May 09, 2006 Contact: Leslie Phillips (202) 224-2627 SENATORS COLLINS, LIEBERMAN SAY EMERGENCY RESPONSE MUST BE PART OF DHS Davis, Shuster Plan Would Further Weaken a Weak Agency   Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, today released the following statement in reaction to a proposal by Representatives Tom Davis and Bill Shuster to move the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) out of the Department of Homeland Security. "FEMA is not now and never has been prepared for a catastrophe the size and scope of Hurricane Katrina. Removing it from the Department of Homeland Security will not change that fact and will further weaken and isolate an agency that does not have the resources, authority, and leadership to do its job effectively. "The seven-month, bipartisan, Senate committee investigation on the preparations for and response to Hurricane Katrina was the most comprehensive study to date. From the facts gathered through 22 hearings, 838,000 pages of documents, and 325 formal interviews, we are recommending a new organization, far stronger than FEMA, to give the federal government's emergency managers the stature, resources, and leadership they need. Our proposed National Preparedness and Response Authority combine the resources and authorities of FEMA with Department preparedness assets, including billions of dollars of grants to states and localities and infrastructure protection and communications functions. It would be responsible not just for disaster response, but for disaster preparedness as well, working hand in hand with state and local officials, other federal agencies, and the private and non-profit sectors to be ready for true catastrophes, whether natural or terrorist. "Removing FEMA from DHS would needlessly sever its ties with key Department assets such as the Coast Guard, law enforcement officers, and communications capabilities, and create confusion for state and local officials who rely on DHS for support. If FEMA were removed from DHS, the Department would have to create its own, internal “FEMA” to deal with terror attacks, duplicating functions that already exist. The function of emergency response needs to be in DHS for the same reason that emergency rooms belong in hospitals - to ensure that all the relevant resources of the broader organization can be quickly and efficiently brought to bear in emergencies."   ###   Printable Version   « previous Press Release next Press Release »   1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 May 2006 Press Releases   May 31 - Lieberman Assails Homeland Security Grant Distribution   May 25 - Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Approves Nominees R. David Paulison and Lurita Alexis Doan   May 25 - Lieberman Warns of Active Hurricane Season in Northeast   May 25 - Lieberman Demands Answers about Information Theft   May 25 - Lieberman Calls for Second Extension of Unemplyoment Benefits for 2005 Hurricane Victims   May 25 - Homeland Security Committee to Vote on Nomination of R. David Paulison to Head FEMA   May 24 - Lieberman Celebrates Connecticut Hero at Stamp Unveiling   May 24 - Lieberman Demands Answers in Joint Hearing on Stolen Vet Data   May 24 - Lieberman Says FEMA Recovery is Fraught with Problems   May 23 - Senator Lieberman's Statement on the Nomination of Lurita Alexis Doan for Administrator of the General Services Administration   May 23 - Lieberman Comments on Security Breach Against Veterans   May 17 - Senator Lieberman Delivers Statement at Robert Portman's Confirmation Hearing   May 17 - Lieberman Challenges OMB Nominee on Administration’s Fiscal Irresponsibility   May 11 - Senate and House Homeland Security Committees Stress Importance of Keeping FEMA Capabilities Within DHS   May 9 - Lieberman Seeks Probe Into HUD Secretary's Cancellation of Contract to Man Who Disliked Bush   May 9 current Press Release   May 8 - Lieberman Presses Norquist on Halliburton Redactions to DOD Audit of Iraqi Contracts   May 3 - Lieberman Calls House Bill Unworthy of Name "Reform"   May 2 - Hurricane Katrina Report and Recommendations Pass Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee   May 2 - Port Security Legislation Authored by Senators Collins, Murray and Lieberman Passes Homeland Security Committee   May 2 - Committee Responds to Senator Clinton's Request that FEMA Be Returned to an Independent Agency
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 340 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510