Subj : FEMA To : All From : Finnigann Date : Sat Sep 03 2005 01:21 am OK Frank, here's a little reseach for you... [It's long, sorry] http://www.fema.gov/about/history.shtm President Carter's 1979 executive order merged many of the separate disaster-related responsibilities into a new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Among other agencies, FEMA absorbed: the Federal Insurance Administration, the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration, the National Weather Service Community Preparedness Program, the Federal Preparedness Agency of the General Services Administration and the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration activities from HUD. Civil defense responsibilities were also transferred to the new agency from the Defense Department's Defense Civil Preparedness Agency. [no mention of Presidents Ford Reagan or George H.W. Bush] President Clinton nominated James L. Witt as the new FEMA director. Witt became the first agency director with experience as a state emergency manager. He initiated sweeping reforms that streamlined disaster relief and recovery operations, insisted on a new emphasis regarding preparedness and mitigation, and focused agency employees on customer service. Billions of dollars of new funding were directed to FEMA to help communities face the threat of terrorism. Just a few years past its 20th anniversary, FEMA was actively directing its "all-hazards" approach to disasters toward homeland security issues. [I beleive they are counting Homeland Security funds here] http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_09/007023.php April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush administration's goal of privatizing much of FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be downsized: "Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program...." he said. "Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level." 2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country." December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who, like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management. March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of terrorism. 2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA's preparation and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery. Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would think we would get maximum consideration....This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified for it." June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes. August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues with his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden. Pres Clinton's Role: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/dr/dr165.html#1 President Delivers Report on Floodplain Management In March President Clinton conveyed to Congress a long-awaited (at leastby some flood aficionados) report - "A Unified National Program forFloodplain Management" (FEMA Document #248, 1994, 54 pp.). The report isa guidepost for the future of floodplain management in the U.S., settingforth a broad conceptual framework for managing the nation's floodplainsto achieve the dual goals of reducing human suffering and property lossdue to floods and protecting the natural resources inherent tofloodplains. The document was prepared by the Federal InteragencyFloodplain Management Task Force, chaired by the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency (FEMA). The Clinton Administration has issued an "Administration Policy Paper"on the current debate over a national all-hazards insurance program andstate and local disaster preparedness. Rising federal costs for majordisasters have prompted concern in both the House of Representatives andthe Senate, which created natural disasters task forces to investigatemethods for reducing losses (see the previous article). The position paper, submitted to the House and Senate by FederalEmergency Management Agency Director James L. Witt and TreasurySecretary Robert Rubin, states that any federal initiative to reducedisaster losses should: · reduce total societal costs of catastrophic natural events · reduce total long-term federal costs of dealing with such events · increase personal financial security in the aftermath of a disaster · increase the extent to which costs of a risk of a disaster are maintained within the private sector, thereby creating incentives to moderate losses from disasters. FEMA Presents NPR2 Plan to President http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/dr/dr165.html#5 On March 27, James Lee Witt, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, presented to the president and vice president the agency's plan for the second phase of the Clinton Administration's National Performance Review (NPR). The plan is geared to reduce the burden on American taxpayers while improving assistance to the nation's disaster victims and their communities. FEMA will save money by eliminating several outmoded programs and activities, liquidating the agency's mobile home inventory, and streamlining both the agency's central and regional offices. In addition, the federal crime insurance program will be transferred to the private market. The FEMA plan calls for the signing of multiyear performance agreements with each state that provide incentives for increasing disaster management capabilities; consolidating funding for grant programs to allow states to better use funds for their special needs; establishing state disaster trust funds; transferring disaster mitigation administrative responsibilities to state and local jurisdictions; and using AmeriCorps and other national volunteer groups to supplement FEMA outreach workers. And there is a whole lot more. Point being Pres Clinton's administration DID something and the current admin took it back. .... For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.46 þ Synchronet þ Bits-N-Bytes BBS Onehellofa BBS bnb.dtdns.net .