From Congressional Quarterly Homeland Security:

Budget Cut Sparks Anxiety About ‘Preparedness’ Mission

By Eileen Sullivan, CQ Staff

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff says preparedness is a top priority for the department, but some say a 15 percent funding cut does not bode well for a new directorate and undersecretary — especially in an administration where only the strongest survive.

Others, however, say the president’s proposed budget for 2007 and his decision to make George W. Foresman the head of the new Preparedness Directorate send precisely the right message: Preparedness is indeed a priority, and Foresman is the guy who can get the job done.

Foresman met privately Wednesday with House Homeland Security Chairman Peter T. King, R-N.Y., and then later with other lawmakers. King said it’s clear that preparedness is a priority and that Foresman knows what he’s doing.

“I find him very impressive, he knows the business,” King said in a telephone interview. “He also knows that the department has to do a better job communicating [to Congress] what it’s doing.”

The Preparedness Directorate is part of Chertoff’s reorganization plan for the department, which is almost three years old. The new directorate would receive a 15 percent cut under the president’s proposed budget for 2007.

Foresman, a Democrat, has 20 years of experience in emergency management and was most recently homeland security adviser in Virginia.

But one administration official, who requested anonymity, said Foresman lacks the political clout necessary in this job to reach out to Capitol Hill when he needs help, such as losing part of his budget.

Most interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic and their relationships with the administration and Capitol Hill.

Talk Is Cheap

Some congressional aides say that Foresman is respected on the Hill, regardless of his political affiliation. But this doesn’t change the fact that the president is sending a mixed message about the importance of preparedness. Foresman’s problem appears to be with the administration and not Congress, said one congressional aide.

Many of the preparedness cuts were made to the department’s homeland security and first-responder grants and training programs. These funds have been consistently trimmed over the past few years.

Some preparedness programs, however, saw increases in the president’s budget, including a new $50 million National Preparedness Integration Program.

In July, Chertoff told lawmakers there needed to be improvements in the country’s preparedness for catastrophes.

“I said we needed to have a solution where we finally pulled together all the preparedness capabilities that are scattered in different components and created one accountable place to make sure that gets done,” Chertoff said during a Sept. 13 news conference on Hurricane Katrina. “And one of the things I said was, ‘We’re racing the clock.’ Unfortunately, the hurricane beat us.”

Just this past Monday, Chertoff said that preparedness was one of the department’s top five priorities.

But “talk is cheap,” said the congressional aide. “Obviously, if you don’t have the resources to do the preparedness, you can’t do a very good job.”

Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., said he is sure Foresman did what he could to keep first-responder funding from being cut, but the administration took money from preparedness and put it toward border security. “This could hurt his clout,” Pascrell said in a telephone interview.

Shrewd Political Instincts

Others, however, aren’t as worried about Foresman’s clout and say his reputation as an experienced emergency manager speaks for itself.

Jerome M. Hauer, a former preparedness official with the Department of Health and Human Services, said the budget cuts do not affect Foresman’s moxie.

“George is the kind of guy that has dealt with budget cuts before in state government and knows how to get things done,” said Hauer, now a homeland security consultant for Fleishman-Hillard. “At the end of the day, I think George will make his voice known and I think he will be able to change things.”

King said Foresman has already shown that he understands the importance of being open with lawmakers. On Wednesday, Foresman explained how DHS decided which regions would receive Urban Area Security Initiative grants in 2006 — a popular grant program based on classified risk factors. King said Foresman was “extremely politically attuned” and recognized the importance of keeping elected officials in the loop. “My first impression is that he knows what he’s talking about, knows what he’s doing and has clout,” King said.