Division of Emergency Management Digest, Volume 34, Number 1, January-February 1988 Page: 4
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FEMA
Requests
Increase
- Civil Defense Budget
FEMA Director Julius W. Becton, Jr., recently told a
subcommittee of the House Armed Services Commit-
s tee that a 20 percent budget increase is needed for FY
'89 to revitalize emergency planning and response
capabilities and systems of state and local govern-
ments.
Becton's testimony before the subcommittee on
Military Installations and Facilities outlined FEMA's re-
quest for almost $ 160.4 million in civil defense funds
for fiscal year 1989. The request is $ 26 million above
the current spending level.
More than 80 per cent of the budget -- about $131.5
" million -- would go directly or indirectly to state and
local emergency response organizations to help them
sustain and improve their capabilities.
The request includes $58.275M for State and Local
Emergency Management; $13.767M for Radiological
Defense; $14.293M for Population Protection;
$10.793M for State and Local Direction, Control and
Warning; $10.900M for Research; $12.453M for
Training and Education; $21.675M for Telecom-
munications and Warning; and $28.255M for Salaries
and Expenses.
FEMA's 1989 request was endorsed in companion
testimony by Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for
Policy Craig Alderman, Jr. The department and the Na-
tional Security Council have oversight of FEMA's civil
defense efforts.
Alderman said the department was "disappointed"
with the $135 million appropriated by Congress in
1988. He said the 1989 budget proposal is seen by
Defense as "facilitating a much-needed start to
rebuilding" the nation's civil defense program.
The funding level being sought is needed to revitalize
the program, he said, and to meet the requirements of a
1987 presidential directive -- National Security Deci-
sion Directive (NSDD) 259.
Among other things, the directive mandates increased
protective measures for state and local government
communications capabilities, improved information to
the public, and development of "surge" production
plans to respond to attack emergencies.The agency's budget proposal also was supported in
testimony by Avagene Moore, president of the National
Coordinating Council on Emergency Management, and
Lacy E. Suiter, legislative chairman for the National
Emergency Management Association.
Becton said the agency is seeking the funds to
"develop a survivable infrastructure of civil defense
systems needed to save lives" in the event of emergen-
cies ranging from natural and technological disasters to
attack against the country.
He reminded the subcommittee of the FEMA's 1986
report to Congress which found that the nation's civil
defense capabilities are "at a low ebb."
"That situation has not changed due, in part, to the
fact that our existing...emergency systems lack the
reliability and survivability needed for a catastrophic
disaster, including attack," Becton told the subcom-
mittee in remarks submitted for the record.
He said research has shown that a majority of the
American people support civil defense and view it as a
wise use of tax dollars. Studies have shown that belief
to be unchanged over the past 30 years, he said.
"I think the views of the people regarding civil defense
can be summed up in one word, prudence -- the same
motive which leads us to put smoke detectors in our
homes, to use seat belts, and pay scores of billions of
dollars each year to insure ourselves against a variety
of risks," according to Becton's testimony.
While the major thrust of the Federal Civil Defense Act
of 1950 and its amendments is preparedness against
attack, the studies have shown that people also see a
strong civil defense program as a safeguard against
peacetime emergencies, he said.
For this reason, Becton said FEMA supports the "dual
use" of civil defense funds and physical assets by state
and local governments to deal with all types of crises
that threaten lives and property.
FEMA's 1989 plan, he said, "makes sense to the
states by striking the right balance between
preparedness for a catastrophe we all hope will never
occur, nuclear attack, and the natural and technological
disasters which do occur all too often."4
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Texas. Division of Emergency Management. Division of Emergency Management Digest, Volume 34, Number 1, January-February 1988, periodical, January 1988; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1033873/m1/5/?q=waco+tornado: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.