Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2004

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004

AMENDMENT NO. 1327

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, first, I commend the managers of the homeland security appropriations bill for doing an excellent job of trying to put together a bill under very difficult circumstances where we have a budget resolution that really does limit our ability, I believe, to make sure we have in place good security for all of our constituents, no matter where they live in this country.

Everywhere I travel, people have different concerns, whether it is their seaports, trains, borders, infrastructure that easily could be a target of terror. The managers of this budget have worked hard to put together a package, but today I offer an amendment because I believe everything we are trying to do in this bill to improve homeland security will be undermined if our local communities do not have solid emergency response plans.

Let me say that again because it is so important. Everything we are trying to do in this bill to improve homeland security will be undermined if our local communities do not have solid emergency response plans.

When a disaster strikes in one of our communities, we know the phone will ring at the desk of some local emergency manager, and when that phone call comes in, if there is not a plan that is ready to go to deal with that emergency, we are in trouble. Even if we are able to provide all of the equipment and training that our first responders need, if there is not an effective plan at the local level to coordinate a disaster response, then we have all failed to protect our citizens.

I introduce an amendment to ensure that the emergency planners in virtually every county and every community in America will have the tools they need to lead our response to a terrorist attack or other disaster. My amendment will provide $100 million for emergency management planning grants, and it has broad support. My amendment has been endorsed by the Council of State Governments, the National Association of Counties, the National League of Cities, the National Emergency Management Association, and the International Association of Emergency Managers. Those endorsements say a lot. Those endorsements mean our leaders at the city, county, and State levels all recognize the need for this amendment.

Those endorsements say the emergency managers who work to protect all of our communities are asking support for this amendment.

One of the least talked about but most important parts of our response to a disaster takes place outside of the public view.
In every county and major city in this country, there is an emergency response coordinator who works behind the scenes preparing for the worst. They determine what the needs are in our local communities. They develop plans so if there is a tornado or a natural disaster, there is a game plan for everyone to follow. Those plans coordinate the work of many different agencies and organizations and they really are the backbone of our emergency response.

In one community, the emergency coordinator might be the fire chief. It might be the sheriff. In another community there might be a dedicated person who handles emergency planning exclusively. No matter what their title is, they perform a very critical job. They make sure we have an effective coordinated plan to prepare for and respond to in an emergency.

For decades, they worked hard to prepare for natural disasters, developing plans to respond to tornados, earthquakes, floods, and winter storms. Today, they have a massive new responsibility to deal with. Today, they have to develop plans to respond to manmade disasters and plans to respond to terrorist attacks. They have to come up with strategies for handling scenarios that we would never have imagined just a few years ago.

Our local emergency planners have a massive new responsibility, but they do not have the funding to carry it out. This is not an area where we can afford to skimp or to cut corners. If, God forbid, there is a smallpox outbreak somewhere in our country, the phone is going to ring at the desk of the local emergency coordinator. When he or she picks up the phone, either they have a plan to respond to smallpox or they do not. There are no two ways about it.

If, Heaven forbid, a dirty bomb goes off somewhere in our country, either there is a game plan to follow on the shelf, tested, ready to go, or there is not. I want to make sure when that phone call comes, we are prepared, wherever we live in this country. Right now, we have a very long way to go. Trust me, my colleagues do not want their emergency planner in their community to have to choose between preparing for a natural disaster or preparing and planning for a terrorist attack. They need to plan for both.

My amendment would give them the resources they need to meet these new homeland security threats. Simply put, our communities have to build a brand new capability from scratch and they need Federal help.

Turning to the specifics of my amendment, my amendment would provide an additional $100 million to the existing emergency management performance grants. These are the grants that allow our emergency managers to meet the needs in their local communities. I want to note that funding for these grants has been stagnant for about a decade. The underlying bill does provide some funding for these grants, but it is certainly not enough to allow our communities to create this new capability from scratch. In fact, in March of 2002, a survey conducted by the National Emergency Management Association identified a $200 million shortfall for the EMPG Program that has continued to grow.

Emergency planning grants have been around for about 10 years, and they are now the backbone of our emergency response system. They are funded on a 50/50 formula. Half the funding comes from our local level and half the funding comes from us at the Federal level. These grants fund the local emergency management offices that build our State and local emergency capability, and they provide the foundation for our first responders.

In Washington State, without these grants many of our smaller and rural communities would not have had the resources to develop their emergency response plans. So these grants have been critical in helping our communities prepare over the years. Today, these grants are the best vehicle to meet the new challenges because they are flexible.

Emergency management planning grants are flexible, allowing local coordinators, those people on the ground, to use them where they will do the most good for their community.

Emergency managers can use these grants for local planning, first responder training, emergency preparedness exercises, personnel, operational activities, equipment, early warning systems, public information education, mutual aid, and other preparedness response and recovery activities. All of these options are available to local people on the ground, local emergency managers under this grant program.

Some people may claim we can combine this grant program with others and that dedicated funding does not really matter.
But that is not true. If we combine this with other grant programs, we will force emergency planning and coordination to compete with equipment and other important priorities. We should be helping communities meet all of these needs, not pitting one against another so communities come up short. Our local communities need both equipment and planning, and we need to fund both. The emergency management planning grant is the right tool to empower the emergency planners in your community to meet their local needs.

Since September 11, we have asked the local emergency managers in every county in America to develop new coordinated plans to respond to terrorist attacks. We have asked them to take on this critical responsibility, but we have not provided the funding they need. My amendment will provide an additional $100 million in flexible grants to meet the needs from coast to coast.

If our communities do not have solid emergency response plans, then they are really not prepared for a disaster. That is a price we cannot afford to pay. Our ability to respond to a terrorist attack or other disaster is only as good as the emergency response plans in our local communities. If we buy all the equipment but never develop the plans, we are not safe. If we send our firefighters to training but we never coordinate our response to an attack, we are not safe. We do not want our communities to have to choose between preparing for tornadoes or preparing for a smallpox attack. We are asking them to prepare for everything. They need the funding to do that.

This amendment has been endorsed by the Council of State Governments, the National Association of Counties, the National League of Cities, the National Emergency Management Association, and the International Association of Emergency Managers.

If there is a terrorist attack on our country again, the phone is going to ring at the desk of some local emergency manager. One of two things will happen: Either they will have a solid emergency plan for that disaster, know what to do, know what decisions to make; or they will not and Americans will pay the price.

I urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment so one day when that desperate phone call comes, the person who answers that phone, wherever they are, will be ready to lead an effective response. Each of us has the power to make sure our communities in our States are ready.

I urge all colleagues to support the Murray amendment.