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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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October/November
2007
Volume 13 - Number
1/2 |
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Presidential Candidate Fred Thompson’s Stance on Emergency Management By Mike Molnia Former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson
served in the U.S Senate for the state of Tennessee from 1994-2003. During
his tenure, he served as Chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs
from 1997-2001. Although Sen. Thompson has yet to officially declare
his views about emergency management, his current campaign message in relation
to Homeland Security focuses on stopping illegal immigration.
While Sen. Thompson was serving as Chair of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, he did write about his views on FEMA and was also an integral force in getting the Department of Homeland Security started following 9/11. He earned a reputation for being tough on budget oversight and ensuring government agencies efficiently used their resources. In a letter directed to James Lee Witt, who was the Director of FEMA at that time, Sen. Thompson clearly states his concerns based on a GAO report about FEMA’s implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). His concerns about FEMA’s FY 2000 plan were: GAO found that the FY 2000 plan had four key weaknesses: (1) it presents only a limited discussion of efforts and plans to coordinate with other agencies whose programs and activities complement FEMA’s; (2) it does not identify the external factors that could affect FEMA’s ability to achieve its performance goals and the actions FEMA can take to mitigate these factors; (3) it does not identify significant limitations potentially affecting the credibility of data used to measure performance; and (4) it provides only a limited description of FEMA’s procedures for verifying and validating performance data.1 Although the political climate has changed significantly in the past 8 years, it would not be a stretch to say the Sen. Thompson’s views today regarding emergency management would focus on cost control and administrative oversight. There were concerns about disaster assistance costs rising and what FEMA planned to do to keep costs down. He also mentioned concerns about a lack of mitigation efforts through outreach programs which is a topic that today is still being discussed. Overall, Sen. Thompson’s main campaign messages are more related to the current “hot button” issues and we may see little mention at all regarding his views of emergency management. Rudy Giuliani is the candidate carrying the banner regarding emergency management due to his experience as Mayor during 9/11 and it seems that most other Republican candidates are currently alright conceding that political point to Giuliani. Until emergency management comes more to the forefront as an issue, Sen. Thompson may choose continue keeping it out of his campaign message as well. Source 1. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0899/letters/fema.htm |