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domestic preparedness plan. Each State plan is to be based on a State-level needs assessment that identifies local and State first responder needs and provides an assessment of the resources currently available at the local, State and Federal level. My colleague Mr. Mitchell will discuss in more detail the needs assessment proc

ess.

Since President Clinton issued PDD-62 a year ago to enhance our Nation's capability to combat domestic terrorism, there has been a concerted interagency cooperative effort to coordinate and streamline our programs in a way that is fairly consistent with this most recent round of congressional direction.

We know what we need to do. We have made a good beginning, but we have a very long way to go. The NDPO is getting started, and the Attorney General has the full support of the Department of Defense in her leadership role. We are faced with a multiyear effort, which requires cooperation, patience and a long-term commitment. I thank you, sir, for your continued support and interest in this vitally important area.

Mr. SHAYS. Thank you, Mr. Cragin.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Cragin follows:]

STATEMENT OF

HONORABLE CHARLES L. CRAGIN

ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (RESERVE AFFAIRS)

BEFORE THE HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

COMBATING TERRORISM:
PROPOSED TRANSFER OF THE
DOMESTIC PREPAREDNESS PROGRAM

MAY 26, 1999

1

Good morning, Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Subcommittee. It is indeed a pleasure to be here today to discuss the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Domestic Preparedness Program (DPP) and the Department of Defense's plans for transferring leadership responsibility for it to the Department of Justice. I am confident this program, whether managed within the Department of Defense or the Department of Justice, will improve our nation's ability to respond to an incident involving the use of a weapons of mass destruction on U.S. soil.

Federal Response Plan

Before I begin, I'd like to take a minute to discuss the Federal Response Plan and the Department of Defense's role in supporting it. The Federal Response Plan (FRP), published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is the federal government's manual for coordinating and employing its emergency management response assets to help support state and local responders in managing the consequences of natural and manmade disasters.

The effects of a truly devastating WMD incident likely will overwhelm even the most well-trained and equipped local and state emergency management assets. When that occurs, the affected state governor(s) will then request federal assistance from the President. This usually results in a Presidential declaration of the incident as a national disaster, which will serve as a triggering mechanism for marshalling needed federal support and assistance to state and local authorities.

Under the FRP, the Attorney General of the U.S. (for terrorist incidents) and the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) coordinate the specific federal response assets needed to support a national disaster. The Attorney General, via the FBI, will coordinate federal assets to prevent and deter use of a WMD on United States soil and to apprehend and prosecute terrorists who have perpetrated a WMD attack within the United States. FEMA will coordinate federal assets needed to support local responders in mitigating the consequences of a WMD attack. Federal agencies and the American Red Cross provide support in 12 different emergency response areas as requested by the lead agencies designated in the FRP. The FRP has been used for over seven years to help coordinate federal support for natural and man-made disasters. It has only recently been updated to include guidance for coordination of federal assets in response to terrorist attacks.

It is important to note that the Department of Defense plays an active, but subordinate supporting role in virtually all disaster response aspects of the FRP, except for coordinating federal public works assistance. It is that subordinate role that influenced the Deputy Secretary of Defense to initiate efforts to transfer lead responsibility for the WMD Domestic Preparedness Program to the federal agency responsible for WMD terrorist matters: the Department of Justice. Origins, Objectives and Development of the WMD Domestic Preparedness Program

The Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-201--"the Act"), sponsored by Senators Nunn, Lugar and Domenici (NLD), mandated that

the United States enhance its capability to respond to domestic terrorist incidents involving nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological weapons.

The legislation specifically designated DoD as the interagency lead to carry out a program to provide civilian personnel from federal, state and local agencies with training and expert advice regarding emergency responses to a use or threatened use of WMD or related materials. Specifically, the provisions of the Act required DoD to:

Support FEMA in developing an inventory of federal rapid response assets and
physical equipment.

• Provide advice to procuring officials about equipment capable of detecting and
interdicting the movement of WMD and related materials.

• Develop a train-the-trainer program for federal, state and local emergency response
personnel.

• Develop and execute a five-year interagency WMD exercise and preparedness testing program.

• Establish a national telephonic "hotline" and "helpline" to provide chemical and biological data and expertise.

Develop a database of chemical and biological materials.

Develop and maintain at least one domestic terrorism rapid response team capable of aiding federal, state and local government officials with incident response.

The WMD Domestic Preparedness Program (DPP) was established to implement the provisions of the Act. DoD worked with its interagency counterparts on the Senior Interagency Counter-terrorism Group (SICG) to establish the program, as required by law. After much discussion and consultation with experts, the SICG agreed on a DoD-led interagency approach for implementing the train-the-trainer program. It was agreed that training priority would be given to the largest population centers of the U.S. This translated into a program plan to provide initial training and preparedness assistance for domestic WMD response for the 120 largest (according to census data) cities in the U.S. (See attached listing of the 120 cities)

The U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command and the Army's Director of Military Support have been the principal agents within the Department for executing the program. My office assumed DoD program oversight and direction for this program in October 1998. Since it's inception, DoD's WMD DPP has been funded as follows:

[blocks in formation]

The 120-City "Train the Trainer Program." This program offers medical and non-medical courses aimed at educating experienced city trainers so that they can train other law enforcement officers, firefighters, hazardous materials (HAZMAT) technicians, emergency medical services (EMS) personnel and emergency managers in general subjects such as awareness and incident command. The training also addresses more specialized courses in specific operational areas such as HAZMAT, emergency medical, and hospital provider. Both DoD and DoE support this training with subject matter experts in chemical/biological and nuclear instruction, respectively.

As of May 21, 1999, DoD has trained 58 cities and over 15,700 trainers.

The city training program is composed of two phases of training which focus on the "nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC) delta:" -only those aspects of response which are different from how each responder would react in a non-NBC event.

• Phase 1 starts with an initial regional kickoff meeting with each city, followed by several planning meetings that culminate in a week of training, which includes a tabletop exercise and distribution of customized training aids. During phase 1, DoD also provides direct training in basic awareness and a workshop for senior officials, such as mayors and their cabinets.

• Phase 2 includes the training of first responders by the city's trained trainers. The city uses the training aids, DoD-loaned equipment (acquired specifically to meet each city's WMD preparedness training needs), and lessons learned from their initial week of training, to then train its first responder community. This phase also includes planning and executing the chemical functional exercise and biological tabletop exercise once the city responders have been trained.

In addition to conducting exercises during phase 1 and phase 2 of the city training program, the Act requires federal, state and local (F-S-L) responders to plan and execute an annual exercise during each of five successive fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 1997. The annual F-S-L exercise and the Improved Response Program (IRP) comprise the second and third elements of the DPP.

The annual federal, state and local (FSL) exercise is designed to improve the nation's overall response to a WMD incident by focusing on the interaction of federal, state and local agencies. The annual FSL exercise involves the actual deployment of representatives from federal and state agencies to the local “incident" site and integrated into appropriate regional and other operations centers. Federal and state agencies also place liaison officers in the local incident command center and thus create a unified command center where requests for assistance from the local responders are processed and then forwarded through the applicable channels to provide the needed assistance.

In FY 97, the annual FSL Exercise was held in Denver, CO in conjunction with the real world Summit of the Eight Conference (June 97). The exercise scenario centered on a simulated chemical terrorist attack. The FY 98 exercise was held in Philadelphia, PA from September 1517, 1998. The exercise scenario again was a simulated chemical terrorist attack. This exercise

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