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[109 Senate Hearings]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access]
[DOCID: f:23158.wais]
S. Hrg. 109-171
THE WAR ON TERRORISM: HOW PREPARED IS THE NATION'S CAPITAL?
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT,
THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE AND THE DISTRICT
OF COLUMBIA SUBCOMMITTEE
of the
COMMITTEE ON
HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JULY 14, 2005
__________
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Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
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COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine, Chairman
TED STEVENS, Alaska JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut
GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio CARL LEVIN, Michigan
NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii
TOM COBURN, Oklahoma THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, Rhode Island MARK DAYTON, Minnesota
ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah FRANK LAUTENBERG, New Jersey
PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico MARK PRYOR, Arkansas
JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia
Michael D. Bopp, Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Joyce A. Rechtschaffen, Minority Staff Director and Counsel
Trina D. Tyrer, Chief Clerk
OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE AND THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SUBCOMMITTEE
GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio, Chairman
TED STEVENS, Alaska DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii
NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota CARL LEVIN, Michigan
TOM COBURN, Oklahoma THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, Rhode Island MARK DAYTON, Minnesota
ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah FRANK LAUTENBERG, New Jersey
PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico MARK PRYOR, Arkansas
JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia
Andrew Richardson, Staff Director
Richard J. Kessler, Minority Staff Director
Nanci E. Langley, Minority Deputy Staff Director
Tara E. Baird, Chief Clerk
C O N T E N T S
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Opening statements:
Page
Senator Voinovich............................................ 1
Senator Akaka................................................ 3
WITNESSES
Thursday, July 14, 2005
William O. Jenkins, Jr., Director, Homeland Security and Justice
Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office.................. 5
George W. Foresman, Assistant to the Governor of Virginia for
Commonwealth Preparedness, Commonwealth of Virginia............ 7
Dennis R. Schrader, Director of the Governor's Office of Homeland
Security in the State of Maryland.............................. 9
Thomas J. Lockwood, Director, Office of National Capital Region
Coordination, U.S. Department of Homeland Security............. 10
Edward D. Reiskin, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice for
the District of Columbia....................................... 12
Alphabetical List of Witnesses
Foresman, George W.:
Testimony.................................................... 7
Prepared joint statement by Edward D. Reiskin, George W.
Foresman, and Dennis R. Schrader with an attachment........ 33
Jenkins, William O., Jr.:
Testimony.................................................... 5
Prepared statement........................................... 21
Lockwood, Thomas J.:
Testimony.................................................... 10
Prepared statement........................................... 64
Reiskin, Edward D.:
Testimony.................................................... 12
Prepared joint statement by Edward D. Reiskin, George W.
Foresman, and Dennis R. Schrader with an attachment........ 33
Schrader, Dennis R.:
Testimony.................................................... 9
Prepared joint statement by Edward D. Reiskin, George W.
Foresman, and Dennis R. Schrader with an attachment........ 33
Appendix
Questions and Responses from:
Mr. Jenkins.................................................. 68
Combined responses from Edward D. Reiskin, George W.
Foresman, and Dennis R. Schrader........................... 74
Mr. Lockwood................................................. 85
THE WAR ON TERRORISM: HOW PREPARED IS THE NATION'S CAPITAL?
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THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2005
U.S. Senate,
Oversight of Government Management, the Federal
Workforce and the District of Columbia Subcommittee,
of the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., in
room SD-562, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. George V.
Voinovich, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
Present: Senators Voinovich, Akaka, and Dayton.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR VOINOVICH
Senator Voinovich. The Subcommittee will please come to
order.
Good morning, I want to thank you for joining us today.
This Subcommittee which has authorizing jurisdiction over the
District of Columbia meets today to examine an issue of crucial
importance to the Nation, the Washington region, and to each
person present in this room: How prepared is the Nation's
Capital to respond to a terrorist attack?
This hearing was requested by my friend and colleague,
Senator Akaka, and we have been planning to hold this hearing
for some time. I want to make it clear that it was not
triggered as a result of what happened in London recently.
The Office of the National Capital Region Coordination
within the Department of Homeland Security was established in
the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The Office was created to
oversee and coordinate Federal programs and domestic
preparedness initiatives for State, local, and regional
authorities. Since September 11, 2001, over $500 million have
been directed toward the region to ensure that preparedness
efforts across the region are fully coordinated, appropriately
integrated, consistent, non-duplicative, effective, and
efficient.
Today we are holding this hearing to ensure that the Office
of the National Capital Region Coordination, and the other
responsible agencies of the Capital Region are adequately
performing their roles. Various events and news reports have
repeatedly highlighted the problems with the Office's
distribution of funds and the lack of coordination in the
region's response capacity.
Because of votes that are going to be starting at 10
o'clock, I am going to ask that the rest of my statement be
included in the record.
[The prepared statement of Senator Voinovich follows:]
OPENING PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR VOINOVICH
Good morning. Thank you for joining us. Today, this Subcommittee,
which has authorizing jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, meets
to examine an issue of crucial importance to the Nation, the Washington
region, and to each person present in this room: How prepared is the
Nation's Capital to respond to a terrorist attack? This hearing was
requested by my friend and colleague, Senator Akaka, and we have been
planning to hold it for some time.
The National Capital Region is home to the District of Columbia,
the three branches of the Federal Government, two States, 12 local
jurisdictions, and over four million Americans. The White House, the
Capitol, the Pentagon, and countless Federal buildings and monuments
throughout the region are as much the symbol of liberty, our history
and values as a Nation as they are the centers of its governance.
On September 11, 2001, the Region came under a terrorist attack
from passenger airliners transformed into deadly weapons. One slammed
into the Pentagon. The other, United Flight 93, headed toward the
Capital Region, but never reached its mark. The heroism of the
passengers aboard thwarted the attack, sacrificing their lives in the
process. Though we will never know whether the terrorists aimed for the
White House or the Capitol Dome, the intended consequence is clear.
A little more than a month later, the region experienced an anthrax
attack that took five lives nationwide, required the testing of
thousands of mailroom employees throughout the region, and shuttered
buildings around the city for months. I remember vividly the
uncertainty as I was forced to leave my office in the Hart buildings
for 4 months while it was decontaminated.
Since then we have lived with the knowledge that the National
Capital Region is a top target for terrorists. The recent barbaric
attacks in London serve as a stark reminder that we have deadly
enemies, intent on striking at the heart of our society.
Now, as you look around the Capitol complex, you see numerous road
closing, cement jersey barriers, the construction on the new Capitol
Visitor Center, and thousands of green bollards around every building,
to protect us from terrorist. Sadly, vigilance must be the order of the
day.
The Office of the National Capital Region Coordination, within the
Department of Homeland Security, was established in the Homeland
Security Act of 2002. The Office was created to oversee and coordinate
Federal programs and domestic preparedness initiatives for State, local
and regional authorities. Since September 11, over $500 million have
been directed toward the region to ensure that preparedness efforts
across the region are fully coordinated, appropriately integrated,
consistent, non-duplicative, efficient and effective.
Today, we are holding this hearing to ensure that the Office of the
National Capital Region Coordination, and the other responsible
agencies of the Capital Region, are adequately performing their roles.
Various events and news reports have repeatedly highlighted the
problems with the Office's distribution of funds and the lack of
coordination in the region's response capacity. When a Cessna airplane
flew into restricted airspace, forcing an evacuation of the White House
and the Capitol, it was later learned that neither Mayor Williams, nor
the District of Columbia emergency services, were informed in a timely
fashion.
Earlier this spring, media stories highlighted the mismanagement of
Federal homeland security money, such as: $100,000 to enroll District
of Columbia sanitation workers in public speaking courses, and $100,000
to develop a song to teach children about emergency preparedness.
Last week, The Washington Times reported that the District of
Columbia failed to keep track of millions of dollars in Federal
bioterrorism funds that it has received since 1999, leading to improper
expenditures and spending delays.
In a tight budget, with demands for homeland security funding that
far exceeds the capacity of this Nation to furnish it, it is
discouraging and frustrating to learn that coordination is lacking and
that higher homeland security priories, such as equipment for first
responders, is neglected in lieu of the above expenditures. Stronger
management and accountability mechanisms must be implemented to avoid
these mistakes in the future.
In June 2004, GAO released a report which recommended that the
Office of the National Capital Region Coordination work with local
jurisdictions to develop a coordinated strategic plan to establish
goals and priorities, monitor the plan's implantation, identify and
address gaps in emergency preparedness, and evaluate the effectiveness
of expenditures by conducting assessments based on established
standards and guidelines.
One of the greatest concerns noted in the report was the inability
of the Office to account for the funds that were distributed. I am also
concerned that despite GAO recommendations, a strategic plan has not
been released. It is contrary to good management practices to proceed
large expenditures without a strategic plan. We must do better.
In closing, I would like to take a minute to acknowledge the hard
work and dedication of those that work to secure this region every day:
The emergency responders, fire fighters, local and Federal law
enforcement, and military personnel. Thank you. It is my hope that
today we will begin to identify and eliminate any hindrance to the
capacity of these people to get the job done. To this end, I offer
whatever assistance I can.
I now yield to the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, my good
friend Senator Akaka, for an opening statement.
Senator Voinovich. I would now like to call on Senator
Akaka, my colleague and the individual who encouraged me to
hold this hearing. Senator Akaka.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR AKAKA
Senator Akaka. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I join
you in welcoming our witnesses this morning, and I am going to
be brief.
I am grateful to--and I really mean this--my friend, the
Chairman, for working with me and the Subcommittee in
scheduling today's hearing, which will analyze how well
prepared the National Capital Region is for a major emergency.
I believe that the NCR with its 12 jurisdictions in
Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, can serve as
a coordination model and a test bed for other parts of the
country in implementing homeland security policies.
Our focus today is twofold. First we will look at how well
the region's State and local governments are coordinating
amongst themselves and with the Federal Government. Second, we
will examine whether Federal homeland security dollars are
being spent wisely.
I have a longer statement that I would ask consent to be
made part of the record, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. Without objection.
[The prepared statement of Senator Akaka follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR AKAKA
Thank you Chairman Voinovich. I join you in welcoming our panel of
witnesses. I am grateful to my friend, the Chairman, for working with
me in scheduling today's hearing, which will analyze how well prepared
the National Capital Region (NCR) is for a major emergency.
I believe that the NCR--with its twelve jurisdictions in Maryland,
Virginia, and the District of Columbia--can serve as a coordination
model and a test bed for other parts in the country in implementing
homeland security policies.
Our focus today is twofold. First, we will look at how well the
region's State and local governments are coordinating amongst
themselves and with the Federal Government and, second, we will examine
whether Federal homeland security dollars are being spent wisely.
Two months ago we were reminded of the importance of homeland
security coordination in the Nation's Capital when a small prop plane
caused the evacuation of Federal buildings and the Congress after
accidentally crossing into DC's restricted air space.
Although Federal officials responded quickly to the perceived
threat, they failed to involve or even notify District officials.
Last week, the vulnerability of metropolitan cities was
demonstrated by the coordinated bombings of the bus and subway systems
in London. The London attack was horrific and senseless. I believe this
tragedy can teach us how to better prevent, deter, and recover from a
similar attack in the United States. If such an event were to occur in
the District, an effective response would require the combined efforts
of Federal, State, and local officials because DC is home to the
Nation's Capital and adjoins two States. The coordination challenge
that NCR officials face is more complicated than other areas of the
country where there is less of a Federal Government presence.
In addition, the NCR is required by DHS to share and administer
Urban Area Security Initiative grants as a region. No single government
has autonomous control over that funding. Reaching the necessary
consensus between multiple jurisdictions on how best to spend the
funding significantly compounds the work required to administer the
grants.
This is not the case anywhere else in the country.
Sharing funding effectively while coordinating regional priorities
is an exercise that other cities have not had to undertake yet.
While the requirement of regional coordination has created
challenges for NCR members, the NCR has a head start in creating an
effective regional model, which is what the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) is now encouraging throughout the country through its
grant awards. The DHS Interim National Preparedness Goal, released this
March, instructs State and local governments to collaborate regionally
through mutual aid agreements to increase capability and share costs.
Let's not forget that the NCR began working on homeland security
coordination and collaboration on September 11, 2001.
Despite the significant progress made in the past four years, I
have some concerns about the level of coordination in the National
Capital Region.
First, it does not appear that the District of Columbia Office of
Homeland Security has a system in place to track homeland security
funding being spent in DC and the surrounding counties.
In response to a recommendation made in a May 2004 Government
Accountability Office (GAO) report, the Homeland Security Office
recently established a database to centralize all Urban Area Security
Initiative (UASI) funded projects being undertaken by the NCR. However
as GAO will testify today, this database does not hold any information
on other homeland security grant funding being spent in the region.
How can the NCR ensure that its UASI funding is being well spent if
there are no consolidated records on other ongoing homeland security
programs in the region?
Second, the NCR has yet to develop a strategic plan for homeland
security in the region.
Homeland security grants are not being spent to meet a set of
cohesive, overall objectives. Instead, each project is considered on
its individual merit. While this system may ensure that grant funds are
spent on legitimate purposes, it does not enable the region to use
grant funding efficiently to reduce vulnerability gaps and build
capability.
The NCR members are working on a strategic plan for the region but
have not said when it will be finalized and implemented.
I recognize that the NCR is working with limited staff and a number
of pressing priorities. However, without a strategic plan, the NCR
cannot effectively leverage the millions of Federal dollars awarded to
the region every year for homeland security.
Third, as the recent small plane incident shows, there are serious
gaps in the coordination and communication between DC officials and the
Federal Government. Mayor Williams, who is responsible for the District
of Columbia and all those who live and work here, said he was not
notified until after the event was almost over.
This failure of communication may be attributed to any number of
different missing links: The DC police officer stationed at the
Homeland Security Operations Center was not informed of the violation
by his HSOC colleagues because he lacks a Top Secret security
clearance; the telephone line that connects the DC police command
center with the Federal Aviation Administration was disconnected, and
the Homeland Security Information Network never issued an alert to
State and local officials.
We cannot afford to have a layered system where every single layer
fails.
I know the men and women working to protect our Nation's Capital
have a never-ending challenge before them and I recognize and commend
them for their hard work and dedication. It is my hope that our hearing
will assist these public servants by bringing needed attention to the
critical work they perform.
Thank you Mr. Chairman. I look forward to working with you on this
and other DC oversight issues in the future.
Senator Akaka. As the Chairman noted, we will be having a
series of votes at 10, and I want to give our witnesses all the
time we can, and tell you that we appreciate your presence here
and your responses, and I look forward to the testimony.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. We are fortunate that we have some
excellent witnesses this morning. William Jenkins is the
Director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues at the
Government Accountability Office.
George Foresman is the Assistant to the Governor for
Commonwealth Preparedness for the State of Virginia. Thank you
for being here.
Dennis Schrader is the Director of Maryland Governor's
Office of Homeland Security.
Thomas Lockwood is the Director of the Office of the
National Capital Region Coordination in the Department of
Homeland Security.
Finally, we have Edward D. Reiskin, the Deputy Mayor for
Public Safety and Justice for the District of Columbia.
Gentlemen, it is the custom of this Subcommittee to swear
in all the witnesses. If you will stand, please, and be sworn
in.
Do you swear the testimony you are about to give this
Subcommittee is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, so help you, God?
Mr. Jenkins. I do.
Mr. Foresman. I do.
Mr. Schrader. I do.
Mr. Lockwood. I do.
Mr. Reiskin. I do.
Senator Voinovich. Thank you.
We will start out with you, Mr. Jenkins. I would request
that you limit your testimony to 5 minutes, and I assure you
that the rest of your testimony will be made part of the
record. I do want to apologize in advance, but because of the
limited time we have today you will probably receive questions
from the Members of this Subcommittee in writing. We would
appreciate your getting back to us as soon as you can with your
written responses.
Mr. Jenkins.
TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM O. JENKINS, JR.,\1\ DIRECTOR, HOMELAND
SECURITY AND JUSTICE ISSUES, U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
OFFICE
Mr. Jenkins. Thank you. Chairman Voinovich and Ranking
Member Akaka, I appreciate the opportunity to participate in
today's hearing on efforts to use Federal grants to enhance
emergency preparedness in the National Capital Region.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Jenkins appears in the Appendix
on page 21.
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A coordinated, targeted and complementary use of Federal
homeland security grants and all other available resources for
enhancing emergency preparedness in the region is important.
Effectively managing and using these funds is one mean of
achieving an important goal: The ability of first responders to
prevent where possible, prepare for, respond to, and recover
from terrorist attacks and other major emergency incidents with
well-planned, well-coordinated and effective efforts that
involve a variety of first responders from multiple
jurisdictions.
The Office of National Capital Region Coordination was
created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to coordinate
Federal, State and local efforts to secure the homeland in the
NCR and to assess and advocate for State, local and regional
resources needed in the NCR.
Effectively managing first responder funds requires the
ability to measure progress and provide accountability for the
use of available funds. This requires a strategic approach to
homeland security that includes identifying threats and
managing risk, aligning resources to address them, and
assessing progress in preparing for and mitigating those
threats and risks.
In May 2004 we reported that the NCR faced three
interrelated challenges in managing Federal funds in a way that
maximizes their effectiveness and minimizes inefficiency and
unnecessary duplication of expenditures. Those were: (1) the
lack of preparedness standards; (2) the lack of a coordinated
region-wide strategic plan to guide expenditures; and (3) a
readily available, reliable source of data on funds available
to first responders in the NCR and their use.
Without the standards, a region-wide plan and data on
available funds and their use, it is difficult to determine
whether NCR first responders have the ability to respond to
threats and emergencies with well-planned, well-coordinated and
effective efforts.
In our May 2004 report we made three recommendations to the
Secretary of Homeland Security that addressed these three
interrelated challenges. The NCR has made progress in
implementing these recommendations, but none has yet been fully
implemented.
Specifically, first, we recommended that the NCR develop a
strategic plan that includes performance goals and priorities
that could be used to guide the use of funds to enhance
emergency preparedness in the NCR. According to the Office of
National Capital Region Coordination, a final draft for review
has been completed and circulated to key stakeholders, and will
feature measurable goals, objectives, and performance measures.
Second, we recommended that the NCR monitor the strategic
plans implementation to ensure that funds are used in a way
that promotes effective expenditures that are not unnecessarily
duplicative. This cannot be done, of course, until the final
plan is final.
The key to implementing this recommendation is data on
funds available in the NCR for emergency preparedness and their
use. Currently, the NCR, through the D.C. Office of Homeland
Security, maintains data on Urban Area Security Initiative
funds and funds that are allocated directly to the District of
Columbia. However, at this time it does not have uniform,
reliable and readily available data on funds available to NCR
jurisdictions from non-UASI grants such as the State homeland
security grants. NCR officials recognize the need to develop a
more systematic means of capturing information on all homeland
security grant funds available and their use within the NCR.
The third recommendation was to identify and address gaps
in emergency preparedness in the NCR and evaluate the
effectiveness of expenditures in closing those gaps. To date,
no systematic gap analysis has been completed for the NCR as a
whole. However, by March 2006 the NCR plans to complete a gap
analysis using the National Emergency Preparedness Standards of
the Emergency Management Accreditation Program.
At some point this effort must be integrated with the
performance standards that DHS has developed as part of its
national preparedness goal. Since our May 2004 report, DHS has
developed a list of 36 capabilities in terms of planning,
training, equipment and exercises that first responders would
need to develop and maintain to effectively prepare for and
respond to major emergency events that would require the
resources and participation of first responders from Federal,
State, and local jurisdictions.
We applaud the efforts that the NCR has made to implement
our recommendations. We believe that fully implementing them
will be a major step toward developing the structure, processes
and data needed to assess and develop emergency preparedness
capabilities in the NCR.
That concludes my statement, Mr. Chairman. Be pleased to
respond to any questions you or Senator Akaka have.
Senator Voinovich. Mr. Foresman.
TESTIMONY OF GEORGE W. FORESMAN,\1\ ASSISTANT TO THE GOVERNOR
OF VIRGINIA FOR COMMONWEALTH PREPAREDNESS, COMMONWEALTH OF
VIRGINIA
Mr. Foresman. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, Senator, thank you
all for holding this hearing today, and we very much appreciate
the opportunity to talk about the progress that has in fact
been made in the National Capital Region.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The prepared joint statement of Mr. Reiskin, Mr. Foresman, and
Mr. Schrader appears in the Appendix on page 33.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have submitted joint written testimony on behalf of the
Commonwealth of Virginia, the State of Maryland and the
District of Columbia in our continuing spirit of cooperation.
We have four goals for the Subcommittee today. First, we
want to place our collective work in the NCR into the broader
perspective impacted by recent history, current progress and
future plans.
Second, we want to help this Subcommittee, other Members of
Congress, and most importantly, our citizens understand the
real and tangible actions that we have taken to achieve higher
levels of regional coordination to prevent attacks, and if
necessary, to respond in the National Capital Region.
Third is a desire to articulate progress by pointing to
measurable steps that we have taken in a collaborative fashion
with our partners at the local level, in the private sector and
with our Federal partners that will improve the region's
readiness, both in the context of the public and private
sector.
And finally, we want to reassure this Subcommittee and the
Congress as a whole--you all are residents of the National
Capital Region much of the time, your staff are residents all
of the time--that we remain focused for the longer term efforts
as we recognize that the threats that we face as a Nation, as
region, as communities, will not diminish in the near term.
Clearly we have made much progress, but there is one
principle that has underscored everything that we have done
since the tragic hours of September 11. The phenomenal
coordination challenge that we face in the National Capital
Region is driven by our strict adherence to the principles set
forth in the formation of this great Nation of ours. There is
no single person, office, level, or branch of government vested
with the ability to direct the full range of preparedness
activities across all others in the region. So we adhere to the
principle that while challenging, collaboration, and
coordination must be followed lest we undermine the very values
of governance that America is seeking to preserve.
What I would offer to you--and I think Mr. Jenkins has done
a nice job of underscoring some of the issues--is it is easy to
say that we must do a better job of coordinating regionally, it
is phenomenally difficult to make that happen on a day-to-day
basis, but it is a challenge that we remain committed to in the
National Capital Region.
The NCR presents a unique coordination challenge for those
who protect its residents and institutions, especially from the
threat of terrorism. Recognizing the evolving character of the
threat and the need for new types of collaboration, we are
working in partnership, local, State, Federal, and private
sector, to reduce the vulnerability of the NCR from terrorist
attacks, and to do a better job at managing the full range or
risks that we face on a day-to-day basis.
There is much activity occurring in many domains. Efforts
to improve health and medical readiness are being supported by
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Actions to
improve the military's readiness to support civil authorities
at home here in the National Capital Region is being led by the
Department of Defense. The Department of Homeland Security is
one of many focal points of Federal activities that we have to
work with across the National Capital Region, and they are of
course focused on many areas ranging from intelligence sharing
to border security, and clearly, Secretary Chertoff has set a
new standard yesterday when he announced the reorganization and
refocusing of the Department as part of the second stage
review.
All of these activities impact us at the local and the
State level, and it is important that we continue to coordinate
across the Federal family, across all branches of the Federal
family, to ensure that we have a coordinated and seamless
strategy for dealing with emergencies and disasters.
You will hear from our discussions today, from my
colleague, Dennis Schrader in Maryland, Ed Reiskin in the
District of Columbia and Tom Lockwood from the Office of
National Capital Region Coordination, about how regional
coordination has been developed over the course of the past 4
years, and how it represents a complex structure, but a complex
structure that nevertheless is needed in our structure of
government in this country.
Regionalism is important to the future of managing risk in
this country, and many of the lessons that we have learned in
the National Capital Region are certainly applicable to other
regions of the country.
But we remain committed to creating an enterprise of
preparedness in the National Capital Region that assesses the
risks and allows us to control our destiny. At the end of the
day, we remain committed to ensuring that we control our
priorities, our destiny and our focus in terms of our ability
to prepare for emergencies and disasters, including terrorism,
and we will not allow our enemies to charge those priorities
for us.
At the end of the day, preparedness in the National Capital
Region is a fundamental responsibility that all of the
governors, the Mayor of the District of Columbia, are committed
to, and we recognize that all emergencies and disasters,
irrespective of where they occur, are local and State issues
and will be dealt with by local and State officials.
We very much appreciate the opportunity to testify today.
My colleague, Dennis Schrader, from the State of Maryland, will
now talk about the governance structure.
TESTIMONY OF DENNIS R. SCHRADER,\1\ DIRECTOR OF THE GOVERNOR'S
OFFICE OF HOMELAND SECURITY IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND
Mr. Schrader. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Akaka. From
the very beginning, going back almost 36 months now--that
anniversary will be on April 5, 2002--the two governors, the
mayor and the President's office came together around eight
commitments to action, and this has been an evolving governance
process. But the key to the governance process from the very
beginning was deliberate focus on management of the program,
and accountability for every action that we take. Having that
kind of an accountability in a complex environment like this
really required that the principals had their people working
very closely together. It is a privilege for me to be working
with my colleagues from Virginia, DC, and the Office of
National Capital Region.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The prepared joint statement of Mr. Reiskin, Mr. Foresman, and
Mr. Schrader appears in the Appendix on page 33.
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Early on we determined that as resources would come into
the National Capital Region, it had to be centrally managed,
and we determined that the most appropriate way to handle that
was to have the District of Columbia be the State
administrative agency for those resources, and we are very
pleased with the job that they have done on our behalf.
We meet monthly face-to-face. Our principals, the governor
and the mayor meet approximately quarterly on a variety of
issues. Homeland security is one of them. So each of us feels a
mutual responsibility to each other for the evolution of this
process.
The first 18 months was spent working hard on how to put
the governance structure together. One of the eight commitments
was around decisionmaking and coordination, and there was a lot
of time spent on that, and actually, that was done before the
Department of Homeland Security was established.
With the establishment of the Office of the National
Capital Region with the stand-up of the new department in early
2003, that office evolved, but it has really taken off to a new
level under Tom Lockwood's leadership since May 2004, and his
energy and commitment to bringing us all together and driving
this to a new level has been laudable, and we appreciate that,
at least in Maryland, and the other States. I think I can speak
for my colleague in Virginia and DC.
We continue to focus on a day-to-day basis on project
management. That process evolves. But also in the governance
process we learned early on--and we had a major milestone in
February 2004--that we needed to bring the local jurisdictions
into the governance process, and we formally brought the chief
administrative officers from the local jurisdictions into that
process. And you have a document, which I will not go through,
but that lays out the structure of how all that works, and in
collaboration with the Emergency Preparedness Council, which
gives us visibility for the local elected officials, the
private sector and other regional government agencies, as well
as the nonprofit sector.
So this governance structure was agreed upon in February
2004, and we have been exercising that since then, and I will
be honest with you, we have had a lot of bumps and grinds, as
any major process like this, but I believe the commitment, the
week-in and week-out, we actually have a conference call every
Friday at noon that we have together, and it is very rare that
all of the folks from the principal team are not on that call.
So the last thing I will leave you with is that we also
have a bottoms-up process within the CAO group. They have
visibility on all what are called the emergency support
functions. The local emergency responders from all the various
communities, the 15 emergency support functions, and that is
managed by the chief administrative officers with the help of
the Washington Council of Governments, and that is a very
complex process.
Let me just leave you by saying we have had a number of
very important milestones. We have bought 1,000 800-megahertz
radios that are shared within the region and can be deployed at
a moment's notice. That was a very major improvement. We have
interoperability teams that are working. We have bought 9,000
sets of turnout gear for all the fire and emergency medical
responders in the region, and we have reached out to the
physical disabilities community. We have a citizen education
program under way, and we are focused also on critical
infrastructure protection and training and exercises.
I will stop there, but I will say that our governance
process is evolving, it is working, and it is very focused on
accountability and management. Thank you, sir.
Senator Voinovich. Mr. Lockwood, how long have you been
with DHS?
Mr. Lockwood. Since about May 2004, so I am coming up past
my 1-year anniversary.
TESTIMONY OF THOMAS J. LOCKWOOD,\1\ DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF
NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION COORDINATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND SECURITY
Mr. Lockwood. Thank you for allowing us to come. Again,
this work that we do is truly a collaborative effort between
Federal, State, local government, and the private sector,
including our not-for-profit community and our regional
partners. So again, I want to recognize all of the partners
that we have in the region.
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\1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Lockwood appears in the Appendix
on page 64.
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These partners have been significant in putting together
and planning regionally to lead the Nation in that concept. We
continue to work closely, and in the near term, we very much
intend to come out with a regional strategic plan, one that is
based on all of those partners, their comments, their concerns,
about this region, going back almost to 2003, at which time we
were in the State of Maryland as part of the Maryland Homeland
Security team very much coordinated even back then with Mike
Burns. We appreciate the work that Mike and the White House has
done to lay out this ground work.
We use the UASI grant really as a tool to begin integrating
the region. We had three critical points at that time: To
prevent terrorist attacks in the NCR, to reduce the NCR's
vulnerability to terrorism, and to minimize the damage and
recover from attacks that do occur.
This framework of cooperation, this framework of true
regional capability, of committing the resources to regional
initiatives, really was the ground work for where we are at
today, so that was a great move on Congress' part to allow
those resources to be committed to regions.
But as indicated by GAO, there was much more work to be
done. This was a first step. The next step was really to bring
in the concept of standards, performance measures, to really
articulate a common regional strategic plan that integrates
Federal, State, and local spending to prioritize as a
community, and we have aggressively followed up on those
recommendations.
Again, the need for this plan again is to establish
coordinated regional goals and priorities for the enhancement
of homeland security and first response capabilities within the
NCR to guide, integrate and ensure efficient spending of
security dollars, of grant dollars, of budgeted dollars in
resources, and again, to provide a means for actual
improvements that are being made.
We also have some key principles that we developed that is
going to guide us, and probably the most important one,
strengthening regional coordination among all partners to gain
synergy while sustaining jurisdictional authority and enhancing
capabilities. That truly means we are working as a team.
A couple other key points: To prepare for all hazards
including manmade and naturally occurring emergencies and
disasters, so that this is part of our day-to-day practices and
expandable in the event of an emergency. We have another key
piece in this region, to foster a culture of collaboration,
respect, communication, innovation, and mutual aid among all
the homeland security partners. When we talk about these
partners again we have six forms of constitutional government
that we deal with every day, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the
State of Maryland, the District of Columbia, with the
Legislative Branch, the Judicial Branch, the Executive Branch,
how do we coordinate together as a team.
We are developing and we will be publishing shortly the
National Capital Region Homeland Security Plan. This is not a
invented plan. This builds upon all the previous work over the
past several months, the work that the police chiefs, fire
chiefs, emergency management communities in the region, pulling
all of that work together to meet the intent of where GAO was
commenting that we really want to have better coordination and
visibility amongst the funding streams. A key step is building
those performance measures, and this regional assessment that
we have done, both across the region and with jurisdictions,
will be a key piece in that.
Thank you very much.
Senator Voinovich. Thank you, Mr. Lockwood. Mr. Reiskin.
TESTIMONY OF EDWARD D. REISKIN,\1\ DEPUTY MAYOR FOR PUBLIC
SAFETY AND JUSTICE FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Mr. Reiskin. Good morning. Thank you. My name is Ed
Reiskin. I am the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice
for the District of Columbia. I appreciate the opportunity as
well to round out this discussion with my partners from
Maryland, Virginia, and the Department of Homeland Security.
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\1\ The prepared joint statement of Mr. Reiskin, Mr. Foresman, and
Mr. Schrader appears in the Appendix on page 33.
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I am going to talk about funding, which has been an area of
focus for us and I know an area of interest for you. One of the
major sources for regional homeland security efforts, sources
of funding since 2003 has been the Urban Area Security
Initiative, fondly known as UASI. In the National Capital
Region it has been one of our major areas around which we have
coordinated and worked together as a region.
As Dennis mentioned, the District of Columbia serves as the
administrator or State administrative agent for the region's
homeland security funds through UASI, and to that end we have
established an Office of Homeland Security within the Executive
Office of the Mayor to perform that function. The purpose of
the Office is through agreement with all the participants, to
provide a comprehensive grant oversight program for the entire
region, and we collectively have made it a priority of that
office to make certain that all UASI grant funds are expended
effectively, efficiently, timely, and consistent with grant
guidelines and desired outcomes.
This Office serves as the reliable and primary source of
information on the Homeland Security grant programs, including
criteria used to determine spending priorities and actual
expenditures. Since the establishment of this Office, there
have been a number of benefits that creation of this Office has
provided to the region.
As outlined in the table, Table 1\2\ in the testimony we
submitted for the record, the Office is currently managing UASI
grants totaling over $170 million. Over 90 percent of these
funds allocated to the region since 2003 have been either
expended or obligated, as detailed in Table 2\3\ in the
testimony.
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\2\ Table 1 appears in the Appendix on page 46.
\3\ Table 2 appears in the Appendix on page 47.
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Despite that relatively high number, we do acknowledge that
the level of spending is relatively low when measured solely on
a grant expenditure basis. However, it is important to note
that there are no significant dollars that have not been
programmed. They are not technically expended. Virtually every
dollar is tied to a project that is currently in progress of
completed.
However, funds are only deemed expended when the goods or
services have been received, the invoices have been received
and processed, accounting entries are completed within
financial systems and quarterly reports sent to the Federal
Government.
We, therefore, believe that basing an evaluation of any
region's homeland security spending purely on its rate of
official expenditure is not the best measure of its
effectiveness. Analysis of funds allocation and progress on
each project better provides an evaluation of how and whether
the funds are being spent. An analysis of the outcomes
ultimately will determine if they have been spent wisely.
The reason why our spending rate is low, however, compared
to other UASI regions, is that following the receipt,
programming and expenditure of congressionally appropriated
funds in 2002, the region was very deliberate in its execution
of the then-new homeland security grant program. As you have
heard, we have a lot of stakeholders and a complex system in
which we work, and determining how to best use these valuable
grant resources takes time, and particularly when we first came
together as part of this regional process, we needed to ensure
that we had all of the stakeholders involved and systems in
place to ensure a viable process.
Nevertheless, and with the help of recommendations from the
GAO, we constantly strive to improve our administrative
processes and have done so, and in the coming year we will
focus the Office on strengthening the region's overall
management reporting mechanisms with regard to these grants.
We are currently taking several steps to develop these
enhanced mechanisms such as building program management
capacity to assist with managing and monitoring the region's
homeland security grant activities and the development of a
regional web portal to create a collaborative environment for
stakeholders throughout the region.
So we, therefore, believe we are on a good track from an
administrative perspective to provide the support needed for
this complex process to ensure that we manage the use of these
funds to achieve the outcomes that will make the region safer
and more secure.
So with that, you have heard about how we are organized,
how we have strategized and managed ourselves to work towards
the achievement of our homeland security vision for our unique
and beloved region, and while we are unique in many respects,
we hope that there are lessons learned for other areas of the
country so that they, too, can transcend political
jurisdictional boundaries to make their regions, and therefore
the country, safer and more secure.
That concludes our statement and we welcome the opportunity
to discuss this further.
Senator Voinovich. Thank you very much. In my opening
statement there were references to some areas that I have
concern with. In particular, I am referring to the first Cessna
that flew into the restricted air space, forcing the evacuation
of the Capitol. We later learned that it took 30 minutes for
that information to be shared with the District of Columbia,
the mayor, and the chief of police. I suspect that you have
remedied that situation?
Mr. Reiskin. We have.
Senator Voinovich. I want to say to all of you that I am
impressed with your testimony today. As a former governor, and
especially in the Cincinnati area where we have three States
that come together, I know how difficult it is to get everybody
together. The fact that you have all appeared here and
presented joint testimony, is an indication that you recognize
in terms of governance and working together, how important it
is that you continue that. I am very pleased to hear that you
talk quite often. I am also pleased to see that each of you in
your own respective jurisdictions, particularly the States,
have your own various local government groups that you stay in
touch with.
I would be interested in knowing what kind of a mechanism
you have put in place to allocate resources. I know in my State
of Ohio, there is a significant amount of grant money coming
into the State. Allocating these funds in an effective and
efficient manor is difficult. How do you go about allocating
those funds in this region?
Mr. Foresman. Mr. Chairman, the easy way would be to simply
allocate it on a population based formula, but we chose very
early in the process not to do that. Essentially, the process
works like this: We take a broad category, a broad pot of
dollars, if you will, in terms of the UASI grant availability.
Throughout this process we have continued to identify the needs
at the local level, statewide, region-wide, and essentially
using the ESF structure, the various support functional
activities, proposals permeate up through those ESF functional
areas, they come forward to the chief administrative officers,
who then rack them and stack them and prioritize them. They
subsequently come forward to the senior policy group----
Senator Voinovich. Who are the chief administration
officers?
Mr. Foresman. County managers, city managers, that type of
thing, comes forward to the senior policy group. And we have
had a little bit of a variation on it----
Senator Voinovich. Who is the senior policy group?
Mr. Foresman. That would be the six representatives of the
two governors and the mayor. It is typically the Homeland
Security Adviser and the State Emergency Management Director,
as well as two representatives from the Office of National
Capital Region.
Senator Voinovich. Who staffs that for you?
Mr. Foresman. We staff it using part of the administrative
funds. We staff it through the district's Office of Homeland
Security through contract support to provide----
Senator Voinovich. You are using the EMPG funds then to do
that.
Mr. Foresman. No, sir, using UASI funds.
Senator Voinovich. OK.
Mr. Foresman. But what it essentially provides for is a
distributed process that allows those same key decisionmakers
that make budget decisions at the local level, chief
administrative officials, to make budget decisions with regard
to Federal allocations. Simply put though, getting 12 local
jurisdictions, say the fire community, for instance, it
requires getting 12 fire chiefs to agree on spending priorities
within the fire discipline across local jurisdictions and
appropriate State agency folks. It is not easy. It is new. But
it is working thus far.
Senator Voinovich. When I was Mayor of Cleveland it was
difficult to get anybody together. Since September 11, things
have changed. Because of the initiative that we have taken on
the Federal level in terms of providing funds, it is amazing
the coordination and cooperation that we are seeing in the
States. Good people are getting together and backing off their
turf, trying to get the job done.
One of the things that I think people fail to realize is
that here in the District we are obviously more vulnerable than
other places in the country. As Senators, we have men and women
that work for us. Many of us are here during the week and go
home on the weekends. The people who work in our offices live
in this region and are at more risk than many Americans. The
Capitol complex has been evacuated seven times. During the
Anthrax attack, we were out of our office for 4 months. I think
that it should be comforting to some of the moms and dads and
grandmas and grandpas of these people, that you all are working
together. You have a heavy responsibility, and I am grateful
that you are moving in the right direction.
Mr. Lockwood, do you have enough people over in your shop
to get the job done for you? How many do you have, Mr.
Lockwood?
Mr. Lockwood. Currently in the office I have a Deputy, Ken
Wall, who is one of the best deputies in DHS. We have EA
support and we have some detailees in the office.
Senator Voinovich. Do all of you feel that the ONCRC is
doing a good job with coordination in the region? Mr. Lockwood,
is your office implementing a structure to track and coordinate
the funds coming into the region? Does this structure answer
the concerns and questions that GAO has asked?
Mr. Lockwood. Yes, the structure that we have put into
place right now. We put in the organizational structure of the
leaders so that they are looking at both the local spending and
their jurisdictional spending. Now as we are building out the
actual management mechanisms, and the people to actually do the
work, the infrastructure, the databases will be compiled to
reflect that integrational process.
Senator Voinovich. And you are also working on the gaps
that you might perceive that are out there?
Mr. Lockwood. There is two pieces of this. At the national
level through DHS activities, through Presidential Directive 7
and 9 that are asking for the establishment of baselines, DHS
is very actively establishing those. There is a preliminary
document statement have gone out. They are working with their
State and local partners now. And the goal for ESF--check
that--for Homeland Security Presidential Directive No. 7,
critical infrastructure piece, they are looking to finalize
that, I believe fall of this year.
And for Homeland Security Presidential Directive No. 8,
emergency preparedness standards and guidelines, again, this
fall. There is a lot of interaction across the Nation with the
State Homeland Security Emergency Management first response
communities.
Mr. Foresman. Mr. Chairman, if I might, I would feel remiss
if I did not offer a State perspective, having been in the
region since prior to September 11, having looked at a lot of
the national issues. Congress' intent in creating the Office of
National Capital Region Coordination--which I, as a State
official, did not particularly agree with on the front end, but
I have now seen the merit in that--is not appropriately
resourced to accomplish the mission that you all have asked
them to accomplish. I say that irrespective of whether Tom
Lockwood or Mike Burn is occupying the seat in there, but it is
a phenomenal challenge. I would offer to you that we have
evacuated the Capitol, but providing that level of facilitation
and coordination between the District, the two States and the
U.S. Congress, the Judiciary and the Executive Branch is a
phenomenal undertaking, and there are insufficient resources
just to coordinate the Federal piece of it amongst themselves,
much less with the State and local partners.
Senator Voinovich. Thank you for your candor. Senator
Akaka.
Senator Akaka. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I agree
with you, Mr. Chairman, that what we have heard is pleasing to
our ears, and you have indicated that you have been working
hard. I am glad to hear the words being used,
``accountability,'' ``commitment,'' ``coordination,'' putting
together government structure, a framework, and even maybe
another step would be to set standards. And so you are working
together since, I believe, 2004.
I would be interested in hearing from any member of the
senior policy group who could explain to this Subcommittee how
you share information on ongoing homeland security projects,
and in your respective jurisdictions, and whether this is a
formal or informal process. Mr. Schrader.
Mr. Schrader. One of the things that we are most concerned
about in Maryland particularly has been the notion that we have
one State and we talk frequently with our local jurisdictions
to make sure that we have an integrated program within the
State that then coordinates back with the National Capital
Region.
Just to give you an example, we have a fusion center in
Maryland, which we call the Coordination and Analysis Center.
We are very careful to make sure that all the jurisdictions in
Maryland are tied into that, but then we are working with the
Washington Field Office, Virginia, and DC, to begin to look at
how do we integrate those efforts. That is just one example.
We have got a critical infrastructure protection program in
Maryland that we work very closely with the FBI and the
Department of Justice, as well as DHS. We have got a joint
committee that looks at how do we coordinate the three
jurisdictions with the Federal Government on that critical
infrastructure.
So it is on a program by program basis, at least in
Maryland, and I know my colleagues are working with us.
Similarly, we are creating focus on that so we make sure that
we leverage the resources. So if we are investing in critical
infrastructure protection in Maryland as a State, we want to
make sure that we leverage those resources back to the NCR so
that there is collaboration.
So those are just a couple of examples.
Mr. Lockwood. Within the National Capital Region following
September 11, the Executive Branch, through the Chief of Staff,
had reached out and created a group called the Joint Federal
Committee. We meet once a month. It includes members of the
Federal family, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Very
similar how we get together as a team once a month, the Joint
Federal Committee gets together once a month to sort out
clearinghouse issues of how do we coordinate issues, specific
issues of coordination of interest and to ensure that our
Federal family is being linked back over to State and local
efforts as well. When I say our Federal family, I do mean all
three branches of the Federal Government.
A key piece that I believe everyone here at this table
really feels very sincerely is we all feel strongly about this
region, its institutions, about our residents, and about our
guests. We also see that there is a responsibility on us to
talk to other regions of the Nation, and one of the pieces that
I can see is very active coordination with our State partners
back over with other regions of the Nation, and trying to make
what we are doing here available to other people. Most of those
are informal discussions. Some are through formal activities
such as the National Governors Association, but for example, in
your home State of Hawaii, as seeing what we are doing here,
General Lee wanted to know more about Smart Card Initiatives to
help management of first responders working through Honolulu
County. There has been a lot of coordination now to see what we
are doing and how we might leverage this with other areas.
Again, this is very preliminary pieces, mostly informal, some
formal meeting structures.
Senator Akaka. Well, to any of you, Mr. Jenkins from GAO
has testified that NCR should systematically track non-UASI
grant funds. Do you agree with this recommendation, and if you
do, why or why not? Mr. Foresman.
Mr. Foresman. Senator, the one thing I would offer is I
track every dollar in Virginia on a day-to-day basis, as do my
colleagues in Maryland and Virginia, so the decisions that are
made are informed by what we are doing with a multitude of
grant funds ranging from the bioterrorism money through CDC,
funds that are coming down through a variety of other Federal
sources, as well as the more than $500 million annually that
the State contributes to a variety of preparedness type
activities, whether it is law enforcement, fire, or emergency
medical services.
I think that part of the issue becomes to what degree is
that necessary and to what degree does that clarify or cloud an
issue? And Mr. Jenkins and his staff have been phenomenal in
working with us and giving us great ideas as we have worked
forward. But a perfect solution, it is easy to articulate a
perfect solution, but I am not sure that bringing my daily
accounting sheets and giving them to my partners in Maryland
and DC is going to improve our decisionmaking, because as we go
through these collaborative discussions, Dennis will say, ``Are
we going to do this issue?'' And I will say, ``Well, here is
how we are addressing it in Virginia.''
And frankly, I think we have to be careful that, as all of
the witnesses have testified today, that we protect the
uniqueness and the individuality of local governments and State
Governments while providing the appropriate level of
transparency, and there are political dimensions and practical
dimensions.
Senator Akaka. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My time has
expired. But may I ask Mr. Jenkins whether he has any comments
to make on that?
Mr. Jenkins. Actually I do, because I am a little bit
puzzled by the response. We have been told that they are going
to do that and that they agree with it, and as a matter of
fact, in Mr. Reiskin's testimony May 16 before the D.C. City
Council he said specifically that: ``in the coming year focus
will extend beyond the UASI grant program to include
strengthening of the region's overall management and reporting
mechanisms. We are going to be developing a regional web portal
to create a collaborative environment for NCR stakeholders. The
portal will serve as an information management tool for
accessing and sharing regional relevant data to include
comprehensive information on the availability and spending of
Federal grants in the NCR, regional priorities for determining
future spending of those funds.''
So I am a little bit puzzled by the response, given this,
and the fact that we have been told that they are going to do
it.
Mr. Reiskin. If I could try to clarify. Our focus within
the region and within our Homeland Security Office that serves
as the administrator, has largely been, particularly when DHS
stood up, has been centered around the UASI grant fund because
that was the big gorilla on the table. That is where our focus
has been, but as I had indicated in my testimony both here and
to the D.C. City Council, we recognize that the UASI program is
just one funding source and one part of the activity that our
overall strategy needs to address, some of which are non-
funding issues, they are policy and coordination issues.
So through the development of the regional strategy that is
currently taking place, that will provide a framework within
which we make decisions based on UASI, decisions within which
the States will individually make decisions based on their
State Homeland Security grant programs, Health and Human
Services grant programs, as well as policy, operations,
coordination decisions.
We most certainly want our office to be able to provide
for, on a regional level, relevant data, and certainly all data
that we are responsible for within our office on behalf of the
region, we intend to share and make available.
We have not worked through the details of which State grant
fund programs from Maryland, or Virginia we would include as
part of that regional information. We would most certainly
include that which we are responsible for. We have begun
meeting through the convening of the Department of Homeland
Security's Office of Domestic Preparedness with the State
administrative agents of the whole region, including even
beyond Maryland and Virginia, to start coordinating and sharing
information, and we will work towards providing as much useful
information as we can without overloading folks with more data
than they can use.
I would finally echo George's statement that throughout the
process at all levels, from the region's fire chiefs getting
together to the region's chief administrative officers getting
together, to us at the State level getting together, we bring
with us and are informed by our knowledge of all of the many
activities both from Federal funds, local funds and other
policy issues that are happening in our respective
jurisdictions.
Senator Akaka. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. Thank you. Senator Dayton.
Senator Dayton. We are going to have time, Mr. Chairman?
You have enough seniority and majority to--I will be
comfortable walking out with you.
Senator Voinovich. We are going to wrap it up.
Senator Dayton. I have one more question mainly.
Senator Voinovich. Sure.
Senator Dayton. Given the complexity of the government
arrangements--and I certainly understand those, appreciate
those difficulties--but in an emergency situation, it seems
that complexity becomes difficult because of human nature and
the like. In both of the evacuations, one the Chairman
mentioned, the other a year before when the Governor of
Kentucky came in on a private plane without an operating
transponder, and from what I recall reading, the FAA had that
information, he communicated that to others including the
Capitol Police, and once again we were evacuated.
In both instances the response of the Capitol Police was
heroic, and we were evacuating as quickly as feasible. But if
either of those planes had been a hijacked plane by a terrorist
organization, it would have crashed into the Capitol before
hundreds, if not thousands of people could have gotten out. Do
we need to have one overriding agency, whoever that is, in
charge of this and able to make all necessary decisions--you
are shaking your head--so that we can get an immediate response
when one is called for?
Mr. Foresman. Senator, in my estimation, no. Simply put, we
cannot do it one way in the National Capitol Region and a
different way in the remainder of the Nation because we are in
fact one Nation, and we have to have one process, one
structure, if you will, concept in terms of how we deal with
emergencies and disasters.
One thing I would point to is many of the systems that were
put in place--and I was here on September 11--many of the
systems put in place in the immediate days and weeks and months
in the aftermath of September 11 were done so in a very
reactive fashion. They were done so without necessarily a great
deal of ability for thoughtful analysis, collaboration among
local, State, and Federal officials. They were well
intentioned, and they were the best that we could do at the
time.
I think the level of maturity that we have seen in the
National Capital Region--and we get better with every event--
tells me that we are in fact getting where we need to be. Are
we there yet? Absolutely not. Are we ever going to be 100
percent risk free? No, we are not.
But from an operational perspective, I think the level of
cooperation and coordination is vastly improved over what it
was during the anthrax attacks in 2001, and I frankly think
that under the structure of governance, you cannot have one
agency that is going to be in charge. It is more important to
make sure that people who are in charge of specific pieces are
doing their job, and that we have got the collaborative and
coordination mechanisms in place to make sure that it is all in
one game plan.
Senator Dayton. Anybody else, given our shortage of time? I
see a couple of nodding heads. Does anybody have a significant
disagreement with that?
Mr. Lockwood. Not a disagreement, but actually an
expansion.
Senator Dayton. Do we have time, Mr. Chairman, for an
expansion? I defer to you.
Senator Voinovich. Yes. Mr. Lockwood, please respond and
then we will adjourn.
Mr. Lockwood. Through the National Capital Region
Coordination Center, where you have multiple agencies now
engaged 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, looking at the air
picture, this is now much better coordinated after May 11. Each
incident that happens, each activity that happens in the
region, we try to learn from those activities and fold those
back in. So the lesson learned from May 11 have already been
incorporated. And again, a key piece of this is as the Federal
Government takes activities out into their State or local
government, there has to be active coordination and
communication with their partners.
Senator Voinovich. A symbiotic relationship is essential
for all of you to be successful and achieve your goals. The
more you work together and the more you coordinate, the better
off this region will be. As I said earlier, I want to
congratulate you on the effort that you are making.
Mr. Jenkins, I really appreciate GAO's oversight over this
issue, and I am sure that your work has been very helpful to
everyone here. I am hoping that when we get together in the
next 6 months, that we will be talking about how the strategic
plan is completed, and some of the issues that Mr. Jenkins has
raised no longer exist.
Again, thank you very much for your work on behalf of this
region of the country for us and for the people that work with
us.
The hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:22 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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