http://www.hlswatch.com/2006/03/08/executive-order-establishes-faith-based-office-at-dhs/ News and analysis of critical issues in homeland security today. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:48:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 http://www.hlswatch.com/2006/03/08/executive-order-establishes-faith-based-office-at-dhs/comment-page-1/#comment-377 William R. Cumming Thu, 09 Mar 2006 16:36:58 +0000 http://www.hlswatch.com/?p=469#comment-377 DHS/FEMA ( I use this terminology since technically there is no FEMA as of March 2, 2003) adminster the Emergency Food and Shelter Program entirely through faith based organizations (See Stewart B. Mckinney Act). This is done over formal objections of a past Department of Justice. None-the-less there are important faith based NGO's and this needs to be looked at from a preparedness and response perspective. Only the ARC is specifically mentioned in the Robert T. Stafford Act in part because of its federal charter (1904). Because of the way our federal system is run, an office of Native American affairs should be established in DHS. Not only do they fight wildland fires but they could be a valuable asset deployable in disasters with the right training and support. The Stafford Act treats the tribes as local governments which is out of whack with other statutory treatments. There are important national response and recovery issues that could be addressed if the tribes were focused upon as a key emergency response and recovery component. DHS/FEMA ( I use this terminology since technically there is no FEMA as of March 2, 2003) adminster the Emergency Food and Shelter Program entirely through faith based organizations (See Stewart B. Mckinney Act). This is done over formal objections of a past Department of Justice.
None-the-less there are important faith based NGO’s and this needs to be looked at from a preparedness and response perspective. Only the ARC is specifically mentioned in the Robert T. Stafford Act in part because of its federal charter (1904).
Because of the way our federal system is run, an office of Native American affairs should be established in DHS. Not only do they fight wildland fires but they could be a valuable asset deployable in disasters with the right training and support. The Stafford Act treats the tribes as local governments which is out of whack with other statutory treatments. There are important national response and recovery issues that could be addressed if the tribes were focused upon as a key emergency response and recovery component.

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