Hearing of the Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee - Ensuring the Transparency, Efficiency, and Effectiveness of Homeland Security Grants

Statement

This morning's hearing is the beginning in a series of hearings that the Subcommittee will conduct regarding homeland security grants. Today we will receive testimony from Federal witnesses on challenges and successes in the management and administration of these grants.

We will also continue a discussion that was begun last month with Deputy Administrator Serino on the President's proposal in the Fiscal Year 2013 budget request to consolidate a number of grant programs into a new National Preparedness Grant Program. Next month, the Subcommittee will continue this examination with a hearing with stakeholders -- those directly
impacted by the proposed change.

Today, I will once again raise a number of questions this that I raised at the Subcommittee's FEMA budget hearing about the President's request for grants as I don't believe, more than a month after the President's budget was released, we have received sufficiently detailed information about the proposed National Preparedness Grant Program.

How would FEMA factor risk when allocating funding under this program?

Would high-risk urban areas, port authorities, and transit agencies be able to apply directly for funding?

What is your plan and schedule for meaningful stakeholder engagement on this proposal?

Allocations under the NPGP would rely heavily on a State's Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment, THIRA, and yet nearly a year after the THIRA concept was first introduced as part of the Fiscal Year 2011 grant guidance, grantees have yet to receive guidance on how to conduct the THIRA process. At our hearing last month, Administrator Serino indicated that the guidance would be released by the end of this month -- which is fast approaching. When can stakeholders expect to see this long overdue guidance?

Questions also remain as to how local stakeholders would be involved in the THIRA process at the State level. As I discussed with Administrator Serino, it is essential that the local law enforcement, first responders, and emergency managers who are first on the scene of a terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other emergency be involved this process. They know the
threats to their local areas and the capabilities they need to attain to best address them.
In addition to considering the National Preparedness Grant Program proposal, I know that all our Members are interested in FEMA's efforts to develop measures and metrics for these programs. Pursuant to the Redundancy Elimination and Enhanced Performance for Preparedness Grants Act, which was approved by this Committee and signed into law in 2010, FEMA worked with the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) to develop performance measures.

While FEMA's collaboration with NAPA was completed months ago, this Committee has yet to receive the resulting report. We recognize that this is a complex undertaking, but FEMA has been attempting to develop these measurements for years. The time has come to finish the job.

In these difficult budgetary times, we must ensure that vital homeland security grant funding is allocated based on risk and every dollar is leveraged to enhance our preparedness and response capabilities. There is no room for wasteful spending on Sno Cone machines, equipment that doesn't work or is incompatible with current systems, or equipment that sits
idle so long that it becomes unusable. When such expenditures are identified, we must take steps to address the problem and allocate the funding to jurisdictions that will make a better use of these funds.

With that, I once again welcome our witnesses. I look forward to your testimony.

Source