[Senate Hearing 111-637]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
S. Hrg. 111-637
NOMINATIONS OF IVAN K. FONG AND TIMOTHY W. MANNING
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON
HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
of the
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
NOMINATIONS OF IVAN K. FONG TO BE GENERAL COUNSEL, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND SECURITY, AND TIMOTHY W. MANNING TO BE DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR
FOR NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
APRIL 30, 2009
__________
Available via http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/index.html
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
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COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina
JON TESTER, Montana
ROLAND W. BURRIS, Illinois
MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado
Michael L. Alexander, Staff Director
Kristine V. Lam, Professional Staff Member
Brandon L. Milhorn, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Jennifer L. Tarr, Minority Counsel
Trina Driessnack Tyrer, Chief Clerk
Patricia R. Hogan, Publications Clerk and GPO Detailee
Laura W. Kilbride, Hearing Clerk
C O N T E N T S
------
Opening statements:
Page
Senator Lieberman............................................ 1
Senator Akaka................................................ 11
Prepared statements:
Senator Lieberman........................................... 23, 27
Senator Collins.............................................. 25
Senator Voinovich............................................ 29
WITNESSES
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Hon. Jeff Bingaman, a U.S. Senator from the State of New Mexico.. 1
Hon. Sherrod Brown, a U.S. Senator from the State of Ohio........ 2
Ivan K. Fong to be General Counsel, U.S. Department of Homeland
Security....................................................... 5
Timothy W. Manning to be Deputy Administrator for National
Preparedness, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S.
Department of Homeland Security................................ 15
Alphabetical List of Witnesses
Bingaman, Hon. Jeff:
Testimony.................................................... 1
Brown, Hon. Sherrod:
Testimony.................................................... 2
Fong, Ivan K.:
Testimony.................................................... 5
Prepared statement........................................... 31
Biographical and financial information....................... 36
Responses to pre-hearing questions........................... 54
Letter from the Office of Government Ethics.................. 104
Responses to post-hearing questions for the Record........... 105
Manning, Timothy W.:
Testimony.................................................... 15
Introduction statement submitted by Senator Tom Udall........ 30
Prepared statement........................................... 113
Biographical and financial information....................... 117
Responses to pre-hearing questions........................... 128
Letter from the Office of Government Ethics.................. 174
Responses to post-hearing questions for the Record........... 175
NOMINATIONS OF IVAN K. FONG AND TIMOTHY W. MANNING
----------
THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2009
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m., in
room SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Joseph I.
Lieberman, Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Lieberman and Akaka.
OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN LIEBERMAN
Chairman Lieberman. Good morning. The hearing will come to
order. I want to apologize to the nominees and my colleagues
who are here because I was held up at a previous meeting. I
apologize for being late. And I decided on the walk over that
my penitence for this tardiness would be that I would not force
Senators Bingaman and Brown to hear my opening statement,
though we will send copies of it to your offices because I know
you are interested in reading it.
But, anyway, I thank you for being here, and if it is OK,
we will go to Senator Bingaman for the introduction and then to
Senator Brown.
TESTIMONY OF HON. JEFF BINGAMAN, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE
OF NEW MEXICO
Senator Bingaman. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman,
for letting me participate in your hearing and introduce Tim
Manning.
He is President Obama's nominee for Deputy Administrator
for National Preparedness at the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA). He is currently the State Director of New
Mexico's Department of Homeland Security. Before that, he was
the Director of the Governor's Office of Homeland Security.
Before that, he was our State Director of Emergency
Preparedness. And prior to all of those positions, he has had
many other very impressive jobs, as a firefighter, emergency
medical technician, rescue mountaineer, hazardous materials
specialist, and hydrogeologist.
He was raised just outside of Chicago and received his
bachelor's degree in geology from Eastern Illinois University.
In 1994, he moved to New Mexico. He has lived in our State
since then with his wife, Sarah, and their daughter, Katie.
Since coming to New Mexico's Department of Homeland
Security, he has met and exceeded all expectations. He has
proven himself as a true professional. He is obviously
extremely steeped in the needs of our State and has had the
occasion, while serving in our State government, to respond to
natural disasters of all kinds. So I think he is extremely well
qualified for this position for which the President has chosen
him, and he will serve the Nation extremely well in this new
role at FEMA.
Obviously, New Mexico will be sorry to see him leave, but
we think, for the good of the country, it is an excellent
appointment.
So thank you again for letting me introduce Mr. Manning,
and I hope your Committee is able to recommend him to the full
Senate for confirmation quickly.
Chairman Lieberman. Thank you, Senator Bingaman, for an
excellent introduction.
Senator Brown, welcome.
TESTIMONY OF HON. SHERROD BROWN, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE
OF OHIO
Senator Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is my first
time in front of your Committee. It is a pleasure to be here.
I am thrilled to introduce Ivan Fong, the nominee for the
position of General Counsel at the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS). Particularly with the way things are in our
country today, it is an especially important appointment, and I
am honored to introduce him. I had the pleasure of meeting
Sharon, Caroline, and Caitlin a moment ago, and also Mr. Fong's
parents and brother-in-law, and it seems like a wonderful
family. They live in Dublin, Ohio. We are, as Senator Bingaman
said, in his case with Mr. Manning, sorry to see him leave the
State. We hope to convince his family to stay in Ohio also, but
that is certainly their decision.
Ivan's qualifications for this job are solid and clear. Let
me give you a brief snapshot. He is currently the Chief Legal
Officer and Secretary for Cardinal Health, which is the single
largest company in my State. It is located in the Columbus
area. He has had a history of public service. When he was in
the private sector, he lived in the Chairman's State.
His history of public service, he was Deputy Associate
Attorney General for the Department of Justice (DOJ) during the
Clinton years. He played a key role in civil litigation and
enforcement matters. He has testified before Congress on issues
such as Internet access to chemical safety information, online
pharmacies, and electronic signatures in contracting. Most
importantly, or equally importantly, he was the primary author
and editor of a ground-breaking report on cyber crime policy
titled ``The Electronic Frontier: The Challenge of Unlawful
Conduct Involving the Use of the Internet.'' He returned after
his service in the government to the private sector and has
held positions with both General Electric and Cardinal Health
in Columbus, as I said.
Ivan holds bachelor and master of science degrees in
chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), his law degree from Stanford, and he was a
Fulbright scholar at Oxford in the United Kingdom. I could go
on. You get the picture. He clearly is ready for this job to
face these challenges. His experience as a litigator, a
manager, and an expert in cyber security and other emerging
security issues will enable him to well serve that agency and,
most importantly, the people of our great country.
I recommend him to you, Mr. Chairman, and hope the
Committee will quickly recommend him to the full Senate for
confirmation. Thank you.
Chairman Lieberman. Thanks, Senator Brown.
The two of you have spoken very eloquently about the two
nominees. These are two extraordinarily well qualified nominees
for the positions for which they have been nominated, and I
must say, though I know some people have found some of
President Obama's nominations to be controversial for policy
matters, generally speaking, I think the quality of the
nominees has really been very high, and that is certainly true
of these two. These two people may actually be qualified for
the position for which they have been nominated. This is
reassuring.
Senator Bingaman and Senator Brown, I know you have busy
schedules. I thank you for taking the time. Your testimony and
introduction matters a lot to the Committee, and we will
certainly understand if you have to depart. Thank you.
We are going to proceed first with Mr. Fong's nomination,
so I will ask Mr. Manning to drop back. Am I seeing double over
there? [Laughter.]
You are confusing me a little. This holds real potential
for the way in which you can be handling double crises at the
same time. You will explain that when we come to you, Mr.
Manning. Thank you.
We are going to move now to the nomination of Ivan Fong. I
do want to state for the record that Senator Collins, the
Ranking Member, who rarely misses a meeting or a hearing, has a
conflicting hearing before the Appropriations Committee with
Secretary Gates, I believe, and she sends her regards to the
two nominees and her regrets not to be here.
Ivan Fong has been nominated to serve as General Counsel of
the Department of Homeland Security. As I indicated, he has an
impressive record both academically and professionally and a
breadth of experience that will serve the Department of
Homeland Security and the General Counsel's office very well.
He has both a bachelor's and a master's degree in chemical
engineering from MIT, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
He received his Doctor of Jurisprudence with distinction from
Stanford Law School and was president of the Stanford Law
Review. He was a Fulbright scholar at Oxford University,
clerked for Federal Appeals Court Judge Abner Mikva and Supreme
Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. That is quite a curriculum
vitae.
After a period at the law firm of Covington and Burling,
Mr. Fong joined the Clinton Administration Justice Department
as a Deputy Associate Attorney General where he oversaw civil
litigation, environmental matters, and technology issues. As
Senator Brown indicated, he was the principal author of a
seminal report on cyber crime titled ``The Electronic Frontier:
The Challenge of Unlawful Conduct Involving the Use of the
Internet.''
Mr. Fong returned to the private sector after his DOJ
experience, I am pleased to say, living for a few years in
Connecticut and working for a great company, General Electric,
and most recently serving as the Chief Legal Officer at
Cardinal Health, which is a Fortune 20 company. We are grateful
that you are now willing to return to public service. The
position of General Counsel is obviously a critical one at the
Department, and the challenges and issues you will confront are
likely to be as diverse and varied as the challenges faced by
the Department as a whole.
Yesterday, Secretary Napolitano was before us to testify
about the Department's central role, really designated by
statute and Presidential directive as the incident manager for
such events for the entire Federal Government, and there are
important and, I would say, fascinating ethical, governmental,
and legal questions that are raised by this current H1N1 flu
epidemic.
First and foremost, the General Counsel, of course, must
advise the Secretary and manage the legal functions of the
Department. But the General Counsel must also ensure that the
fundamental rights of the American people are protected as the
Department carries out its mission.
The General Counsel also occupies a central position with
respect to the relationship and interaction between the
Department and Congress. The General Counsel must counsel the
Secretary on how the laws Congress passes should be interpreted
and implemented and also has an important part in guiding the
Department's interactions and relationships with the other
Federal agencies and departments with which it partners to keep
us all secure. Good lawyers help their clients reach their
goals quickly and with a minimum of risk. But I think you know,
Mr. Fong, that the mark of a great lawyer is not just the
desire ``to get to yes,'' but to do so with the courage and
wisdom to know also when to say no.
Indeed, the responsibilities of--and burdens placed upon--a
lawyer in government service are different from those in the
private sector, and I speak here as one who was privileged for
6 years to be the Attorney General of Connecticut. The private
sector lawyer has the luxury, so to speak, of being singularly
focused on his or her client's needs. The government lawyer has
the obligation to look beyond the immediate needs of the agency
and to consider the broader public interest and the fidelity to
the laws of the country.
From all that I know about you, I am confident, Mr. Fong,
that you understand these responsibilities and will carry them
forward as the General Counsel at the Department.
Let me now proceed to some formal parts of the hearing.
Ivan Fong has filed responses to a biographical and financial
questionnaire, answered pre-hearing questions submitted by the
Committee, and had his financial statements reviewed by the
Office of Government Ethics. Without objection, this
information will be made part of the hearing record with the
exception of the financial data, which are on file and
available for public inspection in the Committee offices.
Mr. Fong, our Committee rules require that all witnesses at
nomination hearings give their testimony under oath, so I would
ask you at this time if you would please stand and raise your
right hand. Do you swear that the testimony you are about to
give to the Committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth, so help you, God?
Mr. Fong. I do.
Chairman Lieberman. Thank you very much. Please be seated.
I would welcome an opening statement and, at whatever time you
feel appropriate, the introduction of the family that you have
with you today.
TESTIMONY OF IVAN K. FONG \1\ TO BE GENERAL COUNSEL, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Mr. Fong. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me also thank
Senator Brown for his warm introduction and for his support, as
well as that of Senator Voinovich, who I understand could not
be here today.
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\1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Fong appears in the Appendix on
page 31.
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It is a great honor and privilege for me to be here this
morning as the nominee to be the General Counsel of the
Department of Homeland Security. I thank the President and
Secretary Napolitano for their confidence in me, and I thank
the Committee for taking up this nomination.
I also want to thank and recognize members of my family,
without whose love and support I would not be here today. First
and foremost, I owe an immense and immeasurable debt of
gratitude to my wife, Sharon, who has sacrificed greatly and
supported me in all that I have done, to allow me to be here
before you today.
Although our oldest daughter, Kelley, who is away at
college in California, is unable to be here today, I am
grateful that our younger two daughters, Caitlin and Caroline,
are able to be here to share in this event. I am so very proud
of all of them, and they, like my wife, will be sacrificing in
their own ways to allow me to pursue this significant
opportunity for public service.
I also want to introduce a few other members of my family
who are here, including my parents, Jeffrey and Elizabeth Fong,
both of whom are career civil servants with the National
Institute of Standards and Technology, and from whom I learned
the values of education and hard work, a love of learning, and
the importance of giving back to one's community. My brother-
in-law, Cliff Ty, is also here, as well as a number of others
whose friendship and support mean so much to me.
I believe that public service--and, in particular, service
to one's country--is among the highest of callings. I also
believe that protecting the security of the American people is
of singular importance--and one of the greatest challenges we
face as a Nation today. And it is precisely that mission and
challenge that brings me here today: The opportunity to work
with the dedicated men and women of the Department who perform
their duties, day in and day out, with diligence and
professionalism; the opportunity to collaborate and coordinate
with other Federal agencies in the broad work of the Department
in achieving our shared mission of preventing, protecting
against, responding to, and recovering from terrorist incidents
and natural disasters; and the opportunity to partner with
State, local, international, and private sector representatives
to protect our critical infrastructures and to help prepare for
and respond to disasters of all kinds.
As you know, the General Counsel is the chief legal officer
of the Department. It is a weighty responsibility and one that
I take seriously. If confirmed, I pledge to work tirelessly to
build upon the progress that has been made to strengthen the
Department and to help it to be successful in achieving its
goals.
My unique blend of professional experiences prepares me
well, I believe, for this role. As you indicated, I bring over
two decades of experience as a lawyer and litigator in private
practice, as a Deputy Associate Attorney General with the
Department of Justice, and as a general counsel and chief legal
officer of large, complex organizations in the private sector.
These positions have given me broad substantive experience in
litigation and regulatory law, legal and policy experience in
areas such as privacy and cyber security, and leadership skills
directly related to the responsibilities of the chief legal
officer of the Department and the mission of homeland security.
Those experiences have brought me here today, where I
believe the role of General Counsel is a natural extension of
the positions I have previously held.
Specifically, I believe that the position of General
Counsel has three principal components:
First, the General Counsel is primarily responsible for
providing legal advice and support to the Secretary, her senior
leadership team, and the Department as a whole. Much of the
day-to-day legal advice and services are, of course, provided
by the career legal staff, who not only have the specific
substantive experience, but who also give that advice in the
context of the operational realities associated with
implementation of the Department's programs. My role, if I am
confirmed, would be to ensure that the legal advice given is as
sound as possible, that I apply my best professional judgment,
and that legal services are provided in a timely and responsive
manner.
Second, the General Counsel, working through the lawyers in
the Department, also helps ensure that the Department complies
with applicable laws and regulations, including laws protecting
civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy. I share this
Administration's commitment to protecting our security while
also protecting the civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy
rights of all Americans. I do not take those important
commitments lightly. Indeed, not only do I believe that they
are not incompatible, but I also believe that while protecting
both our security and our values is difficult, it is precisely
our country's commitment to rise to that challenge that makes
us different. In the same vein, given the importance, in our
constitutional system of government, of congressional oversight
over the Executive Branch, I also believe the General Counsel
has an important responsibility to facilitate full cooperation
in providing appropriate access to the information Congress
needs to fulfill its legislative and oversight
responsibilities.
Third, the General Counsel is responsible for leading and
managing the Department's lawyers and legal staff, helping them
to be as effective and efficient as possible, and promoting a
culture in which they are trusted problem-solvers, proactive
advisers, and strategic partners to those whom they support. I
believe my experiences as a chief legal officer will help me,
if I am confirmed, communicate a clear strategic vision for the
legal department; align the legal department around a common
set of goals and objectives; promote integration of the
headquarters and component legal departments; and recruit,
develop, and retain outstanding legal talent at all levels of
the organization.
In addition, I believe the General Counsel can also play a
broader role in helping foster a more unified DHS by
coordinating cross-functional and cross-component efforts,
streamlining program implementation, and forging department-
wide solutions to shared challenges.
I would like to close by making two points. First, growing
up in an immigrant family, I believe I have a special
appreciation for the American dream. The opportunity to serve
as DHS General Counsel is, for me, the fulfillment of the best
that this country has to offer. It is a powerful proposition:
That with hard work, perseverance, education, the support of
family and friends, and no doubt some luck, I now have an
opportunity to give back, in a small but significant way, to
the country that has given me and my family so much.
Second, I want to close by reiterating how deeply honored I
am to have been nominated for this position and to appear
before this Committee today. I am humbled by the challenges
that lie ahead, though I am confident that under Secretary
Napolitano's leadership and with your assistance and support,
we will work together to meet those challenges.
Indeed, this Committee has shown extraordinary leadership
in creating and standing the Department up during its formative
years, and I know that there is extensive expertise here. If
confirmed, I look forward to working collaboratively and
constructively with this Committee, and I will do my level best
to ensure that the Department works closely with you.
Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for this opportunity to
appear before you, and I would be pleased now to answer any
questions you may have.
Chairman Lieberman. Thank you very much, Mr. Fong, for an
excellent opening statement. I was thinking, as you mentioned
the word ``luck,'' that my mother, who also came from an
immigrant family, always told my sisters and me that luck comes
to those who work hard for it. And I would guess that is the
case with you.
I am going to start my questioning with the standard
questions we ask of all nominees. First, is there anything you
are aware of in your background that might present a conflict
of interest with the duties of the office to which you have
been nominated?
Mr. Fong. No.
Chairman Lieberman. Second, do you know of anything,
personal or otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from
fully and honorably discharging the responsibilities of the
office to which you have been nominated?
Mr. Fong. No.
Chairman Lieberman. And, third, do you agree without
reservation to respond to any reasonable summons to appear and
testify before any duly constituted committee of Congress if
you are confirmed?
Mr. Fong. Yes.
Chairman Lieberman. Thank you. We will now go to the
questions. Let me begin with a broad question. Your office is
going to have a very wide array of challenges competing for its
attention--threats to critical infrastructure, a growing sense
and awareness of threats to our cyber networks, potential
vulnerabilities on mass transit at our ports, preventing weapon
of mass destruction (WMD) attacks, obviously responding to
natural disasters now, being involved in the response to a flu
epidemic, perhaps a pandemic, border security, immigration
matters, and on top of all that, the challenge of managing
1,700 lawyers dispersed among the many components of a still
new and very large Department.
So, if confirmed, what will be your top priorities? What
issues do you intend to focus on first?
Mr. Fong. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for highlighting, I
think, one of the significant challenges of any of these senior
roles within the Department of Homeland Security given the
breadth of issues that it faces. I would say that my primary
priority will be, first, to learn as much as I can about the
Department and the issues that you have articulated. I believe
that working closely with the Secretary and the senior
leadership team that she has assembled will be very important
to allow me to align the mission and goals that I will be
developing for the legal department so that, as you said
earlier, the lawyers can give advice informed by the issues
that the Department will be facing.
In addition, I believe that protecting our security is
perhaps the greatest issue, and I include within that the cyber
security issues that have been the subject of much discussion
recently. Obviously, the H1N1 flu issues are very critical this
day and age. In addition, securing our borders remains a
priority for the Secretary. As you know, the Southwest border
violence issues have not gone away. And there are many others.
So I agree with you that there will be many balls to
juggle, but I believe also that my experiences have given me
the confidence to know that, working with others, I will be
able to prioritize and focus, I believe, on the most critical
issues that the Department faces.
Chairman Lieberman. Good. Let me ask you a related
question, but different. We all understood when we created the
Department of Homeland Security that there were clear
advantages which motivated us to bringing a lot of different
departments together to coordinate our response to emergencies
and disasters, natural and unnatural, to prevent them and also
to be ready to respond, but that we were bringing together 22
different agencies that had different histories--indeed, you
might say different cultures.
As you have prepared to assume this position--and, again,
going back to the 1,700 lawyers--what is your sense of whether
the General Counsel's office has made progress integrating the
attorneys from across the Department? And if confirmed, what
steps would you take to advance that process?
Mr. Fong. Senator, I believe that the legal department has
the advantage of having had more integration than other parts
of the Department. As you may know, because the General Counsel
is the chief legal officer, the prior Administration had an
organizational structure in which virtually all the lawyers in
the Department report up to the General Counsel. And so I
believe that we are a step ahead in that sense, but I also
believe that there is still great opportunity to further
integrate the lawyers into a more cohesive and unified whole.
And my experiences in particular at General Electric and
Cardinal Health have given me experience doing precisely that.
General Electric has many components, but under the leadership
of then-General Counsel Ben Heineman, there was very much a
sense that it was one legal department.
Likewise, when I arrived at Cardinal Health, Cardinal
Health had grown through acquisitions, and so there were
components of Cardinal Health that were also relatively siloed
and not used to working with the rest of the organization. And
I believe we made great progress in unifying the company and
its lawyers through principally, I would say, three means.
The first is for the leader to set a clear vision--I think
that is very important--so that everyone in the organization
understands the direction where the group or the team is
headed.
Second, I believe it is important to communicate a
strategy. How is the team going to get there?
And then, third, what are the priorities so that everyone
is aligned on some common goals? Otherwise, each of the
components will have its own goals, and there is more of a
likelihood that different parts of the organization will be
going in different directions.
I know it is a tall order, given the size and the breadth
of the Department, but I know Secretary Napolitano and the
Deputy Secretary and the rest of the senior leadership team is
committed to forging a more unified Department of Homeland
Security. And I certainly will contribute to that goal.
Chairman Lieberman. That is excellent, and it is a good
reminder that the lawyers in the General Counsel's office all
report up to the General Counsel, though in different agencies,
and I wish you well in that.
Let me go on. The Government Accountability Office (GAO)
and the Department's Inspector General (IG) play a really
crucial role in assessing the Department's operations, and they
are also important in advising Congress and helping Congress
fulfill our oversight obligations, as obviously we are, in the
Senate side, the oversight committee of the Department.
Unfortunately, the Department and the General Counsel's
office, in particular, have in the past received poor marks for
the level of cooperation provided. GAO has told us that of all
the departments and agencies with which it works, DHS has been
the slowest to respond to routine requests and is the most
frequent to inject lawyers in the process.
The Inspector General has in the past reported similar
problems, though more recently they tell us that is improved.
And I must say that the Committee itself has had a couple of
rounds with your predecessors as General Counsel in the
Department.
So I want to ask you whether you will commit to reviewing
the Department's policies for working with the GAO, the IG,
and, in fact, this Committee--and, of course, our colleagues in
the House--to streamline them to the maximum extent practicable
and thereby obviously achieve a goal of having better, more
open, more transparent relationships.
Mr. Fong. Mr. Chairman, I very much believe in the
importance of congressional oversight in our system of checks
and balances. I fully commit to reviewing the management
directives relating to the Department's interactions with the
GAO. As you may be aware, the management responsibility for
interactions with GAO now resides with the Under Secretary for
Management. I will, as indicated, if confirmed, review the
procedures by which the Department responds not only to the GAO
but also to the Inspector General and this Committee to make
sure that we are facilitating appropriate access to the
information that the GAO or the IG or this Committee needs.
I further will, if confirmed, encourage others to
cooperate. I believe in full cooperation, and I believe my
experience and record in private practice indicates that in
analogous situations, I believed that it was important to have
a dialogue to understand what it was that was being requested
so that the lawyers could play a constructive role in
identifying which witnesses actually may be helpful in
determining or obtaining the information and which documents
were going to be the most relevant.
It is true that there are circumstances in which lawyers
must be present or must review documents to preserve classified
or national security law enforcement-sensitive information. But
I also believe that a process of accommodation will allow the
GAO or the IG or this Committee to obtain the information it
needs without compromising those interests.
Chairman Lieberman. Well said. Thank you. One last
question, and then I will yield to Senator Akaka. I know you
have this unusually relevant background in cyber security with
the book that I mentioned and the work that you have done. We
are in a moment now in history when there are a couple of
realities we are dealing with. The first is that it is very
clear that our governmental and private sector cyber systems
are under constant attack from a wide array of antagonists,
from individual hackers to foreign governments, to organized
crime groups, to terrorist groups.
And the second reality, unfortunately, is that our
defenses, both in the Federal Government and in the private
sector, are inadequate to the task--that is to say, the
attackers always seem to be a step or two ahead of us.
During a hearing that we held on this subject just 2 days
ago, we heard testimony that the U.S. Computer Emergency
Response Team (US-CERT), the operational arm of the National
Cyber Security Division within DHS, did not have sufficient
authority to fulfill its mission to protect both Federal and
private networks. In one instance, we received testimony that
the US-CERT did not even receive responses from any Federal
agencies when they were attempting to determine how badly the
.gov networks had been affected by a recent so-called worm.
That obviously is unacceptable. So some of the problem here
rests with the legal authority of US-CERT, which is in the
process of entering into agreements with other agencies to
monitor their networks.
This Committee feels very strongly that the Department of
Homeland Security has a unique and centrally important role in
cyber security as we beef up under the President's leadership
our resources here. And I wanted to ask you what steps you
believe the Department should take to fulfill this role and how
you, as General Counsel, intend to help.
Mr. Fong. Mr. Chairman, I share this Committee's view that
cyber attacks and cyber security are some of the most
important, if not the most important, challenges that the
Department and this country face from a security standpoint. I
believe the threats are real and that they are serious.
If confirmed, I will do everything I can to ensure that we
improve our capabilities, our preparedness, and our ability to
prevent, detect, and respond to cyber attacks. If confirmed, we
will work with the other Federal agencies, with this
Administration, which, as you know, recently completed a 60-day
review on this topic; and if confirmed, I will look forward to
working closely with those individuals to implement the
recommendations from that study.
I recognize the Committee's views regarding the Department
of Homeland Security's leadership role, and I agree that there
should be clarity and coordination, drawing upon the expertise
of the other Federal agencies, ensuring that US-CERT and other
components have the legal authorities they need to get the job
done. So the steps I would take would be to review the
recommendations from the President's recent study, to review
the legal authorities of the relevant Department of Homeland
Security components to make sure that we are able to, as I
said, do everything possible to prepare for and respond to
these kinds of attacks and make sure that we have the
capabilities.
I believe that this is an area where the challenges are not
going to be solved overnight. It is going to take time and
resources and expertise. But I am also confident that the
Department has the capability to achieve leadership in this
role.
Chairman Lieberman. Thanks very much. I hope, as you begin
your review, that when you see areas particularly related to
cyber security where you think the Department needs additional
statutory authority, you will feel comfortable in working with
the Committee on that. My own reaction--and I think it is
shared by Senator Collins--is that as we ramp up both with
resources, now that the President has recommended dollars be
increased, but also in response to this 60-day review that
Melissa Hathaway did, we will probably want to act
legislatively to give you some additional authority, and
obviously, we want to work with you as General Counsel in that
regard.
Mr. Fong. Thank you.
Chairman Lieberman. Thank you very much.
Senator Akaka, I am delighted that you are here. Senator
Akaka is one of the senior Members of the Committee, but
obviously a young man--certainly young at heart and mind.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR AKAKA
Senator Akaka. Thank you very much for those remarks, Mr.
Chairman. I want to thank you for holding this hearing.
And I also want to congratulate you, Mr. Fong, on your
nomination, and I want to welcome you here to the Committee,
and also welcome your family and your friends and your
supporters who are here with you this morning.
I want to tell you that I appreciate reading about you and
also listening to what you are saying today because many things
that you are espousing here is music to my ears, and I am so
glad to hear you say them.
As you know, during the last Administration, the General
Counsel's office often seemed to view oversight as an
unnecessary burden instead of a useful way of improving
government programs. And I am encouraged by your statement on
the importance of congressional oversight, and if confirmed, I
hope you will encourage greater transparency and accountability
throughout the DHS.
Additionally, I want to note that I appreciate your
emphasis on protecting civil rights, civil liberties, and
privacy rights, along with the security of all Americans, as
well as your view that collective bargaining rights can help
Federal agencies run as effectively as possible and focus on
their missions. This is refreshing to me, and I welcome your
perspectives.
Mr. Fong, DHS hires approximately one-quarter of new
employees through the Federal Career Intern Program. This
allows the Department to keep employees on probation for an
extra year and to bypass the standard competitive hiring
process, which includes veterans' preference and other
protections. The intern program is intended to help agencies
develop employees needing in-depth agency-specific training.
However, many of the employees that DHS hires as interns
receive very little formal training.
Will you review DHS's use of this program to ensure that it
complies with competitive hiring laws and the Executive Order
that created it?
Mr. Fong. Thank you, Senator Akaka, for your kind remarks.
As I indicated, I believe that one of the roles of the General
Counsel is to ensure that the Department's programs are
operating in compliance with applicable laws. I also believe
that it is important for these kinds of programs to be applied
in a fair and responsible way. So I am happy to work with you
and the Committee to understand whether there are specific
concerns or other questions you may have so that I can make
sure that I am responsive to the concerns that you have raised.
Senator Akaka. Mr. Fong, as an aside, I note that your two
Senators, Senators Voinovich and Brown, did speak up for you,
and we really cherish their leadership here, and I am glad to
tell you that kind of support is strong support for your
nomination.
Mr. Fong, DHS policy allows laptops and other electronic
devices to be searched at the border without suspicion. And
there have been complaints, as you know, about laptops being
detained for long periods of time and information being copied
from laptops. As you know, there was a bill introduced by
Senator Feingold in the 110th Congress to restrict border
searches of electronic equipment and require privacy
protections.
Courts have ruled that the Constitution permits what DHS is
doing. Nevertheless, these searches may have significant
implications as many people keep sensitive information such as
medical and financial records on their laptops.
Will you commit to reviewing this policy to ensure that, at
a minimum, strong privacy protections are included?
Mr. Fong. Senator, I share your deep interest and concern
for the protection of privacy and civil liberties. I
understand, as you indicated, that courts have held that
privacy interests are significantly reduced at the border. At
the same time, I recognize, as you do, that individuals may
store very personal information on their laptops. As a result,
I would look forward to working with you to make sure that the
balance between our law enforcement needs and our border
security needs are appropriately weighed against the relevant
privacy interests.
In particular, the Office of Civil Liberties and Civil
Rights and the Office of Privacy at the Department, I
understand, have reviewed the Department's guidance in this
area, and if confirmed, I would look forward to working not
only with the components but with those offices to ensure that
the appropriate balances are struck.
Senator Akaka. Mr. Chairman, may I ask another question?
Chairman Lieberman. Please go right ahead, Senator Akaka.
Senator Akaka. Mr. Fong, a June 2008 report by the National
Academy of Public Administration revealed that 40 percent of
the DHS Office of General Counsel executive positions were
vacant. That was one of the highest executive vacancy levels in
the Department. Additionally, more than one-third of the
executive positions that were filled were political
appointments.
I expressed concern at Mr. Coldebella's July 2008
confirmation hearing for this post that the vacancies could
leave a leadership vacuum during the transition between
Administrations. I would appreciate any update you are able to
provide on the office's functioning during the transition, its
executive vacancy rate, and your plans to address any remaining
staffing problems.
Mr. Fong. Well, thank you, Senator, for that question. It
is extremely important, I have learned in my experience, to
attract and retain the best talent possible. The only way I can
possibly do my job is to surround myself with the best possible
talent. And so it is a very high priority of mine, if I am
confirmed, to do exactly that. It is something that I have a
passion for and, as I indicated, is critical to achieving the
goals that I have outlined.
I have not been privy to the specific statistics regarding
turnover and vacancy rates. I can tell you that in the limited
time that I have had to work in preparation for these hearings,
the lawyers are outstanding, they are dedicated, very
professional, very knowledgeable, and I look forward to working
with them to fill the vacancies.
I am also aware that recently, or at least in the past
several years, there has been a move to convert some of the
previously non-career senior positions into career positions,
which I believe is an appropriate direction. But as I said, I
will, if confirmed--and as you can appreciate, I have a limited
ability prior to the confirmation to do anything along this
front--move promptly to fill the positions that are currently
vacant.
Senator Akaka. I want to thank you very much for your
response, and I want to tell you that what you just said and
the passion you expressed will make Senator Voinovich from your
State very happy because he is a champion of personnel, and I
know he would be happy to hear that. So I just want to say as I
close here that from what I have read, from what I have heard,
and from what you have said, you do have my support for your
nomination.
Mr. Fong. Thank you.
Senator Akaka. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Lieberman. Thank you, Senator Akaka.
Mr. Fong, I think you know that Senator Akaka has been a
great partner with Senator Voinovich in unsung work but which
is really critically important on the personnel of the Federal
Government and on human capital management. And it strikes me
that since both of your parents are Federal employees, you can
appreciate the significance of that.
You have given excellent answers to our questions. I think
it is time to move on to Mr. Manning, but I want to thank you
for appearing before the Committee. Thank you for being willing
to come back into public service. I congratulate you on the
good fortune of having such a wonderful family of all the
generations that are with you today.
We are going to keep the record of this hearing open until
12 noon tomorrow for the submission of any additional
statements or questions from the Committee Members, and we are
going to try very hard to move your nomination and Mr.
Manning's as quickly through the Senate next week as we can
because we know Secretary Napolitano needs both of you on duty.
So, with that, I thank you, and you are free to leave at this
time.
Mr. Fong. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Lieberman. Thank you.
Mr. Manning, please return to the witness table. Good
morning, and welcome to part two of our hearing today. I want
to thank you, Mr. Manning, as we consider your nomination to be
Deputy Administrator for FEMA in charge of National
Preparedness, for your willingness to serve and your proven
record of service for many years. As Senator Bingaman said in
introducing you, you have served in a number of positions
directly relevant to national preparedness, most recently as
Director of New Mexico's Department of Homeland Security and
Emergency Management and as Homeland Security Adviser to the
Governor.
I also want to point out that you have had some front-line
experience, having worked as a firefighter and a rescue
mountaineer on a voluntary basis.
With this experience, Mr. Manning would bring to FEMA the
perspective of a State official and a first responder, which
certainly will help strengthen the coalitions between the many
entities that need to be involved in preparing for disasters.
The current public health emergency around H1N1 flu
demonstrates again very clearly that, in times of crisis, we
need response and preparedness officials who know what they are
doing and that the functions of prevention and protection must
be closely integrated with preparedness and response.
In 2006, following this Committee's extensive investigation
into the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina, we brought
forth legislation to strengthen the agency so that it would be
capable of responding to a disaster as catastrophic as
Hurricane Katrina proved to be, but also the host of other
disasters, natural and unnatural, that the Department responds
to.
The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act gave FEMA
the responsibility to lead our efforts to prepare for and
respond to disasters of all kinds.
One of our most important proposals to remake FEMA into a
world-class disaster response agency was to join preparedness
and response capabilities, which had previously been divided.
We do not want FEMA to be in the position again where it is
trying to build the kind of teamwork and logistical relief
operations among all levels of government in the midst of the
chaos or confusion that inevitably follows a disaster. And, of
course, that happened during Hurricane Katrina.
Mr. Manning, if you are confirmed, it seems to me that one
of your key responsibilities will be to make sure that this
important provision of the Post-Katrina Act is fully
implemented and that FEMA's preparedness capabilities are fully
integrated into and across all stages of emergency management,
including mitigation, response, and recovery. And I would like
to discuss that with you during the question-and-answer period.
We have to be prepared at all levels of government, and
that is going to be the specific responsibility that you will
have. We do not want ever to have to hold hearings in this
Committee which ask the question we asked over and over again
after Hurricane Katrina, which is, ``Why were we not
prepared?''
Let me now move to the formal part of the hearing. Mr.
Manning has filed responses to a biographical and financial
questionnaire, answered pre-hearing questions submitted by the
Committee, and had his financial statements reviewed by the
Office of Government Ethics. Without objection, this
information will be made part of the hearing record with the
exception of the financial data, which are on file and
available for public inspection in the Committee offices.
As you know, Mr. Manning, our Committee rules require that
all witnesses at nomination hearings give their testimony under
oath, so I would ask you at this time if you would please
stand, and raise your right hand.
Do you swear that the testimony you are about to give to
the Committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth, so help you, God?
Mr. Manning. I do.
Chairman Lieberman. I thank you very much. Please be
seated. You may proceed with your statement and the
introduction of family or friends who are with you today.
STATEMENT OF TIMOTHY W. MANNING \1\ TO BE DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR
FOR NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY,
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Mr. Manning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and good morning.
Members of the Committee, thank you for allowing me to be here
this morning. I have prepared remarks I would like to submit to
the record as well.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Manning appears in the Appendix
on page 113.
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Thank you for allowing me to be here this morning as the
nominee for Deputy Administrator of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency for National Preparedness. First I would like
to thank Senator Bingaman for his kind introduction a few
moments ago. I have worked with the Senator for many years
helping New Mexicans, and I am honored to have had him here
with me today. I am also honored to have a number of my friends
and colleagues with us here today from the National Emergency
Management Association, the International Association of
Emergency Managers, the National Governors Association, and a
number of my other friends and colleagues from the Homeland
Security Consortium.
But, most importantly, I am pleased and honored to be
joined by my family: My brother, Dan, Mr. Chairman, whom you
acknowledged earlier; my parents, Terry and Lynn Manning. They
have passed on the lessons they have learned from their parents
and given a lifetime of public service and dedication to the
community, and they have instilled that responsibility in my
brother and me, and it is only with their encouragement and
support, and the sacrifice of my wife, Sarah, and my daughter,
Katy, that I am able to be here today, and I thank them for
that.
I have been fortunate through my time as the Director of
Homeland Security and Emergency Management for the State of New
Mexico to have had the opportunity to serve my governor and the
people of my State. And I am honored to be afforded the
opportunity by the President now to serve my country.
Over the past many years, the Nation has been through a
series of very trying times, most recently with the outbreak of
the H1N1 influenza. These events have shown us the selfless
courage of our first responders, our fellow citizens, and the
resilience of our national fabric.
They have also shown us the weaknesses in our system of
disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. The American
people have come together to address these weaknesses, and we
are a stronger Nation for it.
One of the most crucial pieces of this reform was the Post-
Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, the most important
development in emergency management since the enactment of the
Stafford Act. It provides FEMA a mission and sets goals for a
broad-based framework to protect the American people through a
comprehensive and integrated program of prevention, mitigation,
preparedness, response, and recovery for natural disasters,
acts of terrorism, accidents, and all other hazards, regardless
of cause. And I am eager, if confirmed, to be part of its full
implementation.
I believe a strong and resilient Nation can only be built
on a solid foundation of preparedness, a system that transcends
all phases of emergency management and homeland security and is
rooted in strong partnerships, partnerships between cities,
counties, States and territories, tribal governments, the
Federal Government, the private sector, and, most importantly,
the American people. And I believe this is achievable.
Emergency management and homeland security are fields in
which no one level of government can succeed at going it alone;
no one agency has a solution. The whole government is required,
and close integration between agencies at the Federal, State,
tribal, and local level is required to be successful.
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, thank you for
allowing me to be here today. If confirmed, I look forward to
working with the Committee and with my colleagues to more fully
prepare the Nation to withstand severe events, respond to and
recover from natural disasters, and protect against acts of
terrorism.
I respectfully request your recommendation to confirm my
nomination to be the Deputy Administrator of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency.
Thank you, and I would be pleased to answer any questions
you may have.
Chairman Lieberman. Thank you, Mr. Manning. Thank you for
that excellent opening statement.
Let me start with the questions that are standard for the
Committee. First, is there anything you are aware of in your
background that might present a conflict of interest with the
duties of the office to which you have been nominated?
Mr. Manning. No.
Chairman Lieberman. Second, do you know of anything,
personal or otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from
fully and honorably discharging the responsibilities of the
office to which you have been nominated?
Mr. Manning. No.
Chairman Lieberman. And, third, do you agree without
reservation to respond to any reasonable summons to appear and
testify before any duly constituted committee of Congress if
you are confirmed?
Mr. Manning. Yes.
Chairman Lieberman. Thank you. I always wonder when the
first two questions invite the ``No'' response whether people
listen enough to the third question to answer ``Yes.'' But you
passed the test. Let me proceed, and Senator Akaka and I will
do 7-minute rounds of questions.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, I mentioned the
investigation that we carried out, and many of the
recommendations have been implemented pursuant to the law. I
should think that the Department is in much better shape today,
and FEMA is in much better shape. And as I mentioned in my
opening statement, one of the most important aspects of the
legislation, I think, is to rejoin preparedness and response,
putting them both under FEMA.
In testimony before this Committee about a year ago, the
Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, Mr.
Skinner, concluded that FEMA was better prepared for a
catastrophe--and I mention ``catastrophe'' in the gruesome
language of this business as compared to a ``disaster''--better
prepared for a catastrophe than it was in 2005, and Mr.
Skinner, in more recent testimony, was kind enough to credit
the Post-Katrina Act for his conclusion.
I wanted to ask you generally, if confirmed, what will you
do to ensure that the new enhanced FEMA, as envisioned by the
Post-Katrina Act, continues to be strengthened? In particular,
how will you make sure that the requirement that rejoins
preparedness with response is fully implemented?
Mr. Manning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe that the
reforms that came from the Post-Katrina Act have immeasurably
strengthened FEMA and emergency management in general. I
believe preparedness is a function that transcends all of the
other phases of emergency management. I believe it transcends
all of the other domains of homeland security. I think it is
the beginning and the end and the middle of everything else it
is that we do.
If confirmed, I very much look forward to working through
the Administration, working with the agency, to bring
preparedness into the response phase, not just looked at as a
function that gets you ready to respond, but actually helps you
respond and work hand in hand during the response to identify
things that are going well, things that could go better and
adjust while the response is happening and improve our
preparedness programs after the fact. I believe that
transcendence across the entire spectrum of emergency
management, the entire arc of our government programs is as
important as any other function of emergency management, and I
will work diligently to bring it there.
Chairman Lieberman. Good. Let me ask you, in that regard,
what you see as the role of the National Preparedness
Directorate in bringing together and improving Federal
preparedness efforts and just the comprehensive whole of
government in the way that you have described in your
statements.
Mr. Manning. Well, as I understand in my experience in New
Mexico working in preparedness programs and what I hope to
bring to the National Preparedness Directorate is both the
attention during the quiet times--during the peace times, if
you may--to preparing our responders to not just respond to a
disaster, but to recover from that disaster and to mitigate
against disasters coming in the future, and to protect against
attacks. My firm belief is that preparedness is something that
we have to work to bring to the fore in every daily function
throughout government, throughout the homeland security
community.
I believe that during the disaster response, the National
Preparedness Directorate's primary responsibility is threefold:
One is the mission that was envisioned by the Post-Katrina Act
to be that part of FEMA that looks past the current crisis,
that looks toward the crisis of tomorrow and ensures that the
agency and the American people are prepared to deal with what
is coming on the horizon.
I believe it also has the responsibility to closely work
with responders today to ensure that we are better prepared
tomorrow.
And, ultimately, I firmly believe as a State Director of
Homeland Security that we are all, at the beginning and the end
of the day, emergency managers. And we all must be prepared to
pitch in for the response itself when required, and if
confirmed, I will bring that ethos to the Directorate.
Chairman Lieberman. Excellent. Let me ask you to bring all
that and all your experience to bear on the current H1N1 flu
crisis. Yesterday, as you know, Secretary Napolitano appeared
before us.
The Secretary related that all components of DHS are
actively involved, including FEMA, primarily at this point in
getting information out to the public and facilitating the flow
of information between Federal and State governments, and of
course, the Secretary is, as we say in the vocabulary, the
National Incident Manager.
There is a real danger, if you follow the progress of the
flu, that this will develop into a pandemic. It certainly seems
to be the judgment of the World Health Organization as it
raises the alert level. Let me just ask you generally, as we
approach this possibility, what role do you think FEMA is
likely to play if this outbreak grows much bigger beyond the
public communication activities and coordinating activities
that the Secretary is playing? And what are some of the things
that FEMA and the National Preparedness Directorate, in
particular, will need to do together with key Federal, State,
and local entities to prepare now for the possibility of a
pandemic, which, as we heard yesterday, might not happen now,
but might happen during the next flu season?
Mr. Manning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I understand, the
mission of the National Preparedness Directorate at the current
time is working closely with the response functions at the
Office of Health Affairs and the Health and Human Services
Department on the future planning, working and bringing the
expertise on preparedness and planning to bear, looking past
today and tomorrow and in the next week into the fall.
I believe that the National Preparedness Directorate and
FEMA's expertise in general is that facilitation, that bringing
of diverse partners together to a coordinated response. And as
you mentioned, sir, the Homeland Security Presidential
Directive 5 conveys to the Secretary the role of the Principal
Federal Officer for domestic incident management, and in
support of that, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's role
in supporting the subject matter expertise. Health and Human
Services, the public health community are the experts in how to
deal with the propagation and the promulgation of disease.
What FEMA can bring to the table is the expertise in
bringing these partners together to help implement the steps
required from the public health community.
Chairman Lieberman. Excellent. Thank you. My time is up.
Senator Akaka.
Senator Akaka. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Manning, I want to congratulate you on your nomination
and thank you for being here today. I also want to add my
welcome to you, your family, friends, and supporters who are
here. Your nomination, without any doubt, comes at an important
time.
The H1N1 flu outbreak is growing every day, and hurricane
season is around the corner. As you look at what is possibly
coming, your kind of work is very important to our Nation. You
will be confronting these challenges, as well as many others,
if you are confirmed. In particular, I hope you will focus on
management issues, such as the high vacancy rate at FEMA.
Based on your background and experience, I believe you are
highly qualified to join Mr. Fugate, pending his confirmation,
in tackling these issues and supporting FEMA's mission. As I
said to Mr. Fugate during his confirmation hearing, I would
encourage you to reach out to all the various stakeholders and
to engage their perspectives and to be a strong advocate for
ensuring that FEMA has the resources it needs.
To follow up on the Chairman's questions about the recent
outbreak of H1N1 influenza, as the Senator from Hawaii, a
geographically remote part of the United States, I have a
unique perspective on threats such as H1N1 flu. Hawaii faces
distinct challenges in preparing for a possible pandemic flu
outbreak. For example, positioning equipment may be more
difficult because everything has to arrive in Hawaii by air or
sea cargo, and Hawaii cannot rely on neighboring States for
assistance in the way that other States can. What is more, an
outbreak on the Mainland can be more easily avoided in Hawaii.
How would you address the distinct challenges present in
emergency preparedness and response to a public health threat
for a geographically remote location like Hawaii?
Mr. Manning. Thank you, Senator. I believe that from my
experience, coming from a State, the primary role of FEMA in a
situation where you have the diverse requirements of a number
of States spread over a large geographic area is in working
closely with those States and addressing the needs, the support
requirements of the governors and the various States. Hawaii
has a number of unique challenges to it, similar to those faced
by Alaska and the Pacific Islands.
I believe that the National Preparedness Directorate has
been working with the University of Hawaii to provide
additional planning, expertise, and training to the people of
Hawaii and working with the States throughout the Western
United States on some of the geographically challenging issues
of time and distance. I believe that working through a
comprehensive preparedness program where providing additional
assistance and training on logistics and things, planning in
regard to staging equipment, materiel, and medicine is
something that can go a long way toward helping in that sort of
a situation, and if confirmed, I would look forward to working
very closely with the people of Hawaii and any of the other
areas throughout the West that have the long time and distance
requirements to deal with in logistics planning and training
endeavors.
Senator Akaka. Over the past few years, Mr. Manning, State
and local governments have developed emergency response plans
of their own for pandemic influenza outbreaks. We also have a
national strategy for pandemic influenza. These plans'
effectiveness certainly will be reviewed in light of the
current H1N1 outbreak.
What do you believe needs to be done to review State and
local emergency preparedness plans? And what role do you
believe FEMA should play in such a review?
Mr. Manning. Senator, I believe that there has been an
incredible amount of work done toward planning for a pandemic
influenza in the past number of years, and I believe we are
more well prepared for this than we have been for any foreseen
eventuality maybe in the past many years.
I believe firmly in accountability and measurement of
standards, in working with States and local governments to
ensure that their planning efforts are adequate and work with
their neighboring communities and neighboring States.
I believe my experience in that regard through a number of
different initiatives will provide me the assistance I need to
be able to ensure that we do that in the most appropriate,
effective, and efficient manner possible.
I believe that capturing the actions, the after-action
reviews of actual disasters as well as exercise, is the most
effective way to measure whether a plan works or not. I think
that having a plan is a very important first step, but
understanding and using that plan is the most important step.
And it is in this measurement that we will know whether our
communities are adequately prepared.
Senator Akaka. Mr. Chairman, may I follow up here. I have a
follow-up request for you. I understand that the Pacific area
office has struggled to find a qualified candidate to lead the
office, and the regional office has been covering for the
position in the interim. And so I would ask for your commitment
to look into this and see what you can do to help recruit a
qualified person to fill that position. Thank you very much,
Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Lieberman. Thank you, Senator Akaka.
I just have one more question, Mr. Manning, about the
National Exercise Program, and as you know this does not have
to do with personal fitness, but with the preparedness
exercises that are done in testing roles and responsibilities,
capabilities, and plans.
The Post-Katrina Act gave FEMA the authority to administer
the National Exercise Program, but it seems to me and many
others that there remains a great deal of work to be done on
the program. Obviously, one of the key purposes is to identify
areas of weakness so that we can learn from them in these
exercises and improve on performance.
The Department's recent Federal Preparedness Report noted
that the evaluation and improvement phase of the preparedness
cycle is the least mature, and I must say, recent exercises
bear this out.
It has been a year and a half after the TOPOFF 4 exercise,
and we still have not seen an after action report. So none of
the Federal, State, and local participants are able to learn
from the exercise, which obviously weakens the effectiveness of
the exercise and impairs our ability to be prepared.
I wanted to ask you if you are aware of this and what you
intend to do, if confirmed, to expedite the after action and
correction action process?
Mr. Manning. Yes, Mr. Chairman. I have been briefed on that
particular issue, and as a State Director and a neighbor to one
of the venues of TOPOFF, I am familiar with the report.
I believe that the evaluation and improvement portion of
the cycle is the most important, that it is only through
evaluation of real-world events and exercises that we can
improve our response. And that is ultimately why we are here.
I understand the concerns of the community in drafting
those reports. However, we need to get a quick answer. And if
confirmed, I will work toward getting, at the very least, a
quick answer immediately following an exercise while a more in-
depth report is developed.
Chairman Lieberman. Good. Thank you very much for your
testimony, for your willingness to serve. You will be a great
combination with Mr. Fugate, whom we heard last week and hope
to have confirmed quickly. And I hope to do the same with you.
We are going to--as I said with Mr. Fong--without
objection, keep the record open until 12 noon tomorrow for the
submission of any written questions or statements for the
record. And then it would be my intention, working with Senator
Collins, to see if we can do an off-the-floor, as we call it,
vote on your nomination and get you out to the floor as quickly
as we can. But I thank you and I thank your family. I
congratulate your parents on producing such an admirable son--I
assume the same for your brother. I take your nod to be an
affirmation of that, which we will enter forever into the
congressional record.
Anyway, thank you very much. I look forward to working with
you. The hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:29 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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