The IAFF sent the following letter to the Hill today opposing the removal of FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security.
| June 21, 2006
Member of Congress Dear Representative: On behalf of the nation’s more than 270,000 professional fire fighters and emergency medical personnel, I am writing to urge you to oppose any effort to remove FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security. We believe that such an approach would hinder, rather than help, efforts to reform our nation’s emergency response system. Congress must enact comprehensive reforms to ensure that FEMA will be able to provide an effective response to disasters, but we believe that such reforms are best achieved, and will be most effective, if FEMA remains within the Department of Homeland Security. We are concerned that removing FEMA from DHS would hinder efforts to integrate emergency preparedness and response, and would undermine an all-hazards approach to emergencies. Further, having both a DHS and an independent FEMA could create confusion among local response personnel and lead to unproductive duplication of effort and turf battles. Such a scenario would not only harm the overall response to any disaster, it would significantly hinder the efforts of first responders. While we endorse keeping FEMA within DHS, we realize that this act alone will not be enough to ensure that our nation is any more prepared for, nor any better able to respond to, the next disaster. Congress must take steps to reform FEMA to improve its leadership, responsibilities and capabilities. But reforming our nation’s disaster response system must begin with an understanding that emergency preparedness and response are at the core of homeland security. Thank you for your consideration and your continuing support of our nation’s first responders. I look forward to working with you in the coming weeks to reform FEMA and our entire emergency preparedness and response system. Sincerely Harold A. Schaitberger |