Homeland Security and Preparedness

Homeland Security and Preparedness

Association of Fire Districts, Ellenville, NY

[As prepared for delivery]

It's wonderful to be in the beautiful Catskills, here at the Nevele. The last workshop meeting that I attended was Niagara Falls. I'm pleased to join you again and I look forward to hearing what is on your minds.

Allow me to begin by acknowledging what happened 60 years ago - with the formation of an association to develop better ways to promote and manage the volunteer fire service throughout the state. At that time, the challenge was to rally able-bodied men to protect and serve the public. In 1944, I'll bet there were still occasions to use a bucket brigade. Today, however, the challenge is ever more complex. In this regard, I don't think the public really understands the sophistication of what you do - the complexity of fire fighting in modern structures, the equipment, the logistics and the extraordinary hazards.

I met a volunteer firefighter who lives near my family's home in Pine Plains in Columbia County who explained to me that fire itself isn't what it used to be. Yes, fire has always been dangerous. It destroys. It kills. But with today's modern construction materials - with plastics, composites and combustibles - it is more unpredictable and difficult to combat than ever. All of this makes what you do incredibly difficult and dangerous.

People don't understand that. They have a vague sense of it, but the truth is that you and your work is vastly underappreciated. But I believe that is about to change.

Today I want to share a few thoughts about some of the new challenges facing first responders everywhere, and then offer some ideas on what the state should do to help.

I'll begin by noting how dramatically things have changed in recent years:

The 9/11 attacks have highlighted our vulnerability to terrorism. The London subway bombings, the attack on trains in Spain, and the recent scare in the New York City transit system underscored that threat.

Hurricane Katrina reminded all of us how powerful are the forces of nature. Those horrific scenes from New Orleans and the devastation of the Gulf region are fresh in our minds.

Recent reports of a world-wide Avian Flu scare have refocused our attention on pandemic diseases. And before that we had the Anthrax attacks, which were never solved.

Extraordinary developments like these point out why government is so essential, and, how tragic the consequences can be when government is unprepared and unequipped to handle catastrophes.

It's not being alarmist - just realistic - to say that New York must do more to protect its citizens. In this regard, we need an effective homeland security strategy that anticipates and prepares New York for the widest range of possible events. But as you know, that's easier said than done. In fact, you probably can't anticipate everything, but you can develop the capability to respond to anything.

Lincoln said during the dark and confused days of the Civil War: "The occasion is piled high with difficulty ... we must think anew and act anew."

I want to advance some ideas in an attempt to think and act "anew," but first let me provide a framework. In order to respond effectively, we must do the following:

1. Coordinate.

2. Communicate.

3. Focus on first responders and their needs.

4. Engage the public and private sectors, and engage citizens.

5. Provide aggressive, but not alarmist leadership

Let me elaborate on these points:

1. Coordination

To begin, we should ask the Disaster Preparedness Commission, the state's inter-agency task force, to prepare a "State of Security" report that identifies the New York's vulnerabilities and its top-to-bottom capacity to prevent and respond to these vulnerabilities. The commission could then offer recommendations on how to address our chief needs and could meet annually thereafter to issue a "State of Security" report, which would track the progress of the state's preparedness and offer new recommendations to changing circumstances.

And because the threats facing New York don't respect state boundaries, New York must coordinate with its neighbors to ensure we address our critical needs. A sensible starting point could be a Regional Security Summit between New York and her neighboring states, as well as representatives from Canada. The summit would bring together in one place governors and key preparedness officials from throughout the region to hash out regional security issues. By approaching security as a common mission, we can prevent unnecessary duplication, avoid confusion in the event of an attack or disaster, and speak with one voice to press the federal government for resources and dollars aligned to risk.

A related issue that is one of the clear lessons of Katrina and which is the essence of coordination is to define a clear chain of command among all levels of government. With so many players involved in emergency preparedness, it's essential to establish a clear chain of command to ensure every moving part understands its role.

That's why the Disaster Preparedness Commission should be charged with recommending a specific "chain of command" plan - technically known as a "continuity of government" plan - so that government can more flexibly and rapidly respond to crises, cut bureaucratic red tape, and substitute links in the chain should a critical official become incapacitated.

2. Communication

We must continue to develop a robust and redundant communications infrastructure and plan regional command and control centers so order and leadership is maintained should disaster strike. I cannot stress enough the importance of communication. It is the most critical tool in crisis management. The recent announcement of the Statewide Wireless Network represents real progress in this area. We should continue to build on this effort and make sure that this new infrastructure is compatible with the communications systems of first responders from neighboring states.

And together we must continue to improve our intelligence gathering and sharing capabilities. New York's Joint Terrorism Task Force has been a critical tool in this effort. Partnerships like this one should be strengthened. We must make sure they have the resources they need to secure our ports, international borders, and transportation infrastructure - all vital components of the State's economy.

3. First responders

New York's first responders have done a first-rate job protecting our safety, but this has occurred despite a failure by government to adequately support them. You know that better than anyone. Fire Districts around the state are asked to do so much and it is unfortunate that the level of support is not commensurate with the importance of the duty. Federal, state and local governments must confront this reality. I know your specific issues - the difficulty of recruitment and retention, the incredible cost of equipment, the imperative of regular training - these issues must be top priorities for state government. And I want to ensure that is the case in the months and years ahead. I want to work with you to fully address these and other matters.

4. Teamwork

While homeland security and preparedness must be the first responsibility of government, we must work hard to build public-private partnerships - for no one understands the security needs and risks of our core industries - financial, health care, energy, and chemical - better than the people who run them.

I'm not talking about outsourcing governmental responsibilities to private sector companies or charitable organizations. I'm talking about reaching out to the private sector, with government at the lead, to ask them for their support, their advice, and their resources.

That's why we should make sure the State Emergency Management Office can efficiently direct the valuable resources of the business community should disaster strike and their generosity is needed. With better coordination, we can maximize New Yorkers' generosity by having resources directly connected to needs on the ground.

We must also continue to work with private companies, as I've done as Attorney General, to prevent price gouging and other exploitive practices. And we must encourage private companies to implement the 9/11 Commission's recommendation to comply with the American National Standards Institute's standards for private-sector preparedness, which defines the standard of care owed by a company to its employees and the public. We must also make sure State government is meeting those same standards - for we should not ask the private sector what the government is unwilling to do.

5. Engaging the public

While engaging the private sector is important, engaging the public is paramount. State government should give New Yorkers concrete ways to prevent and respond to future disasters. And those at the helm of government should always be as transparent and open as possible when sharing intelligence about threats.

There was a recent controversy involving disclosure of a potential threat to the New York City transit system. I'd be interested in hearing your views on the topic, but I have to tell you that I believe strongly in erring on the side of disclosure. I think the people deserve to know when there is specific, credible evidence of a threat. I further think there is value in vigilance - that having eight million people watching is a deterrent.

Beyond that, I think we have to educate the public on the ongoing nature of the threats that exist. I've been to Israel and Europe where they actually teach preparedness in the schools. I think we should do the same or some version of it. The Offices of Homeland Security and State Emergency Management should ensure our school districts give principals and teachers the preparedness skills they need so students know what to do in case of a disaster, where to go, and how to contact their parents.

We should also look into expanding our emergency broadcast system to include an official government channel - for television, radio, and the internet - that could activate in a State of Emergency. New Yorkers shouldn't have to rely on CNN or Fox News for evacuation information or for locating a missing family member. And we should look into rapid forms of communicating information to the public, like mass text messaging, e-mail alerts, and public service announcements.

Additional steps

Allow me to offer a few additional ideas that don't fit easily into the construct I've established but which nevertheless are important:

* We must make certain that the state has adequate "surge capacity." When applied to our health care infrastructure, that means that our network of emergency facilities, including hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and shelters are able to deal with something like an influenza outbreak.

The federal government and the State Department of Health must work together to stockpile vaccines, clarify vaccine distribution channels, as well as ensure that protocols are in place should quarantines and other drastic measures become necessary. We haven't had the need for that in 90 years, but the experts say that it may happen in the coming years either through natural causes or more insidious means.

* In this regard, I continue to urge the Legislature to pass a bipartisan set of anti-terrorism measures that Governor Pataki and I introduced last May - measures that would strengthen New York's anti-terror laws, including specific bio-terrorism threats.

* One of the measures I also support is the death penalty for terrorists, which I believe is justified and needed.

* I also think we also should revisit the idea of federalizing security at our nuclear power plants. We do it at airports. Why not nuclear facilities?

* Finally, as a practical matter and as a working principle, I believe in something that may seem obvious and even trite, but it is critical. We have to test our capacities regularly. We have to drill and practice. You can't do it enough. I do it as a lawyer in preparation to argue a case. It's what the military does over and over - drill again and again. Know your role. Know the role of the man next to you so you can do it too, if you have to. It's what marks winning teams everywhere * prepare and then execute according to plan. My point is that we need to do more and more of it at every level as part of our state emergency response network.

I'd like to end where I began, with a call for greater attention and awareness on emergency planning and specifically a focus on you and the work you do.

JFK said: "We would like to live as we once lived, but history won't permit it."

Yes, we would like to go back to the days when the threats weren't so dire and immediate, but we can't.

We live in a world in which we may not be able to prevent every contingency - but that doesn't mean we don't prepare for every contingency.

I've mentioned a few ideas for doing that, but first responders are the key. As a state and nation, we must ensure that we have properly supported those who are there to protect us.

I don't think we have in the past - not adequately, that is. But I look forward to working with you to ensure that it happens in the future. You deserve that, and ultimately the public will be better served, better protected by it.

Thank you for listening to me. And now I'd like to hear your comments and concerns.

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