HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
May 8, 2006 While I normally agree with fellow columnist Michelle Malsbury on matters political, I disagree with her recent piece on what to do with FEMA. Long before Hurricane Katrina, I thought that FEMA should have been elevated from independent government agency to full-fledged Cabinet department. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was originally created in 1979, when President Carter signed Executive Order 12148. The order meant that, for the first time in American history, there was a single agency responsible for emergency management, disaster preparedness and education, and civil defense in the event of nuclear, biological and chemical attack from terrorists or foreign powers. Prior to FEMA’s creation, several government organizations, including the departments of Commerce and Defense, shared responsibility for disaster mitigation activities. Among the many challenges FEMA has faced over the years include the Love Canal toxic waste disaster in New York State; the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania; numerous hurricanes, including Andrew, Fran and Hugo, and the second terrorist attack on the World Trade Center complex. FEMA was one of 22 government organizations whose functions were rolled into the new Department of Homeland Security in 2002. Although FEMA has received positive press over the years, it has also received its share of criticism, most notably its response during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. As Michelle correctly noted, FEMA alone was not to blame for the debacle. Local and state officials in Louisiana and Mississippi also share accountability for what happened in the face of that vicious storm. But as some in Congress have noted, abolishing FEMA would indeed be in the nation’s best interests. In lieu of an independent agency, the new Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Preparedness would carry on FEMA’s old mission, but with some key changes. Among them, the secretary of the new department would report directly to the president. Assistant secretaries, assigned by geographical region, would have full authority to marshal civilian and military resources to deal with any natural or man-made disaster in their respective areas. The secretary himself would be personally accountable for disaster mitigation in the District of Columbia. The idea is to create a federal emergency management apparatus that is ready to act anywhere in the United States at a moment’s notice, and can get people the help they need when they need it, wherever they are. Rolling FEMA’s responsibilities into a new Cabinet department, specifically created for the purpose of disaster mitigation, would be an important first step to achieving that goal. ------------ About the author: Claxton Graham has written a number of articles for Useless Knowledge. He works as a business systems analyst. Email: scifiwriter8502@email.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
