Federal Government Resources
by Since 2003 when FEMA combined with Homeland Security many people have begun to express concern that FEMA has become extremely complicated to deal with and has lost its effectiveness to deal properly with emergency issues. FEMA is one of 22 different agencies which now make up America’s Homeland Security Department. This combined effort is suppose to properly address any disasters or terrorist activities which may befall our country; unfortunately, it simply does not work as planned.
Federal Government Resources
By Joseph Parish
Since 2003 when FEMA combined with Homeland Security many people have begun to express concern that FEMA has become extremely complicated to deal with and has lost its effectiveness to deal properly with emergency issues. FEMA is one of 22 different agencies which now make up America’s Homeland Security Department. This combined effort is suppose to properly address any disasters or terrorist activities which may befall our country; unfortunately, it simply does not work as planned.
With that many departments and each organization struggling to achieve their own agenda failure was apt to reveal its ugly head. In many cases due to FEMA’s critical role in disasters it might often be best if it were alone in its undertakings.
In emergency situations it is important for a department to be able to make quick and accurate decisions. Many of these judgment calls affect the federal aid which is being extended to the various states and local governments concerning the disaster in question. One of the major concerns these days is who is in charge of what program? It used to be that when a state governor asks for federal help the president would declare the area a disaster and FEMA would activate their resources accordingly. With it now falling under the direction of homeland security these procedures may be delayed. During times of disaster the state and local authorities have enough confusion taking place without adding to their burden with unnecessary delays.
FEMA’s poor response to the horrors of Hurricane Katrina during the year 2005 is often considered the agencies lowest point. Amongst FEMA failings during the New Orleans fiasco was their inability to make rapid decisions in the wake of a crisis. The many organizations in New Orleans such as churches were forced to expend their own resources since FEMA was delaying vital decisions on offering assistance. Agencies such as FEMA must be equipped with the flexibility necessary to make adequate, immediate decisions without consulting with Washington DC. You can not place a bureaucracy within another bureaucracy without experiencing communications difficulties.
The chain of command here is a definite liability to an agency such as FEMA. Shortly prior to the arrival of hurricane Katrina five FEMA security managers spoke with Michael Jackson the then deputy secretary of homeland security. They stated that the Department of Homeland Security was obsessed with terror attacks and was undermining our countries ability to react to disasters. The individuals concerns were shoved aside by Jackson who as we well know was later proven wrong.
Tom Ridge who was the first Homeland Security secretary fails to agree that a few additional people in the chain of command make much of a difference in the response. Unfortunately, Tom totally blames FEMA for the poor showing of the agency during the post Katrina episodes. No where’s does he hint that perhaps homeland security had a bit of an affect on the actions of FEMA. After his review of the plans he regressed to blaming the people and not the government agencies.
What this failure amounts to now is a political position and nothing more. Homeland security secretary Napolitano must appoint the FEMA administrator as one of her duties. She claims her job it to overseer and ensure that FEMA is properly managed and operating smoothly. It certainly seems like a major task running homeland security and its 20 odd children organizations for one person to tackle. It seems to me that FEMA did a much better job before combining with DHS and if I were in a position to make the necessary changes I would revert FEMA to its own entity once again.
Copyright @2010 Joseph Parish
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