<DOC>
[110 Senate Hearings]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access]
[DOCID: f:34412.wais]
S. Hrg. 110-21
NOMINATION OF GREGORY B. CADE
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON
HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON THE
NOMINATION OF GREGORY B. CADE TO BE ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. FIRE
ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
__________
MARCH 15, 2007
__________
Available via http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate
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COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TED STEVENS, Alaska
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota
MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
BARACK OBAMA, Illinois PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico
CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri JOHN WARNER, Virginia
JON TESTER, Montana JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire
Michael L. Alexander, Staff Director
Kristine V. Lam, Professional Staff Member
Brandon L. Milhorn, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Jennifer L. Tarr, Minority Associate Counsel
Trina Driessnack Tyrer, Chief Clerk
C O N T E N T S
------
Opening statements:
Page
Senator Warner............................................... 1
Senator Lieberman............................................ 3
Senator Collins.............................................. 4
Senator McCaskill............................................ 12
WITNESS
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Gregory B. Cade to be Administrator, U.S. Fire Administration,
U.S. Department of Homeland Security:
Testimony.................................................... 6
Prepared statement........................................... 17
Biographical and professional information.................... 22
Responses to pre-hearing questions........................... 32
Letter from U.S. Office of Government Ethics................. 48
NOMINATION OF GREGORY B. CADE
----------
THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2007
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m., in
room SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Joseph I.
Lieberman, Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Lieberman, McCaskill, Collins, and
Warner.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR WARNER
Senator Warner. Let's seize the moment. I will knock the
gavel. [Laughter.]
The hearing is now commenced, and I would like to say to my
former Chairman, the distinguished Senator Collins, that I am
privileged to be here this morning for the purpose of the
introduction of Chief Greg Cade to be the U.S. Fire
Administrator. He is joined by his lovely wife. Would you
kindly introduce your wife and others here, Chief?
Mr. Cade. Thank you, sir. I have with me this morning my
wife, Debbie.
Mrs. Cade. Nice to meet you.
Senator Warner. And all these other fellows behind you?
Mr. Cade. I also have with me my brother-in-law, Jesse, and
my good friend, Bill. They are here in support of me. And from
the IAFC, the Treasury, Julian Taliaferro, who is also here
with me this morning. So I am very fortunate to have some
friends in the audience.
Senator Warner. Well, we thank you very much for offering
to take on this very important chapter of your life in public
service again.
Madam Chairman, the U.S. Fire Administration was created in
1974 with the mission to protect the American people from loss
of life through coordination of the various fire services,
education, and public outreach. Today, I have the pleasure to
introduce to the Committee a long-time Virginian, Chief Greg
Cade, as the President's nominee to lead this organization.
The nomination is a result of nearly four decades of
service in Prince Georges County, Maryland; Hampton, Virginia;
and Virginia Beach. For the past 15 years, Chief Cade has
served the Hampton Roads Community, most recently as Chief of
the Virginia Beach Fire Department.
It has been our pleasure to have had Chief Cade serve the
people of Virginia. I had the privilege to work directly with
the Chief when Hurricane Isabel struck Virginia in 2003 and can
say that he can be an asset to the U.S. Fire Administration and
the men and women in the Fire Services all across America, one
of our most heroic cadres of public servants all across this
country.
Under his leadership, the Virginia Beach Urban Search and
Rescue (USAR) team, one of the 28 FEMA teams deployed around
the country to assist in major disaster situations, has
assisted in the response to disasters such as the September 11
attack on the Pentagon and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Chief Cade's nomination is supported by the International
Association of Fire Chiefs, the Virginia Fire Chiefs
Association, the International Association of Fire Fighters,
and numerous other organizations. The President has placed
trust in Chief Cade with the nomination, and it is my hope that
this Committee and the full Senate will confirm him soon so
that he can assume this important post.
[The prepared statement of Senator Warner follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR WARNER
Mr. Chairman and Madam Ranking Member, the U.S. Fire Administration
was created in 1974 with the mission to protect the American people
from loss of life through coordination of the various fire services,
education, and public outreach.
Today, I have the pleasure to introduce to the Committee a long-
time Virginian, Chief Greg Cade, as the President's nominee to lead
this organization. He is joined here today by his wife, Debbie.
This nomination is a result of his nearly four decades of service
in Prince Georges County, Maryland; Hampton, Virginia; and Virginia
Beach.
For the past 15 years Chief Cade has served the Hampton Roads
Community, most recently as Chief of the Virginia Beach Fire
Department.
It has been our pleasure to have Chief Cade serve the people of
Virginia. I had the privilege to work directly with the Chief when
Hurricane Isabel struck Virginia in 2003 and can say that he will be an
asset to the U.S. Fire Administration and the men and women in fire
services across the country.
Under his leadership, the Virginia Beach Urban Search and Rescue
(USAR) Team, one of the 28 FEMA teams deployed around the country to
assist in major disaster situations, has assisted in the response to
disasters such as the September 11 attack on the Pentagon and
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Chief Cade's nomination is supported by the International
Association of Fire Chiefs, the Virginia Fire Chiefs Association, the
International Association of Fire Fighters, and numerous other
organizations.
The President has placed his trust in Chief Cade with this
nomination, and it is my hope that this Committee and the full Senate
will confirm him soon so that he can get to work.
Senator Warner. Recognizing our distinguished Chairman, I
took it upon myself to hit the table and initiate this hearing.
[Laughter.]
Chairman Lieberman. You know, I am a great advocate of
nonpartisanship and bipartisanship, but I did not realize when
we changed the seating arrangement of the Committee that I
would be inviting a coup. [Laughter.]
Senator Warner. Well, your colleague and my dear friend
Senator Levin and I are co-chairing the Armed Services
Committee this morning.
Chairman Lieberman. Yes, please go right ahead. I apologize
to you, Senator Warner. I was going to invite you to go first.
I was waiting to introduce Ambassador Khalilzad at his
confirmation hearing for the Foreign Relations Committee.
Senator Warner. Yes, the new Ambassador.
Chairman Lieberman. Please go right ahead.
Senator Warner. Thank you. I have just completed.
Chairman Lieberman. Really?
Senator Warner. Yes.
Chairman Lieberman. Was it good?
Senator Collins. It was fabulous. [Laughter.]
Senator Warner. Good luck.
Mr. Cade. Thank you.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR LIEBERMAN
Chairman Lieberman. OK. Chief, good to see you.
Today we are considering the nomination of Chief Gregory
Cade to be the Administrator of the U.S. Fire Administration.
If confirmed, Chief, you will head an important, though
probably not widely known, office of the Department of Homeland
Security, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), which provides
Federal leadership and support for the Nation's firefighters.
The Fire Administration promotes fire prevention and, in
particular, works to reduce the loss of life from fires,
including the tragic loss of life of firefighters, 105 of whom
perished in the line of duty last year.
Through the National Fire Academy, the USFA provides a wide
range of training opportunities for firefighters and emergency
medical services providers, from handling materials to
implementing an incident command system. And from its position
within DHS, it helps ensure that firefighters are integrated
into the plans and preparedness to respond to disasters,
whether natural or manmade.
Last year, as you know, Chief, Congress passed the Post
Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, which created a newly
expanded and, we believe, reinvigorated FEMA. Under that act,
at the end of this month, the USFA once again will become a
part of FEMA, as it was from 1979 through 2005. And that is
obviously where we think it belongs.
I look forward to any thoughts you have about how USFA
should fit in with the new FEMA and what role it might play in
improving national preparedness and response efforts.
I would also like to hear your thoughts on the funding for
the Fire Service. Once again, unfortunately, the Administration
has proposed cuts in the FIRE Act grants to first responders,
and that troubles me greatly.
Finally, I want to hear your ideas about interoperability.
Specifically, what can we do to ensure firefighters have the
tools they need not only to communicate among themselves in a
disaster, but to communicate with other first responders as
well as State and local officials?
Chief, you bring to this position over three decades of
experience in the Fire Service, including 8 years as Chief of
the Virginia Beach Fire Department and as that city's Emergency
Services Coordinator. If you are confirmed, I, but more
importantly, the Nation, will count on you to use that
experience to make the U.S. Fire Administration a truly great
resource for our firefighters and for our Nation.
Senator Collins.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR COLLINS.
Senator Collins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And welcome to
you, Chief Cade
From Ground Zero on September 11, to the Gulf Coast in the
aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, to the numerous
emergencies that arise every day in communities across our
Nation, firefighters risk their own lives to protect our lives.
They serve as one of the pillars of the communities across our
great land. Whether career or volunteer, America's nearly 1.2
million firefighters exemplify professionalism, dedication, and
heroism.
Since Congress established the agency 33 years ago, the
Fire Administration has served as an invaluable resource for
training, research, and public education. Perhaps most
impressive is the progress that the Fire Administration has
made in helping to reduce fire deaths in this country by more
than half. That is a remarkable record of accomplishment.
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Fire
Administration has become an even more vital component of our
Nation's emergency preparedness and response system. From the
inception of the Department of Homeland Security, this
Committee has worked hard to ensure that the Fire
Administration has a special place within the Department,
serving not only as the voice of America's firefighters, but as
also one of the Secretary's principal advisers on first
responder issues. For example, our FEMA reform legislation
elevated the Fire Administrator to the position of Assistant
Secretary in recognition of the important role of this agency.
Although the Fire Administration and the Department face many
significant challenges, no issue is more pressing than the
continuing difficulty our first responders have in
communicating with each other in real time and on demand in
times of crisis.
In his interview with the Committee, Chief Cade explained
that new technology will play an important role in improving
emergency communications. But he also pointed out--and I think
this is so important--that we must not overlook other barriers
to effective emergency communications. Non-technological
barriers, such as the absence of governing agreements and
standard operating procedures, also impede progress in this
area. These are indeed crucial elements of our Nation's efforts
to improve emergency communications, and I look forward to
exploring these issues with the chief this morning.
Like the Chairman, I am also interested in the chief's
perspective on the Department's first responder grant programs,
including the FIRE Act program, which the Chairman and I have
been stalwart supporters of and which we are both disturbed at
the President's budget for. The Committee has worked hard to
improve the grant programs that strengthen our State and local
homeland security partners.
I will not go into the chief's background since the
Chairman has done that already, but I would note that he began
his distinguished 40-year career as a volunteer firefighter,
and in my home State of Maine, 338 of our 405 fire departments
are led by volunteer chiefs. We have a great appreciation for
both our professional firefighters and our volunteers. They are
both the backbone of our Nation's emergency response system.
So I commend the chief for an outstanding career in public
service. I would ask unanimous consent that my full statement
be included in the record.
Chairman Lieberman. Without objection, so ordered.
Senator Collins. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Senator Collins follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR COLLINS
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome to you, Chief Cade. The agency
Chief Cade has been nominated to lead--the U.S. Fire Administration--
plays a crucial role in securing our Nation, and I look forward to
discussing its important mission with him today.
From Ground Zero on September 11 to the Gulf Coast in the aftermath
of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to the numerous emergencies that arise
every day in communities across our Nation, firefighters risk their own
lives to protect others. They serve as one of the pillars of the
communities across our great land. Whether career or volunteer,
America's nearly 1.2 million firefighters exemplify professionalism,
dedication, and heroism.
Since Congress established the agency 33 years ago, the Fire
Administration has served as an invaluable resource for training,
research, and public education. Perhaps most impressive is the progress
that the Fire Administration has made in helping to reduce fire deaths
by more than half--a remarkable record of accomplishment.
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Fire
Administration has become an even more vital component of our Nation's
emergency preparedness and response structure. From the inception of
the Department of Homeland Security, this Committee has worked hard to
ensure that the Fire Administration has a special place within the
Department, serving not only as the voice of America's firefighters,
but also as one of the Secretary's principal advisors on first
responder issues. For example, our FEMA reform legislation elevated the
Fire Administrator to the position of Assistant Secretary.
Although the Fire Administration and the Department face many
significant challenges, no issue is more pressing than the continuing
difficulty our first responders have in talking with each other in real
time and on demand during times of crisis. In his interview with the
Committee, Chief Cade explained that new technology will play an
important role in improving emergency communications. But he also
explained that we must not overlook other barriers to effective
emergency communications. Non-technological barriers--such as the
absence of governing agreements and standard operating procedures--also
impede progress in this area. These are, indeed, crucial elements of
our Nation's efforts to improve emergency communications, and I look
forward to exploring these issues with him this morning.
I am also interested in the Chief's perspective on the Department's
first responder grant programs, including the FIRE Act program. The
Committee has worked hard to improve the grant programs that strengthen
our State and local homeland security partners.
Chief Cade began his distinguished 40-year career as a volunteer
firefighter--an invaluable background for the position to which you
have been nominated. In my home State of Maine, 338 of our 405 fire
departments are led by volunteer chiefs. Nationally, more than 823,000
of our firefighters are volunteers--nearly three out of every four.
They truly are the backbone of our Nation's emergency response system.
Despite the critical role of these volunteers, the Fire
Administration, in its Second Needs Assessment for the U.S. Fire
Service, noted that the number of volunteer firefighters has been in
decline for the past several years. While many reasons have been cited
for this drop, including social and economic reasons, many experts
believe that increased training requirements and the consequent time
commitments are significant factors. This trend, if not reversed, will
have dire consequences for communities--especially in rural areas--and
will impede our Nation's ability to respond to disasters, whether man-
made or natural.
I commend Chief Cade for an outstanding career in public service
and look forward to hearing his testimony.
Chairman Lieberman. Chief Cade has filed responses to a
biographical and financial questionnaire, answered prehearing
questions submitted by the Committee, and has had his financial
statements reviewed by the Office of Government Ethics. Without
objection, this information will be made part of the hearing
record, with the exception of the financial data, which are on
file and available for public inspection in the Committee's
offices.
Chief, our Committee rules require that all witnesses at
nomination hearings give their testimony under oath, so I would
ask you please to stand at this time and raise your right hand.
Do you swear that the testimony you are about to give to the
Committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth, so help you, God?
Mr. Cade. I do.
Chairman Lieberman. Thank you very much. Please be seated.
Chief, I understand that your wife and children are with
you today, and it is my pleasure on behalf of the Committee to
welcome them and thank them for the support they have
undoubtedly given you to bring you to this high point in your
career.
Now we would welcome your opening statement, if you have
one.
TESTIMONY OF GREGORY B. CADE,\1\ TO BE ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. FIRE
ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Mr. Cade. Yes, I do. Thank you, sir.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Cade appears in the Appendix on
page 17.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Senator Collins, and Members of
the Committee. I want to take this moment to thank Senator
Warner for his kind introduction. My name is Gregory Cade, and
I am the nominee for the position of Administrator of the U.S.
Fire Administration at the Department of Homeland Security.
I am tremendously honored that the President has nominated
me for this important position within the Department of
Homeland Security to be the voice at the Federal level for the
Nation's Fire Service. I am here today because an awful lot of
people helped me, from my parents who instilled a set of values
that I think played a significant part in my being considered
for this position, to the literally thousands of firefighters
with whom I have had the honor to be associated. These are the
people who took the time to take me under their wing, to mentor
me, and to guide me in the right direction. They offered
suggestions on things that I needed to do to improve my
capabilities and gave me a swift kick at the appropriate times
in my life; the most important group my family, who has
supported me throughout my career and in that support made a
lot of sacrifices for me to be able to achieve my dreams to get
to be the fire chief of two outstanding cities, to spend my
whole adult life in the Fire Service, and ultimately to be
sitting here before you today, honored by the President to be
the selection to head the U.S. Fire Administration. If it were
not for my daughters Christie and Candace and my son Brian and,
most importantly, my best friend, my wife, Debbie, I would not
be here today.
I have spent the last 39 years progressively moving through
the Fire Service, from riding on the backstep of a fire truck,
which I truly enjoyed, to taking on additional responsibilities
as an officer and ultimately achieving the highest honor of
being a fire chief. Throughout that time, I have been very
fortunate to be engaged in a broad range of issues that have
affected the Fire Service that I work in at the local,
regional, national, and international level. These years of
experience and support from so many other people have helped
shape me in giving me the opportunity to see the Nation's Fire
Service evolve, as it always has, to deal with new threats that
it is exposed to.
It has been said numerous times that the world changed
after September 11, and I agree because based on my experience
at having been at the Pentagon and at Ground Zero in the early
days after the event, one cannot be exposed to that and
participate in it without walking away a changed individual. If
confirmed by the Senate, I hope to use my experience to help
the Fire Administration better prepare our Nation's Fire
Service to meet the evolving challenges that it faces today and
in the future.
I bring with me a personal understanding of the good work
that the U.S. Fire Administration does. The most important
thing that I have learned from my association with the USFA as
a fire chief is the importance of building a network of people
to provide input, guidance, support, and discussions over the
various things that affect the Fire Service that we need to
deal with.
If confirmed, I hope to build upon the U.S. Fire
Administration's role in supporting our Nation's Fire Service
to continue its mission in the prevention of fires and the loss
of life, the reduction of injuries and property loss, and
ensuring that our first responders at the local level are ready
to handle any emergency. I know as a front-line provider for
the last 39 years that the key to successful operations is a
well-trained, well-equipped, and well-exercised force.
I also hope to strengthen USFA's fire prevention mission. I
see the U.S. Fire Administration as having the ability to play
a tremendous role in its basic collection of data in the
understanding of the fire problem, to look at the national
trends, to work with other stakeholders to develop programs,
and to educate and inform the local communities.
We have made tremendous progress in the loss of life. There
is no question about that. But to still lose over 3,000 people
a year in fires is unacceptable to me. The U.S. Fire
Administration can play an important role in helping to support
research and to be an advocate for safer policies and
procedures that can be implemented at the local level.
I believe that there is true partnership that exists and
should continue to exist between the U.S. Fire Administration
and our State and local partners. I know that relationship is
strong, and it is my intention to build upon the great things
that take place day in and day out at the local level.
In closing, let me say once again that I am here sitting
before you because a lot of people spent the time and energy to
provide me guidance and support. I look forward to having the
opportunity to make them proud, and in that spirit, I humbly
ask this Committee to confirm my nomination to head the U.S.
Fire Administration.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to appear
before you today, and I am happy to answer any of the questions
the Committee may have.
Chairman Lieberman. Thank you very much, Chief, for that
very thoughtful statement. I am going to start my questioning
with the standard questions that we ask all nominees.
First, is there anything you are aware of in your
background that might present a conflict of interest with the
duties of the office to which you have been nominated?
Mr. Cade. No, sir.
Chairman Lieberman. Second, do you know of anything
personal or otherwise that would in any way prevent you from
fully and honorably discharging the responsibilities of the
office to which you have been nominated?
Mr. Cade. No, sir.
Chairman Lieberman. Third, do you agree without reservation
to respond to any reasonable summons to appear and testify
before any duly constituted Committee of Congress if you are
confirmed?
Mr. Cade. Yes, sir.
Chairman Lieberman. Thank you very much. We are going to
start, and we will have a round of questions limited to 6
minutes for each of us.
Chief, you bring a real wealth of experience from your long
career in the Fire Service and Emergency Management. To the
extent that you are able now, I wanted to ask you what you
would say your priorities will be--you have touched on a little
bit of that in your opening statement--and then how you see
your focus in the reintegration, if I can put it that way, of
the U.S. Fire Administration into FEMA.
Mr. Cade. Senator, I think for me the initial priority,
should I be confirmed, is to look at what are the continuing
needs of the front-line Fire Service providers. I think the
major role that the U.S. Fire Administration certainly can play
is in the realm of providing training to those front-line
providers through the stakeholder network that already exists
at the State and local level.
As I said in my opening statement, I think that the
training aspect is a critical role for the Fire Administration
that it can play. I have been very fortunate as the chief of
Virginia Beach to participate in quite a few of the training
programs that the USFA has that provides a clearinghouse for
training to the major metropolitan departments, which I am a
part of, and also at the State and local level. I think that is
a very critical issue for them.
I think a second priority for me is to look at how the data
collection piece of the responsibility of the U.S. Fire
Administration is being done. I think more and more we are
being asked to justify the things that we do, and I think from
a national perspective, without having the data to support the
direction that we are going in, it makes it very difficult to
understand whether or not the funds that you are expending are
being spent in the appropriate manner. So I see that as a
second priority for me.
The third priority that I hope to be involved with is the
actual training that goes on at the National Fire Academy.
Being an executive fire officer graduate, I have found that the
most important thing that I got out of the 4 years of that
program, aside from the educational piece, was, in fact, the
network of people that I have been able to build across this
country, friendships that still exist today, people that I can
call on for ideas. And I think that is something else that
certainly can be done for me as the nominee, and hopefully
confirmed, to head the U.S. Fire Administration. I think that
given the amount of time, obviously, my appointment will last,
those are three things that I intend to take a very close look
at.
As far as the U.S. Fire Administration moving back into
FEMA, I really do not know exactly why it was moved out, so it
is very difficult from an outside perspective to really
understand all of the dynamics that took place. What I hope to
be able to do with the U.S. Fire Administration moving back
into FEMA is to use the two things that I think I come to the
table with--39 years of Fire Service experience, but also 8\1/
2\ years as an emergency services coordinator--and having been
through quite a few natural disasters not only in the city of
Virginia Beach but Hurricane Katrina and others.
So I think that I bring a little bit different perspective
as a fire chief who has been through some rather large-scale
natural disasters, and I think that experience, I hope, will
ease that transition in both my fire chief experience and my
emergency services.
Chairman Lieberman. Very good. Let me ask you about the
grants, which concern most of us here in Congress. I am going
to skip over the first responder grants because we have our own
separate battles going on about that. But the FIRE Act grants
are funded at $300 million, and SAFER Act grants would be
actually totally eliminated. Both of those are important to
firefighters. Combined, this would represent a reduction of 55
percent from the fiscal year 2007 level.
Let me ask you to, first, if you could, based on your
experience in Virginia Beach, comment on what the Federal first
responder grant money and perhaps FIRE Act and SAFER Act money
meant to you in your work; and, second, if you feel you can
play any role in advocating for some more funding for
firefighters around the country.
Mr. Cade. We have been very fortunate in the city of
Virginia Beach since the inception of the FIRE Act grants. We
have received grants 5 of the last 6 years.
Chairman Lieberman. That is great.
Mr. Cade. We have been able to couple that with some of the
other grant monies that we have received through the Department
of Homeland Security, and so that is one of the benefits that I
see that we have tried to take that money and leverage it with
other things and improve the overall capability for us at the
local and regional level. That is what really we have been
concentrating on.
Chairman Lieberman. You know, one of the raps about these
grants is that they have been used for purposes other than
intended by Congress. I know that you used them well, but in
your experience with other firefighters and other fire
departments, were these grants used for what you would guess
Congress intended them to be used for?
Mr. Cade. As far as I know, yes, sir, they were.
Chairman Lieberman. All right. Maybe an awkward question,
but I wanted to ask you if you would comment on the extent to
which you feel in the new position you can advocate for more
funding for firefighters around the country.
Mr. Cade. Well, obviously, I have not been involved in any
of the budget deliberations, so I am not really sure why they
got to the point they did.
Chairman Lieberman. We are officially finding you not
guilty. [Laughter.]
Mr. Cade. Thank you very much. But I certainly hope, if
given the opportunity, if and after I am confirmed, to be able
to try to determine why the funding levels are where they are
and to be an advocate for it. I think that the funding at the
local level improves the capability of the Fire Service, which
provides a safer environment for all of us.
Chairman Lieberman. Good. Thank you. My time is up.
Senator Collins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am going to follow up on the Chairman's comments on the
FIRE Act and the SAFER Act because, as he mentioned, the
Administration's budget provides no funding for SAFER Act
grants and it slashes the FIRE Act grant funding by $253
million.
You obviously have had experience as a local fire chief
with both of these programs, and you have been able to get FIRE
grants. Did the ability to obtain Federal funding allow you to
achieve certain capabilities that would not have been possible
without those grants?
Mr. Cade. Absolutely, Senator. Just as an example, one of
our grants was used to completely upgrade all of our self-
contained breathing apparatus to the latest standards, heads-up
display so that people get a visual idea of how much air they
are using and how much they have in reserve. We replaced all of
the compressors that we had. It was a $1.5 million program.
Obviously, the grant did not pay for all of it, but as I said
earlier, we were able to leverage the grant money with city
money and actually some State money to be able to do that.
So that is the approach that we have taken in Virginia
Beach, and, quite frankly, I think that my has been experience
with the other Fire Services, they are all trying to do that,
to leverage that money. It has been a very great program.
Senator Collins. The other positive aspect of this program
that I hear about repeatedly from my fire chiefs in Maine is
that it has a minimum of bureaucracy, that it is peer-reviewed,
and that the money really goes out to those who need it rather
than being spent on administrative expenses. Is that your
experience as well?
Mr. Cade. That has been my experience not only as the chief
of Virginia Beach, but I had the good fortune in 2003, I
believe it was, that I actually went up to the Fire Academy and
reviewed the grant applications as one of the reviewers. And
what I have seen not only as a reviewer but also just as a fire
chief is that those grants go directly to them. There is a
minimal amount of bureaucracy with them. Our experience has
been very positive, very easy to deal with, not only getting
the money but closing the grants out, which is always--getting
all the paperwork done and all that, it really has been a very
good process for us.
Senator Collins. In light of your firsthand experience and
your new responsibilities, would you be prepared to advocate
for funding for these programs going forward? Obviously, you
were not involved in the budget deliberations this year, and I
am not going to put you on the spot by asking you to comment on
the inadequate funding levels. But going forward, would you be
prepared within the Department to be an advocate for these
programs?
Mr. Cade. Absolutely, Senator. I intend to make my voice
heard. I think that is part of my responsibility, as
potentially the head of the U.S. Fire Administration, to be
that voice for the Fire Service. And I intend to do that.
Senator Collins. I am very pleased to hear that, and I
think the Department is going to benefit from having someone
with front-line experience with these programs who can point
out just how far what is really a pretty modest amount of money
goes in improving our preparedness and response capabilities
nationwide. So I am very pleased to hear that.
I want to talk to you about another challenge, and that is
the interoperability issue. Our Committee produced legislation
that the Senate has just passed that would create a new
dedicated grant program to improve the survivability of
communications equipment but also the interoperability of
equipment, so that we do not have the tragic problems that we
saw on September 11 and Hurricane Katrina where first
responders cannot talk with one another.
My hope is we will be able to follow up that authorization
with the funding that is needed and that all of us have worked
so hard for. But you have brought up some very interesting
points that funding alone does not solve the interoperability
problems that we are facing. Could you discuss with us your
plans to address some of the non-technical and non-funding
barriers to achieving interoperability?
Mr. Cade. Well, my experience in Virginia Beach and in the
Hampton Roads region has been evolving, obviously, over the
last 10 years since we originally got the DOD grant through the
Nunn-Lugar-Domenici program.
We recognize that interoperability is a critical issue, but
it is more than just having the technology to be able to speak
to one another. What really is necessary is to define how that
equipment is going to be used and, quite frankly, to practice
with it. And that is where I have seen a lot of the downfall.
So hopefully what I can do, should I be confirmed by the
Senate, is to bring that experience to the conversation to help
my colleagues understand that you have got to be able to bring
in not only just the Fire Service, but you have got to have the
police departments, the public works, public utilities, all of
the people that are going to be responsible for having to
communicate with each other in the midst and aftermath of a
natural disaster. It is a critical issue. There is no question
about that. The technology, in my opinion, is the easy piece to
take care of. It is the governance piece. It is deciding how
that equipment is going to be used.
I used an example earlier in a conversation, I believe,
with the staff over having the opportunity to hear the deputy
chief from New York City after the World Trade Center bombing
in 1993 tell us that what he ended up having to do is send
runners around because the radio system was so jammed up. So it
is not--they had the system. They just could not use it. And I
think that is the conversation that needs to take place at the
national level of how do you use it, not just what you have to
use.
Senator Collins. Thank you.
Chairman Lieberman. Thanks, Senator Collins.
Senator McCaskill, thanks for being here this morning.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR MCCASKILL
Senator McCaskill. Thank you.
First, congratulations to you and your family on your
appointment, and I have to share with you that you have a very
good friend on this Committee because of my background. My
father was a volunteer firefighter, made us chase fire trucks
my entire childhood, and then when I was an assistant
prosecutor, under an LEAA grant I was made the arson prosecutor
and spent several years of my life doing nothing but arson
prosecutions. And my assistant on this Committee, my staff
assistant, also an attorney, she followed me as the arson
prosecutor several years later. So you actually have two people
who could go to a scene and do C&O with you.
Mr. Cade. Oh, great.
Senator McCaskill. We could actually talk about charring
and burn patterns and so forth. And I used to respond to fires
in my gear when it was determined to be an arson, so I consider
what you do very important and am anxious to be very supportive
of the Fire Service in this country.
I wanted to briefly ask you first about the expensive
hazmat teams and how expensive it is for particularly mid-sized
cities. I think most of our major urban areas have the
expertise and the resources to be able to do hazmat. And what I
worry about is these PPE suits. When I was the auditor in
Missouri, we did an audit and determined that a lot of the PPE
equipment that came through the homeland security grants, they
were spread like shotgun blasts across our State. And when we
did the audit looking at those grants, many of them still sat
in boxes. Many of them had not been utilized, and there had not
been training on even how to utilize them.
Do you think in your position through the NFA you could
begin some kind of long-distance training to go back and
determine from these departments, whether they be fire
departments--a lot of these are volunteer departments spread
throughout the country--either say to them you need to take
this long-distance training through NFA or we need to take your
suits that are still in boxes and distribute them to places
that have had the training that have not received the suits?
Mr. Cade. Well, first of all, let me congratulate you on
learning how to be an arson prosecutor because that is an
extremely difficult thing.
Senator McCaskill. I loved it. Give me a circumstantial
evidence case. That is the most fun. The problem I had was
getting the firefighters to quit busting down the doors without
checking to see if it was locked first. That was one of the
problems I had. [Laughter.]
Mr. Cade. That is certainly a training issue. No question
about that.
Senator McCaskill. It is a training issue.
Mr. Cade. From the hazardous materials response side, my
experience has been, at least in the Hampton Roads region, and
also in Maryland when I was there, we participate as part of a
regional team, and that is how the Commonwealth of Virginia has
theirs set up. So that there are people trained at the local
level--I am a certified hazardous materials ops level person--
and then we--because we participate in a regional hazmat team,
we are required to keep two hazardous material specialists on
duty. I realize that is a little technical, but it is the
highest level of training.
And so that is how we have looked at doing it, and I think
that same type of program obviously can be replicated across
the country, where everyone has a basic understanding of what
they need to do. Hazardous materials incidents usually evolve
over time. They are usually not a very quickly evolving
incident. So that if you have people that are at least trained
at the initial levels, they can get in and start to do some
things, start to lay out the hazardous material zones, hot
zones, and those kinds of things, and then bring in the
response capability and cleanup capability later. That to me
makes the most sense.
We struggle all the time at keeping the training level up
to where it needs to be. We do a quarterly drill in our area--
that is how the Commonwealth does it--in addition to what we do
on a regular monthly basis within the cities. So training is a
critical issue, and I can see--I know the U.S. Fire
Administration is putting a very heavy emphasis now on distance
learning, and I think by building that partnership between the
U.S. Fire Administration, the State agencies, and then
ultimately the local agencies, that it is an easy way to
leverage that training so that everyone has access to it and
being able to provide time to it. I know you have talked about
it, and Senator Collins and Senator Lieberman.
I read this morning in the USA Today paper, which caught my
eye that the numbers of volunteers have dropped this last year,
4 million people less volunteering. We have seen that in the
Fire Service, the same thing. So training time to people that
are volunteering is highly critical, and that is where I see us
being able to leverage it at the National Fire Academy and with
the State and local partners.
Senator McCaskill. When you were with Prince Georges
County, in the 1980s, I assume, were you still fighting fires
in the 1980s?
Mr. Cade. Yes.
Senator McCaskill. OK. And you moved up into various
positions of responsibility.
Mr. Cade. Yes, I did.
Senator McCaskill. Was there ever a time when you were
either fighting the fires or as a bureau chief that you did not
see the men and women of Prince Georges County that proudly
wore the uniform of the firefighter ever fail to respond to any
kind of emergency that they were directed to respond to?
Mr. Cade. I have never seen that happen, no.
Senator McCaskill. Ever?
Mr. Cade. No.
Senator McCaskill. And you never witnessed any act of
failure to be as brave as one could possibly imagine in terms
of confronting danger?
Mr. Cade. Never.
Senator McCaskill. I do want to point out for the record,
Mr. Chairman, that Prince Georges County has been operating
under a collective bargaining agreement since the early 1980s.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Lieberman. You remain a great litigator, Senator
McCaskill, a great advocate. There is, as you may have
gathered, another dispute going on here.
Chief, your answers have been very thoughtful. You are a
very impressive nominee for this position. I appreciate your
willingness to take it on, and the President has nominated you.
We are going to try to move your nomination as quickly as
we possibly can through the Committee and through the Senate as
well, so unless you have anything else to say, I am prepared to
wind up the hearing.
Mr. Cade. No. I just want to thank you all for taking the
time. And, Senator, in the interest of full disclosure, I am
still a card-carrying member of Local 1619. [Laughter.]
Senator McCaskill. All right.
Chairman Lieberman. I was going to say, we will try to keep
that quiet from the Administration.
Senator McCaskill. Right, until you get through.
Mr. Cade. They control my pension.
Chairman Lieberman. Thanks very much. Would you for the
record, before we close, like to personally introduce your
family members or anybody else behind you?
Mr. Cade. Yes, I would love to. I have with me today my
wife, Debbie, who has graced me with being my wife for the last
35-plus years. So I am very fortunate. She was saying coming
over in the car today that the only reason I started dating her
was she lived down the street from the firehouse. [Laughter.]
Which is not totally true. It may have been why I started
dating her, but obviously after 35 years of marriage, there is
a lot more to it. So I am very fortunate that she is here with
me.
Also with me is my brother-in-law, Jesse Brown. And a long-
time good friend Bill Hayden is here with me. And from the
IAFC, a very good friend and council member of the city of
Charlottesville, Virginia, the fire chief--oh, I am sorry.
Chairman Lieberman. Chief, welcome.
Mr. Cade. I did not see my sister sneak in behind me.
Julian Taliaferro, obviously, the city council member from
Charlottesville. And my sister, Allison, and her husband,
David, are here.
Chairman Lieberman. How about those good-looking young
people there behind you, the first row.
Mr. Cade. Well, these wonderful first-row people work for
the Department of Homeland Security, and they have lovingly
helped me through this whole process.
Chairman Lieberman. Good.
Mr. Cade. They have been great.
Senator Collins. His handlers.
Chairman Lieberman. That is good.
Mr. Cade. You will probably see a whole lot more of them
than me--I hope.
Chairman Lieberman. I think they had some good material to
work with. I thank you.
Without objection, the record of the hearing will be kept
open until 5 p.m. tomorrow for the submission of any written
statements or questions for the record.
Thank you very much. This hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:42 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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