The purpose of FEMA is to coordinate the response to a disaster which occurrs in the United States and which overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities.
FEMA was established under the 1978 Reorganization Plan No. 3, and
activated April 1, 1979 by Jimmy Carter in his Executive Order 12127. In July,
Carter signed Executive Order 12148 shifting disaster relief efforts to the new
federal level agency. FEMA absorbed the Federal Insurance Administration, the
National Fire Prevention and Control Administration, the National Weather
Service Community Preparedness Program, the Federal Preparedness Agency of the
General Services Administration and the Federal Disaster Assistance
Administration activities from HUD. FEMA was also given the responsibility for
overseeing the nation's Civil Defense, a function which had previously been
performed by the Department of Defense's Defense Civil Preparedness
Agency.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton elevated FEMA to a cabinet level
position and appointed James Lee Witt as FEMA Director. FEMA received authority
for counter terrorism through the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici amendment under the
Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996, which was a response to the recognized
vulnerabilities of the U.S. after the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in
1995.
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Congress passed the
Homeland Security Act of 2002, which created the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) to better coordinate among the different federal agencies that
deal with law enforcement, disaster preparedness and recovery, border
protection and civil defense. FEMA was absorbed into DHS in 2003.
FEMA's Response to
Disaster
Thousands of seemingly helpless Americans were left
languishing for days amidst chaos and anarchy before the government was willing
to step in and help them. While there were some accounts of heroic individuals
taking charge of their destiny and doing something to help themselves and
others in a deplorable situation, many in New Orleans sat helplessly by waiting
for the government to rescue them.
New Orleans quickly fell into anarchy as Mayor Ray Nagin whimpered and whined about the federal government not acting fast enough... even though he never exercised his responsibility of taking command and control of the situation. Corpses lay abandoned in street medians, fights and fires broke out and storm survivors battled for seats on the buses that would carry them away from the chaos. Over 200 of the Mayor's police force abandoned their posts in the bedlam and one tourist said when she asked a police officer for assistance -- his response was, "Go to hell — it's every man for himself."
In the chaos and trauma that accompanied the levee collapses in New Orleans in 2005, the federal government's response was to...
- FEMA discouraged qualified relief workers from coming to the area, going so far as to turn many back at gunpoint. They also turned away much needed supplies like water and fuel and sabotaged local communications lines.
- Thousands of flood victims were herded and held in concentration-like conditions within the city for many days after the flooding.
- Though it claimed to be unable to bring food, water, medicine or transportation into the flood zone, Homeland Security did an extremely effective job of quickly hiring and deploying highly paid gun thugs to the region who were employed by companies that had made massive contributions to the Bush campaign.
- The Bush administration and their friends in the news media did an extremely effective job of painting the victims of the flooding as dangerous and not worthy of being helped.
- Post-flood law enforcement did an extremely effective job of illegally seizing fire arms from hundreds of law abiding citizens while allowing criminals to run amok.
FEMA Regional
Administrators
Rex 84, short for Readiness Exercise 1984, is a plan by the United States federal government to test their ability to detain large numbers of American citizens in case of civil unrest or national emergency. From 1982-84 Colonel Oliver North assisted FEMA in drafting its civil defence preparations. Details of these plans emerged during the 1987 Iran-Contra scandal. They included executive orders providing for suspension of the constitution, the imposition of martial law, internment camps, and the turning over of government to the president and FEMA. A Miami Herald article on July 5, 1987, reported that the former FEMA director Louis Guiffrida's deputy, John Brinkerhoff, handled the martial law portion of the planning. The plan was said to be similar to one Mr Giuffrida had developed earlier to combat "a national uprising by black militants". It provided for the detention "of at least 21million American Negroes"' in "assembly centres or relocation camps". A number of websites and alternative publications that span the political spectrum have hypothesized upon the basic material about Rex 84, yet details have been shrouded in secrecy. Nonetheless, the basic facts about Rex 84 and other contingency planning readiness exercises--and the potential threat they pose to civil liberties if fully implemented in a real operation--are taken seriously by scholars and civil liberties activists.
According to scholar Diana Reynolds:
"The Rex-84 Alpha
Explan (Readiness Exercise 1984, Exercise Plan; otherwise known as a continuity
of government plan), indicates that FEMA in association with 34 other federal
civil departments and agencies conducted a civil readiness exercise during
April 5-13, 1984. It was conducted in coordination and simultaneously with a
Joint Chiefs exercise, Night Train 84, a worldwide military command post
exercise (including Continental U.S. Forces or CONUS) based on multi-emergency
scenarios operating both abroad and at home. In the combined exercise, Rex-84
Bravo, FEMA and DOD led the other federal agencies and departments, including
the Central Intelligence Agency, the Secret Service, the Treasury, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, and the Veterans Administration through a gaming
exercise to test military assistance in civil defense.
The exercise anticipated civil disturbances, major demonstrations
and strikes that would affect continuity of government and/or resource
mobilization. To fight subversive activities, there was authorization for the
military to implement government ordered movements of civilian populations at
state and regional levels, the arrest of certain unidentified segments of the
population, and the imposition of martial rule."
In 2008, for the first
time an active military unit has been given a dedicated assignment stateside
for civil unrest containment. It is assigned to Northcom, a joint command
established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense
efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.
In 2009, a
bill introduced by Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL) in Congress authorizes the
Department of Homeland Security to set up a network of FEMA camp facilities to
be used to house U.S. citizens in the event of a national emergency. The
National Emergency Centers Act or HR 645 mandates the establishment of
“national emergency centers” to be located on military installations
for the purpose of to providing “temporary housing, medical, and
humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an
emergency or major disaster,” according to the bill.
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