Davis joins push to restore FEMA’s independence

With less than 60 days before the start of the hurricane season, a dispute has erupted between senior House Republicans and powerful committee chairmen over whether the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be removed from the Homeland Security Department.

House Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., said Wednesday he wanted FEMA removed from Homeland Security and under the president's direct control. "The response [to a disaster] has to be able to bring all the assets of the federal government together quickly," Davis told reporters at the 2006 Homeland and Global Security Summit in Washington, organized by Equity International.

But leaders of the House Homeland Security Committee say such a move would cripple the agency and the government's ability to respond to disasters.

"Removing FEMA from DHS would only exacerbate the agency's problems," committee Republicans and Democrats said Wednesday in a joint statement, which aides said was not prepared as a response to Davis. "It would reduce FEMA's access to the vast resources available within the department, create duplicative response efforts for natural and manmade disasters and significantly delay our ability to prepare for future emergencies. It is imperative that we strengthen FEMA while keeping it within DHS."

The statement was issued by House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King, R.-N.Y., and ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., along with Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee Chairman David Reichert, R-Wash., and ranking member Bill Pascrell, D-N.J.

Davis, who headed a special House panel investigating the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, said the FEMA director needs to have direct access to the president and White House to marshal the federal government's resources.

"You've got to have the White House directly involved in this so that they can draw from any agency, whether it's Housing, whether it's the Defense Department, whether it's just response with fire and rescue and the like," Davis said. "And that cuts across government and it even cuts across the jurisdiction of Homeland Security. So, I think it ought to be attached to the White House. ... There's a lot of interest in doing this."

Any attempt to remove FEMA from Homeland Security likely would spark a turf battle in the House, as it would have to be authorized by the Homeland Security and Government Reform panels as well as the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Economic Development Subcommittee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., whose panel oversees emergency management issues, has drafted legislation that would remove FEMA from Homeland Security. A Shuster spokesman said the congressman has been meeting with state emergency managers to develop the bill.

Davis said he supports the Shuster bill and added he is ready for a legislative fight. "I think if nothing else, you put your marker down on what you think is the right thing to do and you move ahead," Davis said. Senate Republicans are also grappling with the issue.

Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., has introduced a bill that would make FEMA an independent agency. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, has said the agency should stay within Homeland Security.