Durbin Seeks More Funding for Disaster Planning and Response
DURBIN SEEKS MORE FUNDING FOR DISASTER PLANNING AND RESPONSE
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today sent a letter, along with senators from both political parties, to the leaders of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Democrat, Joe Lieberman (D-CT), urging them to set aside funds for grants that will help states both prepare for and respond to disasters. In the letter, the senators asked the committee to incorporate Durbin's bill, the Mass Evacuation Exercise Assistance Act, into legislation on disaster preparedness. Durbin's bill, which would provide states with grants for evacuation exercises and for the implementation of emergency response plans, is co-sponsored by Senators Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Ken Salazar (D-CO), both signatories of today's letter.
"Our first responders and emergency preparedness officials back home need to know that the Department of Homeland Security will provide them with the tools they need," said Durbin. "As we witnessed with recent natural disasters, communities large and small face special challenges and vulnerabilities when disaster strikes. This bill will help them with the proper planning, preparation, and resources they need to ensure that their citizens will be evacuated quickly and safely should a natural disaster or terrorist attack occur."
Durbin's bill, the Mass Evacuation Exercise Assistance Act, would establish a $250 million a year grant program that will allow states to develop comprehensive evacuation plans, stage drills and exercises to practice and perfect evacuation procedures and stockpile materials needed to supply evacuation staging areas and evacuation routes. Experts say that if evacuation procedures such as those envisioned in the Durbin bill had been in place prior to Hurricane Katrina, many of the problems experienced in that evacuation could have been avoided.
According to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the National Emergency Manager's Association, only a limited amount of homeland security funding can be used for evacuation planning, and that money is generally earmarked for essential personnel, with little money left for the planning and staging of evacuations. Durbin's bill addresses this issue by creating a separate stream of money for preparedness planning.
Text of letter appears below:
May 10, 2006
The Honorable Susan Collins
Chairman
Senate Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Joseph Lieberman
Ranking Member
Senate Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee
601 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senators Collins and Lieberman:
We are writing to you in order to request that you incorporate our bill, the Mass Evacuation Exercise Assistance Act of 2005 (S. 2043), into your forthcoming legislation improving the nation's preparedness and response to natural disasters and terrorist attacks. S. 2043 implements the recommendation in the committee's recently released report, "Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared," that federal agencies work with state and local officials to develop evacuation plans.
Our legislation addresses a gaping hole in our nation's disaster preparedness by providing grants for evacuation exercises and for the implementation of emergency response plans. S. 2043 would establish a grant program to ensure that cities across America have the resources they need to:
# Develop comprehensive evacuation plans;
# Stage drills and exercises to practice and perfect evacuation procedures; and
# Stockpile the materials needed to supply evacuation areas.
In addition, the legislation helps cities prepare for future emergencies and evacuations to ensure that their citizens will be evacuated quickly and safely should a natural disaster or terrorist attack occur. Otherwise, like the victims of Hurricane Katrina, citizens can easily become trapped without food or water in a devastated area or along an escape route.
The Department of Homeland Security recently reported to Congress that many states, territories, and urban areas lack confidence in the adequacy and feasibility of their plans to deal with catastrophic events. The Department's report also highlighted the importance of exercises in preparing first responders for disasters and revealing shortcomings in disaster plans. The Washington Post recently called for increased attention to evacuation exercises and disaster preparation to prevent the disaster that followed Hurricane Katrina. According to the Post, the insufficient federal and local response to Hurricane Katrina "was a failure of execution, not prediction."
As you draft legislation to improve future responses to natural disasters and terrorist attacks, we would appreciate your consideration of S. 2043. The grants for mass evacuation exercises and the execution of emergency response plans provided in the bill complement your efforts to establish a stronger emergency management structure.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin (D-IL)
United States Senator
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
United States Senator
Ken Salazar (D-CO)
United States Senator
http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=255412&&