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FEMA director: Terrorist act could become turf warBy BILL ADAIR © St. Petersburg Times, published January 10, 2001 WASHINGTON -- James Lee Witt, the outgoing chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, says the government's office to deal with domestic terrorism is in the wrong place. Witt said Tuesday that he was concerned the office is buried deep inside the FBI instead of "at a neutral site" that could be run jointly by the FBI and FEMA. He said the government was adequately prepared for a domestic attack but that he is concerned it will take a long time for the FBI to learn what FEMA has learned in its 20-year history of responding to natural disasters. "I had a big problem with them trying to reinvent everything," he said. At a luncheon with reporters to mark his final days in a job he has held since 1993, Witt also said he's concerned that the current effort is too fragmented. "You've got too many agencies doing the same thing," he said. He acknowledged there had been a "turf battle" but said that Attorney General Janet Reno and the FBI won. The government has been gearing up for a domestic attack since the bombing of the World Trade Center and the Oklahoma City federal building in the mid-1990s, but the effort has been slowed by a lack of coordination among the many agencies that have a role. The General Accounting Office and a panel chaired by Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore have criticized the planning efforts, saying the agencies overlap and that the effort is uncoordinated. The GAO and Gilmore warned that, if there is an incident, it may not be clear who is in charge. The Gilmore commission last month recommended that the government create a new office for combating terrorism that can coordinate efforts by many agencies. But an FBI spokesman said Tuesday that the agency's National Domestic Preparedness Office is handling that task. "The FBI continues to prepare for events of domestic terrorism in partnership with FEMA and other appropriate state, local and federal agencies," said FBI spokesman Steven Berry. Witt, a former emergency management official from Arkansas, took over FEMA in 1993 after it was criticized for its weak response to Hurricane Andrew and other disasters. He has been widely praised for fixing the agency. "I think we've made a difference," Witt said. He launched a program called Project Impact that emphasized preparation for disasters, and he has tried unsuccessfully to reform the government's flood insurance program to end subsidized policies. Flood insurance reform has been unpopular on Capitol Hill, especially with members whose constituents rely on the subsidized policies for their waterfront homes. In other matters Tuesday, Witt also said: He was disappointed that President-elect Bush picked someone with no experience in disaster management to head FEMA: Bush campaign manager Joe Allbaugh. "If he had emergency management experience, it would be a lot easier for him to hit the ground running," said Witt. But he said it appeared that Allbaugh had good managerial experience. Witt is considering running for governor of Arkansas next year. That would allow him to return to his home state to be near his two sons and two grandsons. He plans to write a book about his experiences as FEMA director. He and a ghostwriter have been sending proposals to New York publishers.
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From the Times wire desk
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