WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- A top DHS expert told Congress this week that the next FEMA chief should have more experience of handling emergencies.
The chief of the Department of Homeland Security's new Preparedness Directorate said Wednesday that the next director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency should have experience managing emergencies, GovExec.com reported.
Several months into his job as DHS's undersecretary for preparedness, George Foresman said that based on discussions with the DHS secretary and deputy secretary, and knowledge of the system, he is confident that the person appointed FEMA director "will have the appropriate credentials" to reassure Congress and the public.
Foresman, confirmed for the job in December 2005 and previously the preparedness and homeland security adviser to the governor of Virginia, told members of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Science and Technology that the new FEMA leader would need to have crisis management skills. Those abilities could be gained through a wide variety of experience, including work in law enforcement and fire-fighting, he said.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, former FEMA Director Michael Brown was widely criticized for lacking disaster management experience.
Under a reorganization announced by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff last July, preparedness activities were removed from FEMA and placed in the new directorate. But Foresman said that FEMA will work with the directorate through a memorandum of understanding "that will define the very specific coordination mechanism" between the two organizations.
Foresman argued that the Preparedness Directorate allowed DHS to keep a forward focus and prepare for future disasters rather than repeating mistakes.
