DHS official says next FEMA chief needs credentials
Emergency management experience could come from a variety of jobs, including law enforcement and firefighting, preparedness chief says.
The chief of the Homeland Security Department's new Preparedness Directorate said Wednesday that the next director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency should have experience managing emergencies.
Several months into his job as Homeland Security's undersecretary for preparedness, George Foresman said that based on discussions with the DHS secretary and deputy secretary, and knowledge of the system, he is confident that the person appointed FEMA director "will have the appropriate credentials" to reassure Congress and the public.
Foresman, confirmed for the job in December 2005 and previously the preparedness and homeland security adviser to the governor of Virginia, told members of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Science and Technology that, while the new FEMA leader needs to have crisis management skills, those abilities could be gained through a wide variety of experience, including work in law enforcement and firefighting.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, former FEMA Director Michael Brown was widely criticized for lacking disaster management experience.
Under a reorganization announced by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff last July, preparedness activities were removed from FEMA and placed in the new directorate. But Foresman said that FEMA will work with the directorate through a memorandum of understanding "that will define the very specific coordination mechanism" between the two organizations.
"FEMA still has a critical role in preparedness and preparedness has a critical role in FEMA's accomplishment of its mission," Foresman said. "We're going to have very specific, tangible coordination mechanisms in place to make sure it doesn't fall through the cracks."
Foresman said he has met numerous times with acting FEMA Director R. David Paulison and that the agency can call on his directorate in the same way it calls on the Coast Guard or the military for assistance in handling an emergency.
Brown on Monday told National Journal Group reporters and editors that he believes the creation of the Preparedness Directorate risks severing FEMA's relationship with state and local governments because they will turn more to the Preparedness Directorate for funds and interact less with FEMA.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, also was critical. He said that separating the Preparedness Directorate from FEMA is like a football coach working with the team in practice but bringing in someone else to coach for the game.
But Foresman argued that the Preparedness Directorate allows DHS to keep a forward focus and prepare for future disasters rather than repeating mistakes.
"I am absolutely certain that we have the right organizational structure," Foresman said. "It is less important where the boxes sit on the chart.… we're making sure we have a common culture, a common vision, a common synchronization."