Edwards Says Proposed $15 Million Cuts to A&M's Emergency Training Program Would Harm Homeland Security

Edwards Says Proposed $15 Million Cuts to A&M's Emergency Training Program Would Harm Homeland Security

(Washington, DC) - U.S. Representative Chet Edwards challenged Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff this week on $15 million in proposed cuts to Texas A&M's National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC) at College Station under the Administration's budget for fiscal year 2007. If approved by Congress, the cuts would reduce NERRTC funding to $7 million from last year's level of $22 million, and drastically limit the number of emergency personnel trained as well as a loss of 52 local instructors and administrative staff.

"Training police, firefighter, and EMS personnel to respond to terrorist attacks and natural disasters is a critical part of protecting the homeland," said Edwards, a member of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. "Having 30,000 fewer emergency personnel trained at A&M each year will make our communities less safe and could some day lead to the loss of thousands of lives."

Police, firefighters, and EMS personnel come from across the country to receive first responder training at the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC) at Texas A&M in College Station. NERRTC funding has been singled out as a top public policy priority by the Texas A&M system. NERRTC is one of 4 members of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC) facing budget cutbacks under Administration budget proposals. The number of students trained under the NDPC program at NERRTC would drop dramatically from 38,000 to 8,750 if the proposed cuts are enacted into law. Overall, the Administration's budget reduces funding for the NDPC to $28 million from last year's level of $84 million.

Edwards challenged Chertoff on the wisdom of this proposal.

"The NDPC program trains over 117,000 first responders per year at a cost of less than $800 per first responder. The 67% cut under the Administration's budget for NDPC means that 97,000 fewer emergency first responders would be trained to protect Americans in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. Mr. Secretary, how does that make America safer and do you have any specific evidence that this program is not doing a good job of training first responders?" Edwards asked Mr. Chertoff.

Chertoff agreed with Edwards that the NDPC program was an effective tool to protect the public, yet defended the cuts because he suggested state and local governments can fill in the funding gaps and train first responders. "If someone at the Homeland Security Agency stayed in closer touch with local communities, they would understand that local property taxpayers could not cover the gap caused by a $15 million federal cut in emergency personnel training," said Edwards.

Last year, Edwards successfully worked with the Texas delegation in Congress to reverse $14.5 million in cuts to NERRTC. Edwards plans to work with House colleagues to do so again this year.

"I will work extremely hard on a bipartisan basis, as I did last year, to urge my colleagues in Congress to once again reject this ill-advised proposal. I believe we will win this fight because Katrina showed that our nation must do more, not less, to be prepared to respond to major disasters and terrorist attacks," Edwards said.

http://edwards.house.gov/html/release.cfm?id=771