Homeland Security was created to secure our borders against future terrorism and terrorist acts. Homeland Security was not created to provide assistance in times of natural disasters. The mission of FEMA is “to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.”[1] FEMA intends “to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters with a vision of ‘A Nation Prepared.’”[2] FEMA does have a role in helping after an act of terrorism within the United States. Yet, their mission is more than just helping to recover after terrorism. They also respond to manmade and natural disasters within the United States, such as the Valdez oil spill, hurricane recovery, and other disasters. Such …show more content…
Their role is to ensure that those who help in the recovery are trained to respond to any such disaster. Homeland Security’s mission is “to secure the nation from the many threats we face. With honor and integrity, we will safeguard the American people, our homeland, and our values.”[3] Pros to FEMA being a part of Homeland Security are their ability to react after disasters. They work closely with other agencies within Homeland Security, and those not bound to Homeland Security. Homeland Security is moving beyond the boundaries of just terrorism and is incorporating natural disasters. Some cons to having FEMA incorporated with Homeland Security is the focus has been more on terrorism and less on natural disasters. Natural disasters occur more frequently on American soil than acts of terrorism. The focus of Homeland Security has been on terrorism, although it is shifting beyond to natural disasters. As an independent agency, FEMA would be able to focus on all disasters, rather than focus mostly on
Royer, Jordan. “Hurricane Sandy and the importance of being FEMA”, Crosscut.com, Crosscut.com, Web. 1 Nov 2012, 3 May 2014.
The Department of Homeland Security was created in an effort to communicate more efficiently and to twart potential threats of terrorism. The failure to enact the Ammonium Nitrate Security Act is a failure to create a simple process which could provided another level of safety against a terrorist attack. The Sandy Recovery Act was a step in the right direction to aid Native American tribes residing on reservations but is only one step in a bigger process to achieve the effectiveness need for the race.
In 2003, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was rolled into the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. FEMA’s responsibilities are to prepare, protect, respond, and recover from diminish all hazards. There was a mass coverage about the failure for FEMA to act immediately to Katrina, but once they were able to get things organized such as giving food and water, and setting up the tent and shelters communities can be strong and move on.
After the fear of terrorism grew in the United States do to the Al Qaeda 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the US Government found a need for a centralized department that umbrellas all other agencies when it comes to homeland security. The U.S. Government found this umbrella agency with the passage of the Homeland Security Act by Congress in November 2002, the Department of Homeland Security formally came into being as a stand-alone, Cabinet-level department to further coordinate and unify national homeland security efforts. (Homeland Security) With the creation of the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the government had a pinpoint location for the collection and gathering of intelligence, control of policies that effect national security, and a no fail mission. The Department of Homeland Security started to engulf other agencies and created many more, a total of 22 agencies now fall under the DHS. The DHS is control of all areas that deal with national security which included but are not limited to coastal and boarder protection, domestic terrorism, international terrorism, protection of the American people, protection of key infrastructure, protection of key resources and respond to natural disasters.
The Coast Guard, for instance, rescued some 34,000 people in New Orleans alone, and many ordinary citizens commandeered boats, offered food and shelter, and did whatever else they could to help their neighbors. Yet the government–particularly the federal government–seemed unprepared for the disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took days to establish operations in New Orleans, and even then did not seem to have a sound plan of action. Officials, even including President George W. Bush, seemed unaware of just how bad things were in New Orleans and elsewhere: how many people were stranded or missing; how many homes and businesses had been damaged; how much food, water and aid was needed. Katrina had left in her wake what one reporter called a “total disaster zone” where people were “getting absolutely
Homeland security is an American measure to ensure the security of the country. It is the national effort to ensure safety, security, and strength against terrorism and other issues, The goals of homeland security is to which will minimise the vulnerability of the U.S. to terrorism, and reduce the number of damages to the country.
The US government should be well-prepared for the hurricane since it’s a modern, developed, wealthy country. Hurricane Katrina definitely showed how well the United States protect its own people. Knowing hurricanes are natural disasters, which cannot be prevented from happening. Although the US has advanced technology to spot the natural disasters much easier than other countries, it still couldn’t provide the best for the citizens. The government is not prepared for the storm, mainly because they began to play a role in the disaster. People were warned to leave before the hurricane, but many poor people had no access to transportations, which also caused hundreds of thousands of people were influenced.
The 109th Congress questioned the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after Hurricane Katrina. Congress called for mandatory reports from the white house, Inspectors Generals, the Government Accountability Office, and others. A common denominator in all of these findings were that some of the losses brought by Katrina were caused, at least in part, by deficiencies within FEMA; such as: questionable leadership decisions, organizational failures, and inadequate legal authorities. As a result of these findings, Congress further utilized their control strategies to reorganize FEMA, and restructure the way responsibilities were handled following emergencies. Congress passed the “Post-Katrina Emergency Reform Act of 2006” in order to accomplish these revisions. This newly enacted bill reorganized FEMA, expanded its authority, established new leadership positions and position requirements within FEMA, and imposed new conditions and requirements on the operations of the agency. Congress also utilized the appropriations process to influence this portion of bureaucracy by enacting supplemental appropriations, one-time waivers of requirements and temporary
After the storm had passed the public was biting FEMA for not doing their jobs but nobody stopped to think that they could only do what the govt. ordered for them to get done. FEMA
When looked into, there was a document found that had the specific areas they needed help and assistance with. The video also explained some of FEMA’s history. In other emergency situations, they weren’t prepared or helpful. At first, I was feeling like people should not have been too upset with FEMA because they were still trying to help. My feelings changed when someone from FEMA stated that if he had to do it all over again he would do things exactly the same.
Homeland security is the way Americans put forth the effort to ensure the homeland is safe, secure, and stands firm against terrorist acts and other hazard that could put the health and welfare of the American people. The mission of the Homeland Security is to prevent terrorism, secure and protect our open borders, uphold all immigration laws, safeguard and secure cyberspace, and be content and resilient when it pertains to disasters.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency also known as (FEMA) primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities (Wikipedia, p
Next, Bellavita talks about how homeland security is about all hazards. In this section Bellavita speaks about how “attention to terrorism since September 11, 2001 undermined the U.S. emergency preparedness system” (Bellavita, 2015). Being that the main intention of homeland security is to defend against terrorism, it may be more beneficial to separate this agency into smaller factions, so that each agency knows what to focus on and can become more efficient and effective at their role. Recently, I believe this same narrative rings true, with all attention on
In early 2001, The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released a report of the three most likely disasters to hit the United States. Among these likely disasters to hit the United States, one of them was a hurricane striking New Orleans, the other two; a terrorist attack on New York City and a major earthquake hitting San Francisco.(course pack) However, very little was done to prepare for the deadly storm that would four years later leave New Orleans in a devastated mess.
Tragedies like 9/11 and domestic terrorism can both be prevented with increased homeland security. To prevent attacks like 9/11 from happening in the future, address issues with domestic terrorism, and the growth of homeland security, the U.S. still needs to be concerned with terrorism. Disasters like 9/11 still need to be prevented in the United States. The U.S. needs to be more involved with terrorism in general to keep domestic attacks from happening. Homeland security needs to be studied and improved in order to prevent terrorism.