For Immediate Release

February 28, 2001

CONGRESS LIKELY TO REJECT PROPOSED CUT
IN DISASTER PROGRAM THAT HAS AIDED NORTHWEST

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following the 6.8 earthquake in Washington State on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks predicted that the Congress will reject an unfortunately-timed Bush Administration proposal to end a disaster preparedness program launched in Seattle three years ago.

        A budget document summarizing the new Bush Administration’s spending  proposals for the next fiscal year was delivered to Congress Wednesday, heralding the termination of the “Project Impact” disaster preparedness program in the Federal Emergency Management Administration [FEMA] budget, saving $25 million nationwide.  The program was launched as a pilot project in Seattle in 1998, and it has been expanded to 250 cities nationwide, designed to encourage “disaster resistant communities,” Rep. Dicks said.

        The intensive planning and coordination that FEMA has initiated in these Project Impact communities has helped them to protect themselves from the devastating effects of natural disasters by taking actions that dramatically reduce disruption and loss, he said.  “This has been a wise investment, and I am convinced that it helped avoid damage and improve coordination of relief efforts in Western Washington today,” Dicks said.  

        “Congress should continue the progress we’ve made, and I believe we will be successful in rejecting the proposed termination of Project Impact,” predicted Rep. Dicks, who serves as a member of the House Appropriations Committee.


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