I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3565 
To promote the development of disaster plans that will protect the maximum 
number of citizens; to foster public trust, confidence, and cooperation 
with these plans; and to encourage greater public participation in home-
land security by allowing the American people to have a direct and 
influential role in developing and modifying community disaster prepared-
ness, response, recovery, and mitigation plans in collaboration with gov-
ernment officials, emergency managers, health authorities, and profes-
sional responders, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2005 
Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, 
Mr. MCINTYRE, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. LANGEVIN, and Mr. 
FORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees 
on Energy and Commerce and Homeland Security, for a period to be sub-
sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 
such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To promote the development of disaster plans that will pro-
tect the maximum number of citizens; to foster public 
trust, confidence, and cooperation with these plans; and 
to encourage greater public participation in homeland 
security by allowing the American people to have a direct 
and influential role in developing and modifying commu-
nity disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and miti-
gation plans in collaboration with government officials,
emergency managers, health authorities, and professional 
responders, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ready, Willing, and 
Able Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Research indicates that effective responses 
to emergencies, particularly terrorist attacks, require 
the United States to adopt a new paradigm for de-
veloping disaster plans. The current emergency man-
agement approach mistakenly assumes the general 
public to easily be prone to panic and social chaos 
and expects citizens to comply with disaster plans 
they had little or no direct influence in developing. 
Keeping the general public away from participating 
in the actual development of disaster plans, and fail-
ing to incorporate their ‘‘common-sense’’ knowledge, 
has alienated many citizens and jeopardized the abil-
ity of the United States to respond effectively to do-
mestic emergencies. 
(A) According to the New York Academy 
of Medicine’s report, ‘‘Redefining Readiness: 
Terrorism Planning Through the Eyes of the
Public’’, despite this Nation’s investment in 
working out logistics and purchasing technology 
for responding to terrorist attacks and other 
disasters, current emergency response plans will 
ultimately fall significantly short of expectations 
because they were developed without the direct 
involvement of the public and therefore fail to 
account for all of the risks citizens would face 
in a disaster. Because current plans do not pro-
tect the millions of Americans who would be at 
risk of developing complications from the small-
pox vaccine, 60 percent of citizens surveyed 
said they would not go to a public vaccination 
site in a smallpox outbreak. Because schools 
and workplaces have not been prepared to func-
tion as safe havens, 40 percent of citizens sur-
veyed said they would not shelter in place for 
as long as told in a dirty bomb explosion. Only 
20 percent of people believe disaster planners 
know very much about their concerns and needs 
in the event of a disaster; only 50 percent are 
confident that they would receive the help they 
might require in the wake of a disaster; and 
only 30 percent believe the public can have a lot 
of influence on disaster plans being developed.
Nonetheless, even in communities that have 
never experienced a terrorist attack, over one- 
third of the population has a very strong inter-
est in personally helping government agencies 
and community organizations develop disaster 
plans. 
(B) According to the Heritage Foundation 
Executive Memorandum, ‘‘Beyond Duct Tape: 
The Federal Government’s Role in Public Pre-
paredness’’, community public safety measures 
and disaster response activities will succeed 
only if they are community-based. Every com-
munity is unique and local preparedness plan-
ning must account for local conditions of cul-
ture, geography, language, infrastructure, poli-
tics, and numerous other factors. Programs are 
much more effective when members of the com-
munity are engaged in preparedness planning, 
sharing their concerns and ideas with emer-
gency officials. 
(C) Direct, participatory disaster planning, 
unlike the current approach, is a fail-safe 
against developing unrealistic emergency plans. 
It benefits lawmakers, government officials, and 
professional responders by identifying the full
range of risks that the public would face in dis-
aster situations, by instructing what is feasible 
and not feasible in terms of crisis management, 
and by facilitating closer relations with leaders 
from different communities, which in turn fos-
ters greater public trust and confidence. This is 
particularly important, as some communities 
may be less resilient to the consequences of dis-
asters than others. For example, different com-
munities have different degrees of access to 
health care, use languages other than English, 
and have variable levels of trust in traditional 
news sources, the medical community, and gov-
ernment officials. 
(2) According to ‘‘Clinical Infectious Diseases: 
Confronting Biological Weapons’’, in June 2001, the 
simulated bioterrorism exercise, Dark Winter, was 
conducted to examine the challenges senior-level pol-
icymakers would face if confronted with a bioter-
rorist attack that initiated outbreaks of a contagious 
disease. The exercise was intended to increase 
awareness of the scope and character of the threat 
posed by biological weapons among senior national 
security experts and to bring about actions that 
would improve prevention and response strategies.
One of the important lessons learned was that indi-
vidual actions of United States citizens will be crit-
ical in ending the spread of a contagious disease, 
and leaders must gain the cooperation of the Amer-
ican people. Dark Winter participants concluded— 
(A) it is not possible to forcibly vaccinate 
the public or impose travel restrictions on large 
groups of the population without their coopera-
tion; 
(B) to gain cooperation, the public must 
believe there is fairness in the distribution of 
vaccines and other vital resources; and 
(C) the public must be convinced that dis-
ease-containment measures are for the general 
good of society and that all possible measures 
are being taken to prevent the further spread of 
the disease. 
(3) Decades of social scientific research un-
equivocally demonstrate that people are often at 
their finest during crises, contrary to the widely held 
belief that disasters easily lead to panic and a break-
down in social order: 
(A) Rather than panicking, members of the 
public typically converge en masse to help when 
disasters strike. Numerous studies document
the fact that individuals and groups in the im-
mediate impact area of a disaster help manage 
evacuations, perform rescues, locate and dig out 
victims who are trapped, transport them to 
emergency care providers, and repeatedly put 
themselves in danger to ensure that others are 
safe. For example, in the immediate wake of 
the World Trade Center’s collapse, numerous 
ordinary citizens acted swiftly and collectively in 
supporting search and rescue activities despite 
the obvious hazards and uncertainty about ad-
ditional attacks. 
(B) During disasters, people rarely panic, 
turn against their neighbors, or suddenly forget 
personal ties and moral commitments. Instead, 
the more consistent pattern is for people in dis-
asters to bind and work together to help one 
another. For example, on September 11th, peo-
ple successfully evacuated from lower Manhat-
tan in one of the largest waterborne evacuations 
in history. Barges, fishing boats, ferries, and 
pleasure boats spontaneously and collectively 
supported the Coast Guard and harbor pilots in 
moving hundreds of thousands of people away 
from danger, as well as transporting emergency
personnel 
and 
equipment 
to 
docks 
near 
‘‘Ground Zero’’. 
(C) Despite the fact that people may feel 
terrified in disaster situations, even to the point 
of feeling that their own lives are in imminent 
danger, individualistic, competitive behavior is 
rare. Instead, social bonds remain intact, and 
the sense of responsibility to family members, 
friends, fellow workers, neighbors, and even 
total strangers remains strong. For example, 
there are numerous accounts of healthy office 
workers delaying their evacuation in order to 
help injured and disabled colleagues down the 
stairwells of the World Trade Center. 
(D) Highly adaptive and pro-social behav-
ior by the public is common in various types of 
crises, including public health crises. For exam-
ple, when the greater Toronto area faced an 
outbreak of SARS in 2003 that sickened a dis-
proportionate number of health care workers, 
hundreds of American physicians volunteered to 
aid their Canadian colleagues despite the fact 
that SARS was a potentially lethal disease. 
(E) Often, people focused on the manage-
rial and technical challenges of crisis manage-
ment misinterpret the general public as panic- 
stricken and chaotic when they are, in fact, en-
gaging in rational behavior. Such behaviors in-
clude seeking more information, questioning au-
thorities, and undertaking precautionary meas-
ures even if authorities believe these measures 
are unwarranted. 
(F) While there always exists a possibility 
for a breakdown in the social order during a 
crisis, numerous disaster experts agree that the 
most effective ways for government officials to 
counter any potential for panic and to facilitate 
recovery are— 
(i) to provide the public with the most 
accurate and timely information possible 
during a crisis and not withhold vital infor-
mation; 
(ii) to make provisions for the ethical 
and rational distribution of vital resources 
that could have a direct impact on health; 
and 
(iii) to include community residents in 
disaster preparedness efforts before a crisis 
occurs to ensure that response plans are
realistic and address the full range of risks 
that the public would face. 
(4) Civil-society organizations, those organiza-
tions created to bring people together for common 
pro-social purposes, such as professional societies, 
business groups, labor unions, service organizations, 
neighborhood associations, and faith-based groups, 
have assumed critical roles in responding to disas-
ters. In the wake of the attacks on the World Trade 
Center and the Pentagon, civil-society organizations 
and their members organized themselves to aid the 
search-and-rescue efforts and the longer-term recov-
ery process. Unions, tenant associations, professional 
societies, businesses, churches, and other groups gal-
vanized existing social ties, leadership structures, 
and communication links to channel crucial aid: 
(A) The American Medical Association 
contacted State and local medical societies and 
specialty organizations to request volunteers. 
More than 1,700 medical personnel responded 
to requests for critical-care specialists. 
(B) Building trades and labor unions im-
mediately gathered crews of engineers, iron-
workers, laborers, Teamsters, and others to set 
up equipment and to look for architectural
drawings in order to perform the dangerous 
work of searching through the rubble for sur-
vivors. One union hall located in Tribeca was 
converted into a Red Cross Disaster Service 
Center that helped connect affected residents 
with critical relief services. 
(C) Members of the Independence Plaza 
North Tenants’ Association in lower Manhattan 
effectively directed streams of people to safety 
and away from the World Trade Center com-
plex; they organized ‘‘urgent needs’’ crews to 
canvass the area around ‘‘Ground Zero’’ looking 
for homebound residents who required assist-
ance; and they acted as volunteers for local 
businesses when paid employees could not get 
to the area. 
(D) The Seamen’s Church Institute of 
New York and New Jersey, headquartered in 
lower Manhattan, dedicated its cooking facilities 
to feeding rescue and recovery workers; mem-
bers of the Episcopal churches in the area took 
turns staffing the kitchen. 
(5) Effective communication by government and 
emergency officials helps facilitate the public’s pro-
ductive responses to disasters:
(A) According to the Presidential/Congres-
sional Commission on Risk Assessment and 
Risk Management, risk communication and 
analysis should be integrated at all stages of 
the risk management process so emergency 
managers and government officials address 
issues of concern to the public and share infor-
mation in a way that facilitates effective action 
and creates public confidence. 
(B) According to the New York Academy 
of Medicine’s report, ‘‘Redefining Readiness: 
Terrorism Planning Through the Eyes of the 
Public’’, officials cannot effectively commu-
nicate risk to the public until they first learn 
the full range of risks the public would actually 
face in particular disaster situations. 
(C) According to the Heritage Foundation 
Executive Memorandum, ‘‘Beyond Duct Tape: 
The Federal Government’s Role in Public Pre-
paredness’’, the most vital role the Federal Gov-
ernment can have in enhancing the public re-
sponse to a terrorist attack is to ensure that its 
communications are understandable, credible, 
and actionable.
SEC. 3. GOALS. 
The goals of this Act are as follows: 
(1) To promote the development of disaster 
plans that will protect the maximum number of citi-
zens; to foster public trust, confidence, and coopera-
tion with these plans; and to encourage greater pub-
lic participation in homeland security by allowing the 
American people to have a direct and influential role 
in developing and modifying community disaster pre-
paredness, response, recovery, and mitigation plans 
in collaboration with government officials, emergency 
managers, health authorities, and professional re-
sponders. 
(2) To create a working group composed of 
Federal officials and State, county, local, and tribal 
Citizen Corps Council members to coordinate the ef-
forts of different government agencies in identifying, 
developing, and implementing strategies to allow the 
American public to have such a role. 
(3) To encourage greater public participation in 
homeland security and to improve disaster plans by 
enabling the States and localities to effectively incor-
porate volunteers from the general public to assume 
a direct and influential role in community-based dis-
aster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitiga-
tion planning efforts in collaboration with State and
local government officials, emergency managers, 
health authorities, and professional responders, 
thereby integrating these volunteers’ collective expe-
riential knowledge into disaster plans which will ulti-
mately protect many more citizens than would other-
wise be possible. 
(4) To encourage integration of risk commu-
nication and analysis protocols into all stages of the 
risk management process within the Department of 
Homeland Security and the Department of Health 
and Human Services so that emergency managers, 
health officials, and government officials can better 
address issues of concern to the public and can 
share that information in a way that more effectively 
facilitates action and promotes greater public con-
fidence and safety. 
SEC. 4. WORKING GROUP TO INCREASE PUBLIC PARTICIPA-
TION IN COMMUNITY-BASED DISASTER PLAN-
NING EFFORTS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices, acting jointly, shall establish a working group to per-
form the duties described in subsection (b). 
(b) DUTIES.—The working group shall—
(1) assist the Department of Homeland Secu-
rity and the Department of Health and Human 
Services— 
(A) to promote the development of disaster 
plans that will protect the maximum number of 
citizens, to foster greater public trust, con-
fidence, and cooperation with these plans, as 
well as to encourage greater public participation 
in homeland security, by identifying, developing, 
and reviewing strategies that provide the Amer-
ican people the means to volunteer to develop 
community-based disaster preparedness, re-
sponse, recovery, and mitigation plans, and to 
modify pre-existing disaster plans, in collabora-
tion with State and local government officials, 
emergency managers, health authorities, and 
professional responders; 
(B) to help State and local officials provide 
the necessary means and infrastructure for the 
American public to volunteer to assume a direct 
and influential role in community-based disaster 
preparedness, response, recovery, and mitiga-
tion planning efforts, and to modify pre-existing 
disaster plans, in collaboration with State and 
local government officials, emergency managers,
health authorities, and professional responders, 
thereby integrating these volunteers’ collective 
experiential knowledge into disaster plans which 
will ultimately protect many more citizens than 
would otherwise be possible; and 
(C) to develop standards to measure the 
success of a community’s level of direct, 
participatory disaster planning efforts in— 
(i) 
building 
partnerships 
between 
State and local government officials, emer-
gency managers, health authorities, profes-
sional responders, and community-based 
leaders of: industry and business, civil soci-
ety organizations, schools, infrastructure 
(such as utilities, transit systems, rail-
roads, ports, and airports) and health care 
organizations; 
(ii) identifying the full range of risks 
citizens would actually face as a result of 
a conventional or unconventional terrorist 
attack, as well as the most likely other dis-
asters for their particular community; 
(iii) developing community-based dis-
aster preparedness, response, recovery, and 
mitigation plans, and modifying pre-exist-
ing plans, which take into account the full 
range of risks identified pursuant to clause 
(ii); and 
(iv) developing communication links 
for government authorities to disseminate, 
in a timely manner, vital health and safety 
information to community-based leaders, 
allowing the information to be forwarded 
to the greater general public by individuals 
who speak the same languages and are 
part of their community’s particular cul-
ture and day-to-day life. 
(2) consult with the Department of Justice, the 
Department of Defense, the Department of Edu-
cation, the Department of Commerce, the Depart-
ment of Labor, the American Red Cross, and other 
agencies and organizations deemed appropriate by 
the working group to identify and develop strategies 
for— 
(A) promoting greater public participation 
in homeland security by facilitating community- 
based disaster preparedness, response, recovery, 
and mitigation planning efforts; and
(B) helping State and local officials to in-
corporate public volunteers into community- 
based disaster planning efforts; 
(3) consult with and provide guidance to State 
and local governments for the purpose of helping 
them to provide the necessary means and infrastruc-
ture for the American public to have a direct and in-
fluential role in developing and reviewing community 
disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and miti-
gation plans, and to modify pre-existing disaster 
plans, in collaboration with State and local govern-
ment officials, emergency managers, health authori-
ties, and professional responders, thereby integrating 
these volunteers’ collective experiential knowledge 
into disaster plans which will ultimately protect 
many more citizens than would otherwise be pos-
sible; and 
(4) not later than the working group’s termi-
nation date described in subsection (g), prepare and 
present to the Secretary of Homeland Security and 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services specific 
recommendations on how the Department of Home-
land Security and the Department of Health and 
Human Services may—
(A) promote the development of disaster 
plans that will protect the maximum number of 
citizens; to foster public trust, confidence, and 
cooperation with these plans; and to encourage 
greater public participation in homeland secu-
rity by providing the American people with the 
necessary means to volunteer to develop and 
modify community disaster preparedness, re-
sponse, recovery, and mitigation plans in col-
laboration with government officials, emergency 
managers, health authorities, and professional 
responders; and 
(B) help State and local officials provide 
the necessary means and infrastructure for the 
American public to volunteer to assume a direct 
and influential role in community-based disaster 
preparedness, response, recovery, and mitiga-
tion planning efforts, and to modify pre-existing 
disaster plans, in collaboration with State and 
local government officials, emergency managers, 
health authorities, and professional responders, 
thereby integrating these volunteers’ collective 
experiential knowledge into disaster plans which 
will ultimately protect many more citizens than 
would otherwise be possible.
(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 
(1) COMPOSITION.—The working group shall be 
composed of 21 members, as follows: 
(A) Three representatives of the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security, as follows: 
(i) The Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity (or the Secretary’s designee). 
(ii) The Executive Director of the Of-
fice of State and Local Government Co-
ordination and Preparedness (or the Exec-
utive Director’s designee). 
(iii) The Under Secretary for Emer-
gency Preparedness and Response (or the 
Under Secretary’s designee). 
(B) Three representatives of the Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services, as fol-
lows: 
(i) The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services (or the Secretary’s des-
ignee). 
(ii) The Director of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (or the Di-
rector’s designee).
(iii) The Director of the Office of 
Public Health Emergency Preparedness (or 
the Director’s designee). 
(C) Fifteen members appointed by the 
Comptroller General of the United States in ac-
cordance with paragraph (2). 
(2) APPOINTED MEMBERS.— 
(A) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Comptroller 
General of the United States may appoint an 
individual under paragraph (1)(C) only if the 
individual— 
(i) is a current member of a State, 
county, local, or tribal Citizen Corps Coun-
cil; 
(ii) is not a Federal, State, or local 
government employee or elected official; 
and 
(iii) is not an employee, volunteer, or 
representative of a business, association, or 
advocacy organization involved in home-
land security services other than volunteer 
services to Citizen Corps. 
(B) DIVERSITY.—The Comptroller General 
of the United States shall ensure that the mem-
bers appointed under paragraph (1)(C)—
(i) reflect a broad geographic and cul-
tural representation; 
(ii) include at least 3 representatives 
from urban areas, 3 representatives from 
suburban areas, and 3 representatives 
from rural areas; and 
(iii) include 5 representatives who 
serve on a State Citizen Corps Council and 
10 representatives who serve on either a 
county, local, or tribal Citizen Corps Coun-
cil. 
(C) TERMS.—Each member appointed 
under paragraph (1)(C) shall be appointed for 
the life of the working group. 
(D) CHAIRPERSON.—Not later than 14 
days after the date on which the Comptroller 
General of the United States completes the ap-
pointment of the 15 members required to be ap-
pointed under paragraph (1)(C), the Comp-
troller General shall designate the chairperson 
of the working group from among such mem-
bers. 
(E) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the work-
ing group shall not affect the powers or the du-
ties of the working group and shall be filled in
the same manner in which the original appoint-
ment was made. 
(d) SUBCOMMITTEES.—The working group may es-
tablish subcommittees for the purpose of increasing the 
efficiency of the working group. 
(e) MEETINGS.—The working group shall meet not 
less than 4 times each year. 
(f) STAFF.—The Secretary of Homeland Security 
and the Secretary of Health and Human Services may de-
tail, on a reimbursable basis, personnel of the Department 
of Homeland Security or the Department of Health and 
Human Services, respectively, to the working group to as-
sist the working group in carrying out the duties described 
in subsection (b). 
(g) TERMINATION.—The working group shall termi-
nate not later than 3 years after the date on which the 
working group adjourns its first meeting. 
(h) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘disaster’’ includes terrorist at-
tacks and any other emergency event designated by 
the working group involved. 
(2) The term ‘‘working group’’ means the work-
ing group established under this section.
SEC. 5. STATE COOPERATION WITH WORKING GROUP. 
Clause (ii) of section 319C–1(b)(1)(A) of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–3a(b)(1)(A)) is 
amended— 
(1) in subclause (IV), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in subclause (V), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 
end and inserting ‘‘and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(VI) will take specific steps to 
comply with the recommendations of 
the working group established pursu-
ant to section 4 of the Ready, Willing, 
and Able Act to provide the means 
and infrastructure necessary for the 
public to volunteer to assume a direct 
and influential role in community- 
based disaster preparedness, response, 
recovery, and mitigation planning ef-
forts, and to modify pre-existing dis-
aster plans, in collaboration with gov-
ernment officials, emergency man-
agers, health authorities, and profes-
sional responders, thereby integrating 
these volunteers’ collective experiential 
knowledge into disaster plans which
will ultimately protect many more citi-
zens than would otherwise be possible; 
or’’. 
SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
Not later than 1 year after receiving the rec-
ommendations of the working group established pursuant 
to section 4, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting jointly, 
shall submit a report to the Congress that includes each 
of the following: 
(1) The recommendations of the working group 
relevant to the Department of Homeland Security or 
the Department of Health and Human Services. 
(2) A description of the steps that have or have 
not been taken by each Federal department to im-
plement the recommendations of the working group. 
(3) Thorough explanations for rejection of any 
recommendations by the working group. 
(4) Other steps taken to meet the goals of this 
Act. 
Æ