shelby, for him to answer. I’ll just ask one question.

Senator SHELBY. I’d be glad to. You go ahead, and take your

time. I’m coming back.

Senator DOMENICI. Let me just give a little bit of history and see

where we are. First, I hope you know that I’m very much on the

side of the president, in terms of trying to streamline a response

here. The catastrophe we had has come alive on the issue. Where

we had been asleep, waiting around in disbelief that this could ever

happen in America, we now know we have to proceed well beyond

just having first responders in our communities. That isn’t the solution to the problem. That’s just the beginning.

But I’ll give you just a bit of history. The National Defense Authorization Act of 1996 had a provision in it. In 1996. Imagine. And

we did so little about it. It was an amendment offered by Lugar,

Nunn, and Domenici. It included a provision that responder training was to take place in 120 major cities to prepare for potential

disaster attacks that might use weapons of mass destruction. The

Department of Defense carried out most of this training, but in

1999, the Clinton administration transferred it from the Department of Defense to the Department of Justice.

Through the leadership of Chairman Judd Gregg, the Senate

Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary Subcommittee required the Clinton administration to prepare a 5-year counter-terrorism plan for the Federal Government. I believe this was in 1998.

As part of that initiative, the National Domestic Preparedness

Consortium was established. It was headquartered in Fort McClellan, in your State of Alabama. There are four training partners

spread out in the country. There are experts now in explosives,

chemical, and biological weapons of mass destruction, and others.

So I understand the need for central coordination among this

myriad of Federal programs dealing with terrorism. Yet at the

same time, significant groundwork has already been laid in the department—that is the Department of Justice—to carry out this effort. There are many professionals already hired and on board. I

think you’re aware of that situation.

So preparedness within FEMA that would be designed, among

other things, to work closely with State and local governments to

ensure their planning, training, and equipment. Those are the

words the president used to create this transfer when he created

it, that we were to ensure that they would work closely with State

and local governments, et cetera.

In your written testimony, you stated that FEMA is a natural

Federal agency to be the single point of contact to facilitate and

oversee the implementation of this national effort to build preparedness capability.

I have one question that falls on that set of facts. Given the fact

that the groundwork is already there—it’s been laid in other departments and agencies—and that there are very large increases

requested for first-responders in the president’s budget, why do you

believe that your agency is such an obvious choice for this task?
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Mr. ALLBAUGH. I think simply and solely because of our existing

relationships with State and local community leaders. We have

been training first responders for a number of years, since the inception of FEMA, back in 1979. And I would think that, based

upon those relationships—and, quite frankly, maybe those individuals are the ones you should ask the question: Who do they best

want to deal with?

But we are providing at the Federal Government a confusing

array of options as to who local and State individuals need to go

to for their training. Regardless of whether it’s FEMA or Justice

or DOD—all the first responder training, I would ask, be consolidated into one area so we make it as easy and as simple as possible

for those individuals who need to receive the training.

We have an incredible amount of grants that we do on an annual

basis to State and local communities. This year alone we’ll give

over $3.1 billion to State and local communities in the way of

grants to assist them with their preparedness, mitigation, and

planning. This year, because of New York City and the Pentagon,

we’ll spend over $7 billion in grants.

And those relationships are ongoing, they’re evolving, they’re

thriving, and they are the basis, the sole basis, for us being able

to provide the training that we do in such a wonderful job up at

Emmitsburg.

Senator DOMENICI. Thank you very much.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well, thank you, Senator Domenici, for a really active engagement in these issues. This committee will stand in

recess so that it can go to vote. And we’ll be back——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I promise I won’t leave.

Senator MIKULSKI [continuing]. In 10 or 15 minutes, and we’ll resume and follow our regular order.

The subcommittee will now resume its deliberations. And, Mr.

Allbaugh, I want to thank you for coming to the committee and

know that this is not the hearing on the FEMA appropriations.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Right.

Senator MIKULSKI. This is the discussion on, really, a year’s

work, going back to when the president, in May, asked you to really establish the Office of National Preparedness at FEMA and then

to present recommendations to him, as I recall, in the fall. And, of

course, before those recommendations happened, we had the September 11, attack.

Could you tell us why, when the vice president and the president

asked you to conduct that review, where were you before the attack

and then how that then evolved into what you’re presenting today?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. What we were leading up to was a presentation

of a confusing picture at the State and local level, and especially

at the Federal level, as to who was responsible for what when an

occurrence takes place. Then we were sidetracked with the activities on the 11 and, at the end of last year, began aggressively reestablishing ourselves with ONP. I selected Mr. Bruce Baughman,

who’s been with FEMA since its inception, to head up the responsibilities of ONP. He’s doing a fabulous job, has the necessary contacts throughout the Federal Government, and I’m proud he’s going

to be leading this effort.
18

But crystalizing the necessary training, equipment purchases,

and crafting a plan for the country to make sure that our first responders are the best trained, best equipped, best exercised—it’s

great to buy the toys. It’s wonderful to train on those toys. But if

we don’t exercise, we never know where the glitches are. And I

learned over the past year, and it was brought home to me especially on the activities of the 11, the need to train and exercise

more.

A sizeable portion of the president’s proposal of $3.5 billion will

go to training and exercises at the State and local level. So Bruce’s

shop will be responsible for coordinating that entire effort with

State and local communities.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well, Mr. Allbaugh, just listening to you, it’s

like kind of being at a hearing in NATO. When NATO first got

started, there was this whole issue of who was in charge, the interoperability—were we going to speak a common language, and they

were all going to speak on the same frequencies.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Right.

Senator MIKULSKI. This whole issue of, I will call it, ‘‘inter-operability,’’ not to have sameness in our local communities,’ cause communities are not the same, but this whole inter-operability issue,

even within states—you know, over a 100 years ago, we had the

great Baltimore fire, and we found, when people came to our rescue, because of even that equipment in those days, they could not

help us. That established the—that led to the establishment of the

national fire-plug standards.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. That is right.

Senator MIKULSKI. And, you know, I do not want to reduce it to

that, but that was the technology at the time. Do you see—what

you are proposing dealing with what we call the inter-operability,

the communication issue, even speaking the common language, so

the codes or whatever or—language all means the same.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I believe that is the challenge ahead of us. Setting national standards so everyone will understand what is required when it comes to deployment of assets at any given incident—on a regional basis and a statewide basis—so we will not

have pumper trucks show up at a site that cannot connect the

hoses; so we can have and ensure that police and fire are communicating on the same frequencies and have the ability to talk to one

another; so we make sure we don’t put, unnecessarily, lives at risk

beyond the lives that those brave men and women are trying to

save.

It is a problem nationwide, and we can solve this. There are a

number of entities right now at the Federal level that are trying

to address this, including an interagency committee headed by Justice and DOD. We have been asked to participate. I look forward

to our participation, helping solve this problem with the FCC. It is

a massive problem, but it can be solved.

Senator MIKULSKI. It is a massive problem. First of all, what I

am interested in both in the new proposals and the ideas that you

are expressing today, whatever is the office, Is what the president’s

proposals, particularly for the merger with Justice or the moving

over of Justice—is it a change that will make a difference?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I believe it will.
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Senator MIKULSKI. Could you elaborate?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I believe it is——

Senator MIKULSKI. I say it in the most cordial way. We really

want to work with the president——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Sure.

Senator MIKULSKI [continuing]. Governor Ridge, you and John

Ashcroft and——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I appreciate that.

Senator MIKULSKI [continuing]. You know, we’re all kind of Team

America here.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Well, let me first congratulate the members of

the committee for the hard work that you put in on addressing first

responders. You have the five training facilities that Senator Shelby alluded to earlier. They are assets to this country. And the goal

is to make sure that we properly enhance those assets so there is

no confusion among State and local first responders as to where

they should go for proper training.

I believe ODP primarily focuses on fire, rescue, and HAZMAT.

We’re an all-hazards agency. We want to make sure first responders can address any type of incident. And now our most critical incident is one that is man-made, a catastrophic disaster that we’ve

all seen.

We have the necessary relationships and training to coordinate

this, nationwide. And I think the president is interested in simplifying a command structure, if you will, within the executive branch

as to who’s responsible for what. And that’s the purpose and the

reason behind moving ODP, and the desire to move ODP to FEMA.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well, do you think that this new arrangement, where FEMA will remain an all-terror, an all-hazards agency, because there are those in some of the local communities that

are wondering are we becoming an all-homeland security agency or

an all-terrorism-focused agency?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I understand that——

Senator MIKULSKI. How would you keep the focus when it being

this all-hazard response for our first responders, because that’s

really what we’re talking about.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Yes, ma’am. I understand their concern. I think

part of the reason that there is a special added emphasis on homeland security is because the events of September 11 are 5 and a

half months ago, still fresh in our mind. We’re very concerned

about our security, nationwide.

That is not to dismiss or take away, in any way, shape or form,

at FEMA, our responsibility for disaster mitigation, after the fact

and pre-disaster mitigation. That and flood protection are our core

entities. We will continue, as we have in the past, making sure

that communities are well educated. We will assist them, as we

have in the past, with necessary grants to better improve their

building-code practices, when it comes to flood protection, or any

type of mitigation that the community would like to take place.

We need to be prepared for everything. We’re not as prepared as

we should have been on the 11. We’re better prepared today than

we were, and we’ll get better as each day passes.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well, am I correct in assuming that what a

first responder needs to do—particularly now some of the fire-
20

fighters—is to—whether it’s a national disaster for our emergency

medical and management, et cetera—but our response and our preparedness needs to be the same. And I don’t mean that it doesn’t

require different equipment for a HAZMAT situation and so on.

Do you see that the training and the exercises, which I think is

really what Judd Gregg’s point was yesterday—because under the

Office of Domestic Preparedness, they did a lot of training and exercises—but my point is that the exercise training would be not

only for weapons of mass destruction or a terrorist attack, or a

chemical incident. But it also could be another natural disaster.

Would you see those exercises——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Absolutely.

Senator MIKULSKI. I see Bill shaking his head. Did you want to—

go ahead.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Absolutely. We truly are an all-hazards agency.

And many times we have individuals who focus just on floods, or

they focus on tornados, or they focus on hurricanes. We need each

one of those individuals in the responder community to be able to

respond to literally anything. This training will be all across the

board for all first responders.

Senator MIKULSKI. Senator Shelby, you’ve been very patient and

very generous with your own colleagues. Please, you go right

ahead.

Senator SHELBY. Thank you. Thank you Madam Chairman.

Senator MIKULSKI. And you go right ahead.

Senator SHELBY. Thank you, first of all, for holding this hearing

and for your courtesy.

I’m deeply concerned that the ongoing—and I mentioned it in my

opening statement——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Yes, sir.

Senator SHELBY [continuing]. First-responder training programs

could be compromised by the proposal to switch lead agencies midstream. Any disruption in training activities could result in serious

consequences.

So the question remains: Why are we doing this? In my opinion,

the only reason that we should switch agencies midstream is because there is overwhelming evidence that these programs can become better than they are in the current structure.

Last year, Congress provided $35 million to the Center for Domestic Preparedness so they may train 10,000 first responders this

year. In addition, thousands more will be trained by the other consortium programs. The White House describes the budget proposal

as one that will allow, quote, ‘‘more than 11,000 emergency-response personnel to be equipped and trained in 2003.’’

Could you tell us why a budget that professes to increase our Nation’s commitment to first responders by $3.2 billion would actually, it seems to me, result in a decrease in the number of those

individuals being trained?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. No, sir, I can’t. That logic fails me——

Senator SHELBY. Would you get back with me on that?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I sure will. I’d be happy to research that.

Senator SHELBY. That may have just been a statement, but it

was a statement.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Would that have been a statement from OMB?
21

Senator SHELBY. I don’t—I thought it was the White House. So

it could have come from there. I don’t know where it came from.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I apologize. I’m not familiar with that.

Senator SHELBY. Would you furnish that——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I’d be happy to do that, sir.

Senator SHELBY [continuing]. And respond back to——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. You bet I would.

Senator SHELBY [continuing]. Myself and to the Chair. FEMA is

responsible—just a little background here, and then I’ll get into

questions—responsible for all off-post emergency-preparedness activities in relation to the Anniston Chemical Destruction Facility at

the Anniston Army Depot. Technical and bureaucratic problems

have plagued the CSEPP program in Anniston. Most recently,

FEMA has withheld funds allocated for the Anniston CSEPP program in Calhoun County by Secretary Pete Aldridge.

You hosted a recent meeting with officials from the Army and

FEMA about the CSEPP funds. And Governor Siegleman, if he

hasn’t, he’s planning to file suit in the Federal District Court in

Birmingham in an effort to stop further operations of the incineration facility until the Army and FEMA address and implement

several outstanding critical safety measures in Calhoun County.

My question is this. Although I regret you were unable to attend

the recent meeting in my office with Senator Sessions and others

regarding the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program to discuss critical safety issues involving Calhoun County and

surrounding communities in my State. It wasn’t—Congressman

Aderholt, Congressman Riley was not there, but his staff was—I

correct myself.

But this is just not an Alabama issue, as Senator Stevens has

made clear. I’m concerned about all the communities that are home

to U.S. chemical weapons and stockpiles. I’m sure you understand

and agree with the concern that many people who live in these

communities have after the attack of September the 11. Many see

these sites as high-risk areas and targets for terrorism.

I’m encouraged by the steps the Army and the FAA have taken

to increase the security of these stockpile facilities. As the director,

though, the agency responsible for all post-emergency preparedness

around these sites, I’m troubled that critical safety measures are

still being debated, and emergency-preparedness funding continues

to be withheld by FEMA in my State.

What are you doing to see that these issues are resolved, and the

sense of vulnerability that many feel in these communities is replaced with a sense of confidence that they enjoy maximum protection as required by the statute?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Thank you, Senator, for the question. I, too, am

deeply concerned about those individuals in Anniston and surrounding all eight sites. We have met with city officials. We are

continuing a dialogue. I have asked David Paulison, who’s the U.S.

fire administrator, to take this responsibility personally for me to

resolve this issue. Just recently, we disbursed $25 million to the

State, $16 million to the State and $9 million to Anniston. There’s

still $15 million to be disbursed.

I’m anxious to solve this problem. The issue basically revolves

around masks. We lack the necessary testing on masks, the appro-
22

priate recommendation. I’m deeply concerned about giving masks

to individuals without proper training, Senator. I don’t mind providing the training to those individuals. I am worried about giving

folks a mask without the training, and then they have a false sense

of security. We’re meeting Friday and the beginning of next week

with numerous individuals to address the remaining $16 million,

and I’m——

Senator SHELBY. What we are trying to do is work that out——

Mr. ALLBAUGH [continuing]. Anxious to resolve this.

Senator SHELBY [continuing]. But work it out to make sure that

the people who live in the community there are safe if there were

to be a mishap.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I understand.

Senator SHELBY. Understand where we’re coming from.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I do understand, sir. I’m concerned with, not only

that site, but the other seven sites as well.

Senator SHELBY. I would also like to explain with a short narrative why so many people are frustrated and outraged with

FEMA’s activity regarding funding and implementation of safety

measures. You alluded to that. Let me just run through it.

One of the most pressing safety items has been an upgrade of the

country’s EMIS—is that what you call it—software.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Software, yes.

Senator SHELBY. EMIS software system. This upgrade would

allow the local EMA to quickly and accurately warn the thousands

of people who live within a short distance of the stockpile in the

event—the chemical stockpile—in the event of an accident.

Despite the existence of EMIS, the Army accepted an unsolicited

bid in 1993 from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to develop

a second emergency software system for the CSEPP program,

which is known as FEMIS, F-E-M-I-S. Forty million dollars and 9

years later, General Doseberg, the stockpile commander, said the

Army will not use FEMIS because of test failures. Consequently,

Calhoun County is using EMIS. Funding to upgrade EMIS has

been requested so that the Army in Calhoun County will have the

best possible software system operating their EOCs.

Last October Undersecretary of Defense Pete Aldrich got involved in the Chemical Demilitarization Program. An agreement

was reached to fund the software upgrade. This software funding

issue has persisted for years, and it’s consistently been denied by

FEMA. The Army and FEMA have studied this issue and conducted numerous tests.

In fact, another meeting was just recently held in Denver, Colorado, to further study the EMIS versus FEMIS issue. This delay

has been perplexing because of the overwhelming support of the

Army and the communities which are home to these sites have

given to EMIS. FEMA, though, has continued to support the use

of the FEMIS system.

Interesting, 2 weeks ago, the top official of FEMA responsible for

this matter announced plans to leave FEMA to take a job with

Battel Memorial Institute, which operates the Pacific Northwest

National Laboratory, the developer of the FEMIS software. Apparently this move has been in the works for some time.
23

A somewhat different, yet similarly curious, situation exists

within the Army, regarding personnel with strong connections to

the FEMIS software. I find it very discouraging that employees at

the Army and your agency who are responsible for working with

my State on these critical safety issues appear to have such a conflict of interest.

I hope that you will be sensitive to situations like this in the future as we all work to ensure the safety of these stockpile communities.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I appreciate your concern. I share that concern.

I——

Senator SHELBY. Where are we on that?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. We’re about to resolve the $6 million on the automation issue. Yes, sir.

Senator SHELBY. Will it work?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Well, I don’t know. It’s beyond my technical capabilities, but we will resolve this. And I probably hastened the departure of that individual from our agency.

I cannot—I will not tolerate conflicts of interest.

Senator SHELBY. Good.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. And it irritates me to learn of these things. And

we’re in the process of correcting this problem. I appreciate you

pointing it out.

Senator SHELBY. Mr. Director, lastly—the Chairwoman has been

very courteous here—I want to just mention to you and your staff

that you—we have an ongoing interest in a constituent matter that

your staff—Senator Sessions, Congressman Riley, and I have previously written to you about, and we’ll touch base with you again

on that. We hope you can resolve that.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Is this regarding——

Senator SHELBY. Other than that——

Mr. ALLBAUGH [continuing]. Pine Bluff, Arkansas, that——

Senator SHELBY. That’s right.

Mr. ALLBAUGH [continuing]. You’re talking about? We have a series of investigations——

Senator SHELBY. Yeah, that’s what——

Mr. ALLBAUGH [continuing]. Going on there.

Senator SHELBY. We want you to find out what needs to be done

and do it.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. That’s what I’m trying to find out, sir.

Senator SHELBY. Good.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I know there are some problems, and I want

to——

Senator SHELBY. We want you——

Mr. ALLBAUGH [continuing]. Correct them.

Senator SHELBY [continuing]. To do what’s right.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Thank you. I want to do what’s right.

Senator SHELBY. And do it in an expeditious way. Okay?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Yes, sir.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well, thank you, Senator. Those were really

very enlightening questions. And I think your experience, not only

on the Appropriations Committee, but in both chair and ranking on

the Intelligence Committee, really——

Senator SHELBY. Thank you.
24

Senator MIKULSKI [continuing]. Serves this committee well. Senator Bond is really tied up on the floor. We’re going to submit his

questions for the record, but let me go to mine.

Senator Domenici really raised some very important issues, and

I’d like to clarify it. First of all—this goes to the first-responder initiative—has the Justice Department’s Office of Domestic Preparedness actually moved to FEMA, or is that something waiting for

other actions?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. It has not moved to FEMA. We are waiting on

other actions. We do have the authority, as far as I know with the

Stafford Act, to receive the responsibilities that ODP has been performing.

Senator MIKULSKI. So you believe—and I’m not disputing this. I

think we’re all trying to parse this out.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Sure.

Senator MIKULSKI. Now, you believe that, under the Stafford Act,

you have the legislative authority to move, shall we say, inter-operably with Justice. Is that correct?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Yes, ma’am.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well, we would appreciate from FEMA how

we are moving through thisMr. ALLBAUGH [continuing]. We have the ability to perform the

functions at ODP. We don’t have the authority to move any agency

or any part of an agency.

Senator MIKULSKI. And what type of authority do you need? Do

you need an executive order from the president, or do you need legislative and statutory authority?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I think we need legislative authority. I think it

could be moved, as well, with an executive order from the president.

Senator MIKULSKI. I see. Well, I believe that that should require

more conversation with Governor Ridge our colleagues at Commerce—at State, Justice, Commerce——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Sure.

Senator MIKULSKI [continuing]. To see this. I think we—again,

we’re all united in the same goals. There are some reservations,

but I believe we can—there’s a spirit of goodwill to work this

through. Let me, though, ask a couple of other questions along

those lines.

Well, first of all, you are waiting for other actions. Who do you

think is going to take those other actions, and when, or do you—

this seems to be more working this through our appropriation——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I think it’s a combination of informing members

on the Hill in both houses, along with the Attorney General and

myself working through those necessary administrative actions

that need to take place in order for this function to be moved over,

as well as budgetary requirements to fully fund ONP in the future.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well, my recommendation—I really— we’d

would hope that Governor Ridge could come and speak to the full

Appropriations Committee, really accompanied by you and the FBI,

who is crisis management and so on. But I think that there will

be other conversations, and we look forward to having them.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I’ll look forward to those.
25

Senator MIKULSKI. Let me ask, though, the thinking—there’s—

we’re talking about three different first responders: our firefighters,

our police officers, and our emergency medical officers. Am I correct?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. And emergency managers.

Senator MIKULSKI. And emergency managers. They, on a day-today basis, perform three different kinds of functions. They have

three different kinds of cultures. They have three different kinds

of equipment needs or different kinds of technology needs. Absolutely, the training and the exorcizing—or exercising—exorcizing is

what we have to do with Al Qaeda—but—that’s Catholic, you

know, what exorcists do.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Yes, ma’am.

Senator MIKULSKI. And——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I hope never to experience it.

Senator MIKULSKI. Yes. And I believe, though, President Bush is

doing his best in that way.

But, as you see—actually, on the ground, they need to really be

working together. Do you envision—how do you envision that that’s

going to work?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Well, part of our challenge and our responsibility

is to encourage a command structure nationwide, from the top

down. These individuals do not follow a structure where an incident takes place and everyone’s sharing information sitting at the

table at the same time or receiving information, a part of the decisions. That’s where a lot of confusion arises.

It is my hope that, using the incident command structure, we can

lead the way, as we have at the Federal level—lead the way with

State and local entities in challenging them to rise and meet the

same standard using the command structure.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well, again, I just want to point out an example. In Montgomery County, here in Maryland——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Right.

Senator MIKULSKI [continuing]. You have both the combination of

county-paid professional firefighters and volunteer fire departments. In fact, Rescue 1 that dashed to the Pentagon was volunteer. Mr. Duncan, the county executive, pointed out that he has 19

different volunteer fire departments, and they don’t have a central

command. In fact, they don’t have a central command with him,

and they like being autonomous. That’s part of it. And I only use

this as an example of even what’s going to need to be pulled together at a local level. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but we’re

going to have a lot of work ahead of us.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. We have a lot of work ahead of us. It is a steep

challenge. It is probably the second-greatest problem we face, beyond just the communications issue. Communities need to step up

to the plate and enforce a command structure within their local jurisdiction.

Senator MIKULSKI. And you see that as the incident command.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I do. I think that is something that has grown

over the years out of the fire service, and it has proven to work efficiently. You’re right, there are a variety of cultures that have been

resistant to a command-structure approach, but it is the only way

to ensure that the job is being done, and being done correctly, and
26

all the tasks at hand are being addressed, as well as performing

our most important function, which is saving lives and protecting

property.

Senator MIKULSKI. In the First Responder Initiative, how would

the money flow? Would it go to States? Would it go to the local

county governing body? Would it go directly to police departments,

fire departments, EMSs?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Unlike the fire grant program that Congress was

so gracious in funding last year and now the next two successive

years, which are direct grants to local fire departments, we plan to

use this grant money by passing it along directly to the States and

ensure that 75 or 80 percent of that money is passed, then, on to

local communities, who actually need the money for the training,

planning, and equipment purchases—again, adhering to a set of

national standards that we will set.

Senator MIKULSKI. Now, you said ‘‘going to the States.’’

Mr. ALLBAUGH. First—yes, ma’am.

Senator MIKULSKI. And then the States putting it out.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. That’s correct.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. They’re our partners in just about every other

grant program that we administer at FEMA. We have existing relationships, existing systems in place. It is the appropriate way to

disburse this money in almost a block-grant form.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well, I think this will require further conversation, because local leadership—mayors and county executives—in my case, also county commissioners—always feel that

States take a lot of overhead before it gets to them.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. And that’s why——

Senator MIKULSKI. You were——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I understand.

Senator MIKULSKI. You were governor——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I’ve heard those same concerns, ma’am.

Senator MIKULSKI [continuing]. Then-governor Bush’s senior

chief of staff——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I understand.

Senator MIKULSKI [continuing]. So you know——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I understand.

Senator MIKULSKI [continuing]. So you know him. And I think it

has—it has validity. And yet at the same time, FEMA, through its

emergency management responses, work through the States. So I

also—we understand that.

The fire grant—when we had the professional fire folks here, and

we had a volunteer fire department—the national head of volunteer

fire departments, they really were strong in keeping the fire-grant

programs separate, which you could imagine that. But you see

this—the fire-grant program ending and then going the other way.

Is that correct?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. No, ma’am, I don’t. I see——

Senator MIKULSKI. No?

Mr. ALLBAUGH [continuing]. Those two programs separate

and——

Senator MIKULSKI. So you would continue to keep them separate?
27

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I would continue to have the fire-grant program

do what’s been done over the last year. We implemented that program in a short 5-month period and got $100 million out the door

all by September 30 last year, going to basic firefighting needs.

The First Responder Program is a more global program—$3.5

billion, for terrorist training, weapons-of-mass-destruction training,

those incidents that are really catastrophic in nature—and it’s almost as if you’re comparing apples and oranges when you try to

combine those two programs.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well, Mr. Allbaugh, I’m happy to hear you

say that, and particularly during this next year, while we’re trying

to really work to clarify in the best—move ahead on these organizational issues.

I would, as we move through this appropriation, just really want

to stay the course on the fire-grant program. And FEMA and its

fire administrator—and I want to acknowledge his presence here,

as well—really get kudos in the way the program was organized.

For the first time, there were bumps and potholes, but no realignments. And also the firefighting community really appreciated that

it was peer-reviewed.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Yes, it was.

Senator MIKULSKI. That those who know what they do——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Awarded on a competitive basis and——

Senator MIKULSKI. Yes. It is peer-reviewed and competitive, and

they really thought that was first class, and so do I. They also

talked about the Urban Search and Rescue Teams.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Yes, ma’am.

Senator MIKULSKI. And Senator Bond had the leadership for Missouri here, and he really outlined—yes—an outstanding plan. Because we said, ‘‘Should we expand? These are terrific.’’

What do you see the role of the Urban Search and Rescue

Teams—will they also be put under this, or how could we concentrate, in this year’s appropriation—because we’ll be making

down payments on where we totally want to go—on how we can

improve Urban Search and Rescue Teams?

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I have a deep affinity for those men and women

who are a part of our 28 teams nationwide. I personally would not

increase the number of teams that we have, but rather, in years

to come, improve our money that’s spent in the USAR arena, in the

area of equipment caches training again, and exercises and enhancing individual task force capability to respond to incidents.

We were very, very fortunate, as you’ve already alluded to, in

having the folks at Rockville and then Fairfax County right here

in the back yard, essentially, of Washington, to respond to the site

at the Pentagon. They did a first-class job working closely with Arlington police, Alexandria police, Arlington fire, Alexandria fire,

and, of course, the individuals at the Pentagon. We were able to

dispatch eight USAR teams immediately to New York City.

There are 28 teams, two task forces on each team, 31 individuals

on each task force—they are thoroughbreds, for all practical purposes, of the industry. And——

Senator MIKULSKI. Now, they refer to themselves as your special

forces.
28

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Well, they are. They’re as close to special forces

as FEMA will probably ever come.

Senator MIKULSKI. Or the Marines. Depending on the point they

wanted to make, they were either Marines or special——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Right.

Senator MIKULSKI [continuing]. Forces. But whatever they were,

they were terrific. And——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. They are deployable in a short, 4-hour period,

and we’re working on logistically shading that time to the best of

our ability. We still are due reports from the incident support

teams—after-action reports—after the Pentagon event and New

York City, which we’ll be receiving in the next month and making

improvements upon that and recommendations to improve their

budgets along the way.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well, again, I think we’re absolutely on the

same broadband—or we’re inter-operable with each other. I really

would commend to your attention the testimony of the Missouri

leadership.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I’ve read that.

Senator MIKULSKI. Yes. And I think they give us—in my mind,

it gave me a very clear navigational chart. And I look forward to

other conversations with you. Because as we move ahead this year,

and we’re in a very short appropriations—and we’ll come back for

your appropriations hearing, and we appreciate the generosity of

your time today—but how we can really use the fire-grant program

while we’re working on the other issues and moving expeditiously,

how we can strengthen our fire-grants program and at the same

time our—this urban, just search and rescue, so that you would

continue to have growing competency and better-equipped responders even within the firefighting community.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. I couldn’t agree with you more, ma’am, and I appreciate your support for all of our efforts, as well as members of

this committee.

Senator MIKULSKI. Well, listen, you’ve all—FEMA’s been through

a lot, and I just want to thank them. I mean, the way the national

response team—the Office of Federal Response seems to work so

well, when you read all the data that came out of New York, the

way the 13 agencies worked together—I mean, this isn’t about government. This is about health. This is about Americans helping

each other. And that was the response.

And so we really want to thank everybody. We know they’ve

worked very long hours under enormously difficult conditions, and

they’re still up there.

Mr. ALLBAUGH. They are.

Senator MIKULSKI. In other words, the job is not done. And in

some ways, the job is only the beginning——

Mr. ALLBAUGH. Yes.

Senator MIKULSKI [continuing]. In terms of this. So, again, we

look forward to further conversations. We thank everybody.

CONCLUSION OF HEARING

This committee stands in recess until March 6, when we will be

taking the testimony of the Veterans Administration. Thank you.
29

[Whereupon, at 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, February 27, the hearing

was concluded, and the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene

subject to the call of the Chair.]

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