Tom Harkin - U.S. Seante
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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.


Paid for and authorized by Citizens for Harkin