Hearing Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Science, and Technology of the Committee on Homeland Security: the Proposed Fiscal Year 2006 Budget
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Mr. Rogers. None taken. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Like Mr. Thompson, I am very sensitive to volunteer firefighters. My daddy is a retired fireman, and as a local elected official I had a lot of interaction with volunteer fire departments. I am particularly sensitive to having their needs met.
I am curious. The $500 million for the Assistance of Firefighters Grant Program which you have stated is $150 million below last year's appropriation. Do you believe that number that we have in the 2006 budget is going to be adequate to meet the new enhanced needs that our Chairman referenced earlier in a post-9/11 era?
Mr. Mayer. Congressman Rogers, I do believe it is sufficient because it is not funds in a vacuum. It is funds on top of $2.04 billion with the SHSGP-UASI funds and other streams of funding that can help the state and local communities prepare in a post-9/11 world. So I do think it is sufficient, sir.
Mr. Rogers. On a second point, the Center for Domestic Preparedness is in my district, in Anniston, Alabama. I am curious, first, as to your general impression of that installation, whether it is meeting its objectives, what it is doing right, what it is doing wrong, and how this budget is going to affect that installation and the role that it is playing. When it comes to these volunteer units, it is in my view a wonderful resource.
Mr. Mayer. Yes, the Center for Domestic Preparedness is a tremendous resource and federal asset to the country. Marion Cain and the group he has down in Anniston, they do a tremendous job. I will be down their next week on Wednesday with the group that will be training there. The number and volume of first responders that they bring through that facility to train on the chemical response issues, they really do a top-notch job. It is just a tremendous facility. It is a jewel to the State of Alabama, and we are pleased by all the work they are doing down there.
Mr. Rogers. Is this budget number going to adequately support their mission?
Mr. Mayer. It is. It is. What we are trying to do, consistent with moving a number of responsibilities to the state and local level, is to create a fairly robust training program. What we are going to try to do, because we have heard some of the constituency and stakeholder complaints about trying to get that training out, so we are going to try and put more emphasis on getting our awareness and lower level training into the state institutions, the fire academies police academies and what not, so that places like CDP and our national domestic consortium partners in the other states, can focus on more the high-level specific expertise that they bring to bear, like CDP does with the chemical issues.
Mr. Rogers. Excellent. That is all I have, Mr. Chairman.
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