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Implementing The 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007

Date: Jan. 9, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security


IMPLEMENTING THE 9/11 COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - January 09, 2007)

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the first responder and emergency management reforms in this 9/11 bill.

As the past chairman of the emergency management subcommittee, I am very familiar with first responder reforms we enacted since the September 11 attacks.

While there are some improvements in this bill, the major 9/11 reforms were made under Republican leadership. Since 9/11, we have provided over $15 billion to prepare State and local first responders. We increased funding for Fire Grants and created the SAFER grant program for hiring firefighters. We also created a billion dollar grant program for emergency communications.

Unlike the unfunded authorization in the Democrats' bill, Republican leadership provided real money. But we have done much more than simply throw money at first responders. We also enacted a comprehensive reform bill that rebuilds FEMA's capabilities and establishes a truly national preparedness system. We gave FEMA the authority and the tools they need to manage all disasters. We strengthened FEMA's regions, response teams, logistics, and communications capabilities. We established a national preparedness goal and set clear preparedness standards for State and local governments to coordinate their resources and focus on their highest risk priorities.

We established a national incident command system so that all levels of government can integrate their forces in a disaster. We created a comprehensive training and exercise program so first responders will be ready when the next big disaster strikes. And we created a comprehensive assessment and lessons-learned program so that first responders won't make the same mistakes again.

Unlike the bill before us, we made these reforms through a series of committee hearings and markups with bipartisan support. While the press releases are going to claim that this bill implements all of 9/11 Commission recommendations, the reality is that the vast majority of legislative changes were made under Republican leadership.

This is no more than window dressing. It is not good policy; it is politics.

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