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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1685 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1685

To ensure the evacuation of individuals with special needs in times of 
                               emergency.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 12, 2005

 Mr. Obama (for himself, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Levin, Mr. Corzine, 
Mr. Feingold, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. Salazar) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To ensure the evacuation of individuals with special needs in times of 
                               emergency.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf 
        Coast of the United States, caused massive damage to the States 
        of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
            (2) The total loss of life in the area is still unknown. 
        The economic loss is still uncalculated, but is estimated to be 
        in the tens to hundreds of billions of dollars.
            (3) Many of the lives lost to the hurricane and the 
        flooding that ensued could have been prevented had everyone 
        been evacuated before the hurricane came ashore.
            (4) Many of those people who were not evacuated lacked the 
        resources to evacuate. Many of those people who lacked the 
        resources to evacuate did not have access to any means of 
        transportation to evacuate. They had neither a vehicle nor the 
        funding to pay for transportation out of the threatened areas. 
        They did not have access to, nor could they afford, temporary 
        accommodations outside the threatened areas.
            (5) Many elderly and disabled individuals, including those 
        in hospitals and nursing homes, were physically incapable of 
        leaving on their own.
            (6) In St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, an estimated 32 of 60 
        residents in the St. Rita nursing home perished in the rising 
        flood waters in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
            (7) A more effective pre-disaster and post-disaster plan 
        for evacuation that addressed the requirements of those with 
        special needs, such as those without transportation or those 
        with physical disabilities, could have helped save lives.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to ensure the preparation 
of communities for future natural, accidental, or deliberate disasters 
by ensuring that the States prepare for the evacuation of individuals 
with special needs.

SEC. 2. EVACUATION PLANS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS.

    The Secretary of Homeland Security shall, acting through the Office 
of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness, take 
appropriate actions to ensure that each State, in its Homeland Security 
Strategy or other homeland security plan, provides detailed and 
comprehensive information regarding its pre-disaster and post-disaster 
plans for the evacuation of individuals with special needs, including 
low-income individuals and families, disabled individuals, the 
homeless, individuals who do not speak English, and the elderly, in 
emergencies that would warrant their evacuation, including plans for 
the provision of food, water, and shelter for evacuees.

SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to Congress a report 
setting forth the plans of the States to evacuate individuals with 
special needs in emergencies that would warrant their evacuation. The 
report shall include a discussion of--
            (1) whether or not the States have the resources necessary 
        to implement fully their evacuation plans; and
            (2) the manner in which the plans of the States are 
        integrated with the response plans of the Federal Government 
        for emergencies that would require the evacuation of 
        individuals with special needs.
                                 <all>
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