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National Communications System
Volume IV, Number 6

No Government Responsibility is More Fundamental than Protecting the Physical Safety of its Population

Statement of Joe M. Allbaugh, Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Before the Joint Hearing of the Committees on Appropriations, Armed Services and Intelligence, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. May 8, 2001

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members.

I am Joe Allbaugh, Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA]. I thank the distinguished committee members for this opportunity to discuss some of the Federal terrorism related activities.

Today, I am also joined by John Magaw, Acting Deputy Director of FEMA. Mr. Magaw is well known on Capitol Hill for his expertise and service to our country. I am honored that he is by my side.

I applaud the Chairs and members of the committees for their foresight in holding this extraordinary joint hearing to underscore the complexity of this issue. I support your goals of overcoming jurisdictional boundaries to focus on building a viable and effective national terrorism response capability.

In working with President Bush over the past several months, I am very much aware of his vision for peace and stability in our world. However, we know only too well there are others here at home and abroad who do not share these ideals.

As the President's director for emergency management, I am also aware of the expectations of our citizens that their Government protect their lives and property when an emergency or disaster occurs, whether it is a hurricane, earthquake, flood, tornado, or as the result of an act of terrorism.

No Government responsibility is more fundamental than protecting the physical safety of its population. In today's world, this obligation includes protection against the use of weapons of mass destruction involving nuclear, biological or chemical agents and materials.

Sadly, we have already experienced the use of destructive agents in Oklahoma City and New York City. The threat of terrorist use of Weapons of Mass Destruction is real, though we pray that an incident will never occur.

Prudence dictates that we take measures to defend our Nation under any circumstances. Therefore, the United States must be fully prepared to deal effectively with the potential threat and possible use of such weapons.

In response to the need expressed by many in Congress, Governors and state and local officials to better focus our domestic preparedness, this Administration is working to address these critical matters.

To this end, President Bush has asked Vice President Cheney to oversee the national effort dealing with weapons of mass destruction. The President has also directed me to establish the Office of National Preparedness at FEMA, which will serve as the focal point for the coordination, and implementation of preparedness and consequence management programs for dealing with the threat of weapons of mass destruction.

This Office will work with other agencies and departments to coordinate Federal programs and assistance in support of an integrated local, State and Federal preparedness and consequence management response capability.

This Office will work closely with the States and local Governments to ensure their input into those programs and activities as it seeks to improve the quality of Federal support for state and local emergency management personnel and first responders.

I am committed to working closely with Attorney General John Ashcroft to ensure that the Department of Justice's lead Federal role for crisis management programs and FEMA's lead Federal role for consequence management efforts are seamless and thoroughly integrated.

This action by President Bush will better focus our current policies and ensure that programs and activities are fully coordinated and integrated in support of building the needed preparedness and response capabilities.

We are now poised to move forward in a meaningful way. I look forward to working with each of you on this important undertaking. This is a critical matter and it will require the commitment of ALL of us working together to ensure its success.

(Courtesy of FEMA.)



Published for internal information use by the National Communications System. Parenthetical entries are speaker/author notes; bracketed entries are editorial notes. This material is in the public domain and may be reprinted without permission.

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