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IOWA RECEIVES OVER $2.4 MILLION FOR HOMELAND SECURITY PREPAREDNESS
11/14/2005
WASHINGTON, D.C. –
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today announced that Iowa received over $2.4
million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Emergency
Management Performance Grants (EMPG) program. The funding will help
Iowa support its state and local emergency management and improve its
mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery capabilities. Harkin is
senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“We are only as strong as
the collection of our first responders. It is critical that Iowa
receives the support necessary to be prepared to prevent violence,
whether it is from a terrorist attack or some other type of crime,”
said Harkin. “These funds will help many cash strapped state and local
governments, including those in Iowa, continue to equip emergency
personnel with the necessary funding, equipment, and training to be
able to do their jobs.”
The EMPG Program
provides states the flexibility to allocate funds according to risk
vulnerabilities and to address the most urgent state and local needs in
disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. The
effectiveness of state and local responder organizations is critical to
the success of all aspects of the Homeland Security mission, but
especially to disaster response operations. Local emergency managers
plan, train, exercise and provide the facilities needed to coordinate
all emergency services in response to disasters of all kinds. They also
assume the leading the role in mitigation program activities, those
designed to reduce the vulnerability of communities to all-hazards.