House Homeland Security Committee Issues Testimony From Alabama Emergency Management Agency
On behalf of
I am here before you as the Director of the
Beginning in January, AEMA, along with the
Commensurate with
On 16 March,
As we stood up the Unified Command in March,
Grand Strategy:
Strategy: Mobilize Alabama for a whole-of-society response to slow the transmission of coronavirus to a level commensurate with our medical system's capacity to care for our citizens in order to buy time to find a vaccination or treatment to eliminate the health, economic, and social impacts of the coronavirus on our people and economy.
Phases of our State Operations:
* Reduce transmission of COVID19 (on-going)
* Sustain & Expand health care capacity and capability (on-going)
* Inform and reassure the public (on-going)
* Transition to a better
COVID19 and bolster the health care system by working with subdivisions of government, associations, and organizations to slow the spread of the coronavirus. At the height of our Unified Command activities and leveraging crucial federal support for
Through Direct Federal Assistance (DFA) coordinated through
Throughout the evolution of the COVID19 response,
Lastly, as we transition to a better
Before I close my written statement, I would like to share a few observations and recommendations. When this pandemic began,
As a state EMA director, I appreciated the more active role
As the US develops future strategies and policies for pandemics, all-hazards emergency management activities and threats to national security, I offer a few items for consideration to our federal partners:
1) Assess public health vulnerabilities to national security based on comprehensive supply chain analysis to include the location of raw materials, availability of production resources, transportation vulnerabilities, and location of manufacturing.
2) With regard to the CARES Act and the crucial financial support it provides to state and local government, there are lingering questions about eligibility that, at this time, are causing some level of confusion at the state and local levels. For example, it is unclear whether CARES funding may be lawfully used to accommodate the extraordinary expenses of emergency management agencies like AEMA that have been incurred in responding to COVID19, even though the vast majority of our personnel expenses have been dedicated to that end. Increased clarity on the intended and allowable uses of CARES funding would enable state and local officials to make better decisions about the most effective and responsible uses of this essential emergency funding mechanism as we work to maintain government operations during this crisis.
3) Requirements that are too restrictive or specific--whether in authorizing legislation or in the implementing guidance passed down from federal agencies--in our emergency preparedness funding programs often create very distinct functional cylinders of excellence and siloed functional expertise in a way that is inwardly-focused, instead of enabling cooperation and sharing of resources in a fully-integrated national emergency management and preparedness enterprise. Our focus should be on fostering an outward sharing of resources and information that is incentivized by federal grants aimed toward developing capabilities with commonality, interconnectedness and partnerships instead of driving duplication, competition or stove-pipes. This is especially pertinent in terms of the overlap between--and sometimes competing objectives of--the
4) In accordance with
In conclusion, and I am proud to say that
Again, thank you for this opportunity to testify, and I welcome your questions.
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