FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
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Federal Emergency Management Agency
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Department Of Homeland Security Hosts Major U.S. Cities In Citizen Corps Preparedness Conference |
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New York, N.Y. -- Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security
for Emergency Preparedness and Response, addressed representatives from 17
large U.S. cities at the first annual Citizen Corps Mega-Cities Conference
today.
"Thanks to President Bush's vision, every citizen volunteer can take an
active role in preparing his or her city or community to be more secure and
better able to respond to disasters of all kinds," said Brown. "This is
especially important in our major cities, where so many businesses and
ethnicities come together."
The Mega-Cities Conference focused on large metropolitan areas and
addressed the unique issues that these cities encounter in implementing
Citizen Corps and preparedness planning. Some of these issues are:
high-density residential areas, critical infrastructure, high-density business
areas, mixed-use space, school system and private sector participation,
special needs populations, and language barriers. Discussions also focused on
setting up Citizen Corps Councils for the entire urban area, to include
multiple Councils within the County or City.
The following cities sent representatives to participate in the conference:
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles,
Miami-Dade, Newark, New York City, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, San Juan,
Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.
Experts from the VIPS (Volunteers in Police Service) program and
Neighborhood Watch, both sponsored by the Department of Justice, the Medical
Reserve Corps, sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Service, and
FEMA's CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams) training program also shared
lessons learned in implementing these programs in a large urban environment.
Under the direction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, Citizen Corps is a
community-based initiative to engage all citizens in homeland security and
community and family preparedness through public education and outreach,
training opportunities, and volunteer programs. Programs under the Citizen
Corps umbrella include federally sponsored programs and other activities that
share the goal of helping communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to
all-hazards. Citizen Corps encourages all Americans to take an active role in
building safer, stronger, and better-prepared communities.
President Bush created the USA Freedom Corps office at the White House to
foster an American culture of service, citizenship and responsibility. Through
the USA Freedom Corps, President Bush wants to help every American answer the
call to service by strengthening and expanding service opportunities to
protect our homeland, support our communities and extend American compassion
around the world. Interested volunteers can find information on the USA
Freedom Corps at
www.usafreedomcorps.gov or by calling 1-877-USA-CORPS.
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