Tomorrow, Mayor C. Ray Nagin will return to Washington, D.C. to testify before Congress as a follow-up to the Stafford Act Reform report adopted by the US Conference of Mayors (USCM) in January. Mayor Nagin serves as National Chair of the USCM Stafford Act Reform Task Force.
Mayor Nagin, will be joined by members of the task force and USCM leadership, Des Moines Mayor T.M. Franklin Cownie and Rochester Mayor Robert J. Duffy. The hearing was convened by the Subcommittee on Economic Development, PublicBuildings, and Emergency Management Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, chaired by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia. The hearing will take place on March 4th at 2p.m. (EST), 2167 RayburnHouseOfficeBuilding. Mayor Nagin has testified for U.S. Legislative Hearings more than a dozen times since Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
"Much has been said about the lessons learned from the catastrophic disaster that New Orleans experienced, yet the policy structure under which we have struggled to recover remains largely unchanged today," Mayor Nagin states. "It is my intent as Mayor of New Orleans, and as Chair of this national committee, to apply the lessons learned in New Orleans, Des Moines, Rochester, Sacramento, Maui, Galveston and in other cities in this country, to influence and change the current disaster response structure for the future protection and recovery of all American cities."
Mayor Nagin's testimony will focus on several areas that impact American cities that have been struck by a disaster. Key among those concerns are
Establish a Catastrophic Disaster designation to speed up funding availability and recovery. This designation would differentiate events such as Hurricane Katrina, which caused widespread deaths, left 80 percent of the city underwater, and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage.
· Recommendation: A Catastrophic Disaster designation would trigger key provisions, such as giving the President the authority to waive Stafford Act provisions and regulatory compliance and providing automatic 100 percent federal funding for all categories of eligible work.
$5 million cap on the Community Disaster Loan (CDL) Program. The CDL program is the main operational relief offered under the Stafford Act. This $5 million cap, as it stands today, means that a community in the throes of an emergency must wait for legislative relief to have a reasonable amount of funding made available. Under a special Katrina and Rita fix, Congress approved for New Orleans and other affected entities to borrow up to 50 percent of their operating budgets.
· Recommendation: Remove the $5 million cap on the Community Disaster Loan Program. This will allow communities struck by disaster to move forward faster with stabilization and recovery efforts. As it stand today, the next community that faces a catastrophic event will have to wait for legislative action before they can move forward with recovery.
In January 2009, the leadership of USCM asked Mayor Nagin to Chair a national task force to formulate comprehensive recommendations for improving the Stafford Act. Working with his co-chair, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, and with the participation of mayors from across the country, emergency managers and other staff from cities throughout the country, a comprehensive set of reforms was presented before the USCM national body. In January, the Executive Committee of the USCM unanimously adopted the recommendations submitted by Mayor Nagin and Mayor Johnson on the Stafford Act.
Currently, USCM is working with President Obama and the U.S. Congress to make changes in federal laws and statutes to reflect the recommendations. Mayor Nagin and other members of the USCM Stafford Act Task Force and members of the emergency preparedness and response staff from New Orleans have been invited to participate in a national preparedness policy discussion with the White House next week.
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act is the federal law that supports preparation for and response to disasters. It gives the President power to issue disaster declarations that authorize help for states and local communities overwhelmed by events that have disrupted their normal functioning. Though it was written to give much discretion to federal administrations for tailoring the response to the need, the flexibility in the Stafford Act is not adequate to handle the widespread destruction caused by a catastrophic disaster, and it is not always used to make the most effective decisions after emergency events in general. Response is frequently stymied by a limiting law, bureaucratic inefficiencies and conflicting or unclear policies and regulations.
the only catastrophe that Nagin is an expert on is Ray Nagin. Like the coward he is, he hid during and after Katrina and only emerged when the chance to take a shower in Airforce One arose. He stinks and is the very worse that ever happened to this fair city, and it's sad if those mayors from other cities listen to his ravings, Written by Noladude
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And mind you folks, be ye aware of Big Brother, and the Dogs of War, beware, be very aware......... As drones multiply in Iraq and Afghanistan, so do their uses - - - By Gordon Lubold Gordon Lubold – Tue Mar 2, 8:07 pm ET - - - Washington – The Air Force will expand the number of unmanned drone aircraft flying over the skies of Afghanistan and Iraq in the next three years, as a result of commanders' demand for digital images useful in hunting down enemy forces... By 2011, the Air Force will be flying as many as 50 drones, or combat air patrols in the war zones, and by 2013 that number will jump to 65, say Air Force officials. Currently there are 40.... The appetite for drone aircraft stems not only from the planes' ability to conduct airstrikes on terrorist targets and provide surveillance imagery for intelligence experts to hunt insurgents or those who plant roadside bombs, but also from unexpected uses. ... Drone aircraft, also known as “unmanned aerial vehicles,” are popular among commanders who want to know more about a specific area in Afghanistan or Iraq in which they are operating. By capturing images, the drones help soldiers determine how many houses there have power, for example, or where roads are, and other “quality of life” data.... The imagery can be used, for instance, to show what farmers are growing, and whether their activity is above-board or illegal, notes one intelligence officer.......................... A person can choose to do good, or to do bad, it is all dependent upon the attitude of the society that surrounds it..... Written by
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On the turning away,,,, From the pale and downtrodden- - - -and the words they say which we won't understand.,.,.,.... "don't accept that what's happening - - - is just a case of others' suffering -- - -- or you'll find that you're joining in the turning away".................. It's a sin that somehow / light is changing to shadow....... and casting it's shroud over all we have known.,.,.,.,.. Unaware how the ranks have grown............. Driven on by a heart of stone.,.,..... We could find that we're all alone in the dream of the proud....... On the wings of the night.,.,.,... as the daytime is stirring__-------- where the speechless unite in a silent accord................ Using words you will find are strange.,.,., and mesmerised as they light the flame........ Feel the new wind of change on the wings of the night................ No more turning away,, from the weak and the weary,, no more turning away from the coldness inside................. Just a world that we all must share...... it's not enough just to stand and stare...... Is it only a dream that there'll be no more turning away?........................
Written by ............On the turning away................... on 6/14/2008 - - - - - Dayammmmmm Bobby, "Getting ready to find out what kind of a Governor we have?"........ I explained it to yall long before he even got to the gate............. Oh, I know, the majority voter had it right, me, I was simply something to ignore.... Thanx folks, but now you are beginning to understand the realities of things..................... But then again, you will probably forget what you were thinking about today in a few months anyways, so what's the fuss..........???....... Oh, and as for me, I really don't care if I ain't making any friends out there, friends are the first to screw you anyways........ Ask any police officer, statistics show that most victims know the perpetrator of a crime... Thank God for that, or no one would get caught.......
Written by ..........STRONGCONCRETE........................ on 6/14/2008
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