Bipartisan bill would boost rank of FEMA chief
Measure introduced Thursday also would give the agency a new name and direct access to White House during catastrophes.
Legislation unveiled Thursday by a bipartisan team of House members and senators would give the Federal Emergency Management Agency direct access to the White House during catastrophic events--and a new identity.
FEMA still would fall under the Homeland Security Department, but it would get additional grants oversight responsibilities and its director would be elevated to the rank of deputy secretary, advising the president on disaster management. The name of the agency would be changed to the National Preparedness and Response Authority.
The proposal is largely in step with recommendations issued by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee late last month. It also would return to FEMA the authority over disaster preparedness that was stripped from it as part of a departmental reorganization announced last July.
The bill is being sponsored in the Senate by Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., ranking member of that committee. House sponsors are: Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the Homeland Security Committee; Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ranking member of that committee; Dave Reichert, R-Wash.; Bill Pascrell, D-N.J.; Michael McCaul, R-Texas; and Bob Etheridge, D-N.C.
Legislators said they are seeking an additional $1 billion in FEMA funds for planning and training, and to expand its ability to award grants.
The bill would create uncertainty for President Bush's pick to lead FEMA, R. David Paulison. If the measure is approved, Paulison could be re-appointed to fill the elevated rank of director of the National Preparedness and Response Authority, or another candidate could be nominated, Collins said.
The committee will nonetheless proceed with a nomination hearing for Paulison in a couple of weeks. "[He] is a good choice," Collins said.
Leo Bosner, president of the American Federation of Government Employees' Local 4060, which represents FEMA employees, said he has mixed feelings about the legislative proposal. He lauded the return of preparedness authority to the agency, but criticized the decision to allow DHS to retain control over it.
On the question of who would lead the new agency, "I do hope they find a stronger nominee" than Paulison, Bosner said. The team of legislators from House and Senate homeland security committees said they hope the bill will unite varying factions pushing separate FEMA initiatives, while defeating calls that the agency be removed from DHS. Earlier this week, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, and House Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., introduced legislation that would turn FEMA into an independent Cabinet-level agency.
Lieberman said Thursday that removing FEMA from DHS would "be a mistake."
Lawmakers said a strengthened FEMA -- under any name -- will bode well for better response to natural disasters and terrorist attacks.
"The name doesn't mean anything," Reichert said. "It has direct access to the president."
But that's not how many longtime FEMA employees feel about the agency, said Bosner, a 27-year veteran there.
"Things like that, symbols, mean a lot to people," he said. "This just seems like a slap in the face."