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Panel wants FEMA to focus on prevention
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, meeting for the first time under its new chairman, Sen. Bob Smith R-N.H., approved a bill Wednesday to reauthorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the next five years.
The Disaster Mitigation Act (S. 1691), introduced by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., passed on a voice vote. It would put new emphasis on preventive efforts to reduce the damage caused by natural disasters. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," Graham said.
Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., saying he felt like "a skunk at a party," raised questions about the costs of preventive measures. He said that FEMA operations cost $30 billion over the past ten years, and under the provisions of the reauthorization, the costs would have been $32 billion.
Inhofe and Graham offered a substitute amendment to the bill with technical corrections, which passed on a voice vote.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va. offered an amendment, which clarified that hospitals, cannot use FEMA emergency funds for non-medical expenses such as parking or administration. Sen. Michael Crapo, R-Idaho, offered an amendment for himself and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., that adds private non-profit irrigation systems to FEMA coverage. Both amendments passed on voice votes.
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