27 March 2002
Source: http://usinfo.state.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=02032701.tlt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml


US Department of State
International Information Programs

Washington File
_________________________________

27 March 2002

Bush Asks Spending Boost to Protect Heartland Against Terrorist Attack

(Terrorists can strike anytime, anywhere, White House said March 27)
(1280)

President Bush has sent to Congress a plan for the federal government
to spend $3.5 billion in the coming fiscal year to help fire, police
and emergency medical workers outside major metropolitan areas prepare
for possible domestic terrorist attacks.

This represents a greater than 10-fold increase in federal resources
for that purpose, the White House said in a March 27 statement
released early in Washington explaining the President's proposal,
which he included remarks on during a speech in Greenville, South
Carolina later in the morning.

"Terrorists can strike anytime, anywhere," said Bush. "Crop dusters,
power generating plants, dams and reservoirs, crops, livestock, trains
and highways are among the resources that could be targets."

The plan includes $140 million to assist local and rural communities
across the United States to develop mutual aid agreements to share
resources -- the first time the federal government has directly
supported the establishment of mutual aid agreements with federal
resources.

"The benefits of building first responder capability are immediate and
widespread -- making the nation safer from terrorist attacks while
also bolstering everyday response capabilities," said the White House
text.

"Homeland security in the heartlands is just as important as homeland
security in the big cities," Bush said in a March 27 speech to
emergency workers in Greenville, South Carolina. "First responders all
across America must have the resources to respond to emergencies."

Following is the White House text:

(begin text)

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

March 27, 2002

Mutual Aid Agreements: Support for First Responders outside Major
Metropolitan Areas

Terrorists can strike anytime, anywhere. Crop dusters, power
generating plants, dams and reservoirs, crops, livestock, trains and
highways are among the resources that could be targets. Homeland
security in the heartland is just as important as homeland security in
America's largest cities.

First responders from communities outside major metropolitan areas who
must protect large geographic areas with small populations face many
response challenges. In fact, over half of our firefighters protect
small or rural communities of fewer than 5,000 people. Many of these
communities rely upon volunteer departments with scare resources.
Fewer than 10 % of counties surveyed by the National Association of
Counties said they are prepared to respond to a bioterrorist attack.

One of the best strategies to build capability in communities outside
major metropolitan areas is to develop mutual aid agreements to share
resources. First responders from smaller communities need assistance
in organizing and developing the unified command and control
procedures and protocols necessary for operationally sound mutual aid.
These agreements will enable neighboring jurisdictions to share
specialized resources, rather than duplicate them in every
jurisdiction.

President Bush's 2003 budget provides $140 million to assist these
communities in planning and establishing mutual aid agreements. While
mutual cooperation and mutual aid agreements have existed over the
years in support of civil defense, fire, and National Guard
activities, this is the first time that the federal government has
directly supported the establishment of mutual aid agreements with
federal resources.

As an established mechanism for sharing or pooling limited resources
to augment existing capabilities and supplementing jurisdictions that
have exhausted existing resources due to disaster, mutual aid
processes will help ensure that jurisdictions across the United States
can benefit from each other's efforts to enhance their first response
capabilities. Jurisdictions can use the funding provided under this
initiative to create or improve their response capabilities, without
duplicating their efforts. Many areas have little or no capability to
respond to terrorist attack using weapons of mass destruction. Even
the best prepared States and localities do not possess adequate
resources to respond to the full range of terrorist threats we face.

Citizen Corps: Supporting the Community and our First Responders

In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Americans
have looked for and found many opportunities to help in their
communities. President Bush created the USA Freedom Corps in an effort
to capture those opportunities and foster an American culture of
service, citizenship and responsibility. These volunteers are
especially important in smaller communities where resources may be
limited.

Citizen Corps is the arm of USA Freedom Corps that provides
opportunities for citizens that want to help make their communities
more secure. Since the President made his call to two years of
volunteer service during his State of the Union address, there have
been more than 1.6 million hits to the new www.citizencorps.gov web
site. Almost 24,000 Americans from all 50 states and U.S. territories
have volunteered to work with one or more of the Citizen Corps
programs. These include:

More than 15,000 volunteers are looking to be trained in emergency
response skills through FEMA's Community Emergency Response Team
program; Almost 7,000 volunteers have signed up to get involved in
Neighborhood Watch activities in their communities; More than 15,000
potential volunteers have expressed interest in the new Volunteers in
Police Service and Operation TIPS programs being developed by the
Department of Justice presently; and, More than 5,000 potential
volunteers have expressed an interest in joining a Medical Reserve
Corps in their community as part of a program being developed by the
Department of Health and Human Services to tap the skills of doctors,
nurses and other health care professionals in times of community
crisis.

First Responder Initiative

Facts about First Responders

There are over 1 million firefighters in the United States, of which
approximately 750,000 are volunteers; Local police departments have an
estimated 556,000 full-time employees including about 436,000 sworn
personnel; Sheriffs' offices reported about 291,000 full-time
employees, including about 186,000 sworn personnel; There are over
155,000 nationally registered Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT).

The President's 2003 Budget proposes to spend $3.5 billion on
enhancing the homeland security response capabilities of America's
first responders -- a greater than 10-fold increase in Federal
resources.

Strengthening America's first responder community will make our
homeland safer. Nearly two million first responders regularly put
their lives at risk to save lives and make our country safer.

Hundreds of firefighters, police officers and emergency medical
workers gave their lives on September 11 as they worked to save
others.

The First Responder Initiative will help these brave Americans do
their jobs better. Building on existing capabilities at the Federal,
State, and local level, the First Responder Initiative provides an
incentive to develop mutually supportive programs that maximize
effective response capability. Through joint planning, clear
communication, comprehensive coordination, mutual aid at all levels
and increased information sharing, America's first responders can be
trained and equipped to save lives in the event of a terrorist attack.

The benefits of building first responder capability are immediate and
widespread -- making the nation safer from terrorist attacks while
also bolstering everyday response capabilities. Hundreds of
firefighters, police officers and emergency medical workers gave their
lives on September 11 as they worked to save others.

The First Responder Initiative will help these brave Americans do
their jobs better. Building on existing capabilities at the Federal,
State, and local level, the First Responder Initiative provides an
incentive to develop mutually supportive programs that maximize
effective response capability. Through joint planning, clear
communication, comprehensive coordination, mutual aid at all levels
and increased information sharing, America's first responders can be
trained and equipped to save lives in the event of a terrorist attack.

The benefits of building first responder capability are immediate and
widespread -- making the nation safer from terrorist attacks while
also bolstering everyday response capabilities.

(end White House text)

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Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)