I agree with my ranking member-we want to prevent these attacks. To make sure that every effort is being done to prevent them. If they happen to occur, make sure that every part of this country has people in the State and local level who are prepared. At the Federal level, when our people go in there to help, they help and not to hinder. Thank you very much for what you have done. We can look forward to continuing to work with you. I thank Mr. Isakson who has stuck through this whole hearing today. I appreciate the work of the staff. They worked very hard in putting all this information together. And we will continue to be working on it throughout the summer. Thank you. The hearing is adjourned. [Whereupon, at 5:12 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] STATEMENT OF HONORABLE CHARLES L. CRAGIN ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE BEFORE THE HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT, INVESTIGATIONS, AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PREPAREDNESS FOR TERRORISM RESPONSE JUNE 9, 1999 A decision on the stationing of these new RAID teams will be made once Congress determines the final number to be authorized in FY 00. The new RAID teams will be placed so as to maximize the range of effectiveness for all RAID teams. Response times relative to population density, the availability of other assets suitable to respond to a WMD event, and the accessibility of airlift to transport RAID team members to event sites are factors which will be used to evaluate the appropriate stationing of the RAID teams authorized. The costs of establishing and maintaining a RAID team are not definitively known, as we are still in the process of training and equipping the initial 10 teams. The FY 00 budget requests $14.66M to establish 5 new RAID teams for the first of a two-year start up period. In an unconstrained environment, a one-year cost of establishing a RAID team is estimated to be approximately $7.2M, and the follow-on sustainment cost is estimated at about $4M per year. In addition, and at the direction of Congress, the Department is working to establish 44 military support detachments, which we refer to as RAID (Light) teams. These teams are being established as part of our overall effort to develop a nation-wide response capability that has strong roots in the local and state first-responder community. They will be established using traditional National Guardsmen and will be built on the RAID model but tailored to the specific needs of each of the States and territories where a RAID team was not placed. The RAID (Light) teams will be structured and trained to provide a modest planning and assessment capability in every state and territory. To better harness these inherent capabilities and make our national plans for supporting an effective WMD response, each of the Reserve components is being called upon to play an expanded role. The Department of Defense in FY99 and FY00, will train and equip 43 Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical reconnaissance elements and 127 decontamination elements in the Army Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Army National Guard and Air National Guard, enabling them to more effectively respond to a WMD attack. Use of Training Technologies Last October, Congress also directed that the department take advantage of existing training technologies to expand the training base available to civilian first responders. The Department is currently converting established courses so that they may be used through the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) process. The Department is also collaborating with other federal agencies to adapt their appropriate preparedness courses for this training venue. Through this shared use concept, these and future courses will be available to both the federal interagency community and the nation's two million first responders. Once the conversion process is completed, initial pilot training sessions will be undertaken through the National Guard's Distributed Training Technology Program infrastructure, as well as the Reserve Components Assessment System (RCAS), Warrior and civilian emergency response/training networks. These pilot training sessions are currently scheduled for the third and fourth quarters of fiscal year 2000. The ADL approach compliments the conventional training process, provides increased learning effectiveness and greatly increases accessibility for students, while reducing training time and costs. As part of the Domestic Preparedness Program, the Department of Defense worked with other Federal agencies to compile a compendium listing of federal Weapons of Mass Destruction preparedness courses available to state and local agencies. Courses offered by the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, Emergency Management Institute and the National Fire Academy are listed. A final version was published in July 1998 and is available for viewing on the Soldier Biological and Chemical Command's Domestic Preparedness web page: www.nbc-prepare.org. Future updates to the compendium will be accomplished by the FBI's NDPO in keeping with the “one stop shopping idea” advocated by the Attorney General and the nation's emergency response community. The NDPO is in the process of establishing a Curriculum Standards Review Board. The board will be comprised of subject matter experts from the emergency response, public health, and medical communities as well as representatives from organizations involved in the development of existing standards, for example, the National Fire Protection Association. This board will review existing and new courses to ensure they adhere to nationally accepted standards. Courses meeting the standards will be included in updated versions of the compendium. The Department of Defense is committed to work with our interagency partners to establish effective national domestic programs and policies that will enhance the preparedness at all levels of government to respond to the awful consequences of a WMD attack. As has been discussed, DoD has a well-established pattern of federal assistance to state and local authorities in times of disaster and has leveraged that capability in developing the WMD DPP program. Although we can never be fully prepared to respond to all types of events in all locations, we have begun to lay the foundation for an integrated, across-the-board response one that makes sense and one that is truly responsive to the needs of first responders. The continued partnership for WMD preparation among local, state and federal authorities will be essential to our success. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this important hearing. Thank you for your recent letter with questions related to the issues discussed during the June 9, 1999, Subcommittee hearing. Enclosed please find the Department's response to your five follow-on questions. If you have any additional questions, please contact my special assistant for military assistance to civil authorities, Ms. Ellen Embrey, at (703) 695-7305. Enclosure As stated Sincerely, Jim Scheit Charles L. Cragin Acting |