On November 6, the House passed, 402-8, a bill (H.R. 3495) to establish a National Commission on Children and Disasters and a National Resource Center on Children and Disasters. The bill would authorize $2 million per year for FY2008 and 2009 for the commission, whose 10 members would report to Congress on the needs of children in preparation for, and in response to, major disasters and emergencies.
Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL), the bill’s sponsor, said, “Since Hurricane Katrina, many improvements to our emergency management system have been made, but there is still much work to be done. The basic tenet of disasters and emergencies is to ‘make a plan.’ You hear it in public service announcements all over Florida and the Gulf coast, and it is written on many of the materials distributed by FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency]…But, for all of that talk, we do not have a plan for children…Last year, Congress passed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2006 [P.L. 109-308]. Congress has recognized how pets can slip through the cracks during an emergency, but has yet to have a plan for children in an emergency. Children should not be forced to suffer through another learning experience like Hurricane Katrina. Congress must look forward and discover a comprehensive strategy for children and emergencies that may happen, such as pandemic flu, or a terrorist attack, or a major earthquake. A national commission is imperative to making progress.”
Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) said, “The bill specifically directs the commission to build upon the investigations of other entities to avoid an unnecessary duplication of effort. For example, last Congress the House created the Select Committee to Investigate Hurricane Katrina…In its final report, the select committee made a number of findings with respect to children. In response to this report, we passed the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act [P.L. 109-295], which included provisions creating a national emergency child locator center and a national emergency family registry and locator center. Finally, H.R. 3495 requires both state emergency managers and local emergency managers to be represented on the commission. This requirement ensures the representation on the commission of the people who may very well be responsible for implementing its recommendations. Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation.”
