SUGGESTED QUESTIONS FOR THOMAS J.

RIDGE

1. Mr. Secretary, what do you see as your greatest challenges at the Department of
Homeland Security, and how are you addressing them?

a. What are you greatest challenges with respect to emergency preparedness and
response?

b. What success have you had in addressing them?

2. Mr. Secretary, you and your staff have relived with us the events of September 11th.

a. Are reforms now in place that would have saved lives on September 11th?

b. What are those reforms?

3. Has DHS developed a methodology for identifying emergency preparedness

requirements!

a. Have threats been identified, capabilities for addressing threats determined and
requirements generated for establishing or gaining access to necessary capabilities?

b. What do emergency responders need to be prepared for - beyond local fires, hazmat
incidents or natural disasters?

4. What is DHS doing to promote what is called a regional approach to emergency

preparedness and response?

a. Has a strategy been developed to encourage states to organize regionally as a

sustainable way to manage emergency response resources? What can DHS do to
foster maximum coverage and adequate redundancy within a state?

b. Is DHS requiring all states to submit statewide mutual assistance plans as a

requirement for receiving homeland security grants?

c. DHS has allocated or awarded over $8 billion to assist and equip our nation's first
responders. How is this money tracked to ensure it furthers a regional approach and
enhances regional capabilities rather than limited parochial interests? Are grants
being structured to reward the pooling of assets across jurisdictional lines?
5. Is integrating the federal government with state governments in a coordinated way, to
bring resources to bear against any given disaster, your single biggest challenge?

a. In addition to a National Response Plan (NRP) and a National Incident Management

System (NIMS), what is being done to address this integration concern?

b. Who is in charge at the federal level during the next terrorist attack - the Department
of Homeland Security; the Justice Department, acting through the FBI; or the
Defense Department, acting through NORTHCOM?

c. Have the appropriate relationships and mechanisms for cooperation and coordination
been established between you and the Attorney General and the Secretary of
Defense?

6. Some states have combined their emergency management agency and homeland security
department into one department (such as Iowa). Other states have two separate
departments (such as Alabama). Are you concerned that a split of emergency
management and homeland security is taking place, which may create an unnecessary
layer of bureaucracy and impede effective command, control and coordination during an
actual disaster, particularly a terrorist incident?

a. Who is in charge at the state and local level - emergency management directors,
homeland security directors, or public health directors? Do they know with whom to
communicate at the federal level?

7. How does Department of Homeland Security balance concern for terrorism versus other
types of threats and hazards?

a. Are we becoming fixated on terrorism and losing focus on natural disasters?

b. Is the "all hazards " approach to emergency management still valid in a post-9/11
world or is a "terrorism-centric " approach now necessary?

8. What national guidelines exist for determining burdensharing between the federal
government and state and local jurisdictions?

a. While the primary responsibility for funding emergency preparedness and public
health rests with state and local jurisdictions, what federal funds are available to
cover the costs of meeting a national standard in response to the national security
threat posed by terrorism?
9. Should Congress accompany authorizations for emergency responder assistance grants
with budget authority for sustaining those grants?

a. Do state and local governments require multiyear funding from the federal
government in order to develop capabilities to meet national standards?

10. What is being done to allow states greater flexibility in using past homeland security
funding?

a. Are you currently able to grant a state a waiver of federal guidelines in order for
states to better allocate resources according to their most urgent needs?

11. What specifically is the Department of Homeland Security doing to institute better
communication capabilities among first responders?

a. Do the Department's new technical specifications for a baseline interoperable

communications system eliminate the need for first responders to have CP AS
(Cellular Priority Access Service)?

12. Have you given consideration to establishing within the Department of Homeland
Security a National Institute for Best Practices in Emergency Preparedness to promote a
universal best practices/ lessons learned knowledge base?

a. Where can first responders currently go for such information?

13. Have you taken a position yet on the recommendation of the American National Standard
Institute to establish a voluntary standard for private-sector emergency preparedness?

a. How important is such a standard, given that 85 percent of the nation's infrastructure
is in the hands of the private sector?

b. Do you agree that the support of the Department of Homeland Security would go a
long way toward insuring the adoption of this standard nationwide?

14. What is the status of the TOPOFF program, the Department of Homeland Security's
comprehensive national program for exercise?

a. What are the most important lessons you've learned from these TOPOFF exercises
about emergency preparedness and response?

b. What's next after TOPOFF 2, which was completed a year ago?

15. Are you looking at expanding the capacity of existing training facilities involved in the
National Domestic Preparedness Consortium?

a. Are any new training facilities for emergency responders required?

16. Why did it take 5 months to fill the vacancy for Director, Office of National Capital
Region Coordination?

a. What was the problem? What constraints did you face in filling this position?

b. What message does it send when there is a vacancy for so long?

17. Has Congress made progress in streamlining the number of committees overseeing the
Department of Homeland Security?

a. Or do 88 committees and subcommittees continue to have jurisdiction over pieces of

your department?