NEWS
U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
U.S. Rep. Don Young, Chairman
Contact: Steve Hansen (Communications Director) (202) 225-7749
Justin Harclerode (Communications Assistant) (202) 226-8767
To: National Desk/Transportation Reporter
May 8, 2001
FEMA Director Allbaugh To Testify On Terrorism Preparedness Legislation
Washington, D.C. - The Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) and other representatives of federal, state, and local governments
will testify on domestic terrorism preparedness legislation at a
Congressional hearing on Wednesday.
The U.S. House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and
Emergency Management hearing is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May
9th, in 2253 Rayburn House Office Building. A live audio broadcast of the
hearing will be available on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
website at:
www.house.gov/transportation
The hearing will also focus on the Bush Administration's proposal
announced on Tuesday that will incorporate many of the measures included in
H.R. 525 into a new domestic terrorism program.
Witness List
- U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD)
- U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
- Joe M. Allbaugh, Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Mary Lou Leary, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice
- Charles Cragin, Acting Asst. to Sec.of Defense for Civil Support, Dept. of
Defense
- Raymond Decker, Director for Diffuse Threat Issues, U.S. General
Accounting Office
- Ann Simank, Chairman, Public Safety and Crime Prevention Committee,
National
League of Cities
- Edward Plaugher, Fire Chief, Arlington County, Virginia, International
Association of
Fire Chiefs
- Gary McConnell, Director, Georgia Emergency Management Agency
Six years after the Oklahoma City bombing, federal domestic terrorism
preparedness training programs remain fragmented, uncoordinated,
inefficient, and confusing. Past Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee hearings and government-sanctioned studies have highlighted this
dangerous deficiency, yet more than 40 federal departments and agencies
maintain separate programs to assist emergency responders in dealing with
the consequences of terrorism. These programs primarily help train state
and local officials to recognize and respond to a terrorist attack or create
federal response teams that can assist state and local officials should an
attack occur. As of late 2000 the federal government offered almost 100
separate federal terrorism preparedness training courses and had created
over 100 federal terrorism response teams.
H.R. 525, the Preparedness Against Domestic Terrorism Act of 2001 -
Introduced by U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), this bill would create a
Presidential Council within the Executive Office of the President to oversee
and coordinate the preparedness efforts of more than 40 departments and
agencies. The bill provides the Council with oversight of federal programs
and the authority to make recommendations to OMB regarding budget
allocations for each federal terrorism preparedness program, based on a
comprehensive national strategy. A similar measure (H.R. 4210 introduced by
former Rep. Tillie Fowler) received bi-partisan support last year and passed
the House unanimously under suspension of the rules.
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