Daniel Akaka: “I am concerned that the disaster needs of the Pacific are not being adequately addressed by the Federal Emergency…”

“I am concerned that the disaster needs of the Pacific are not being adequately addressed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA]. In particular, I am concerned that FEMA lacks adequate staffing for its Pacific Area Office, located in Honolulu, to address fully this mitigation, training, and emergency response needs of this large and diverse area. As the Senator from Missouri knows, FEMA's Region IX, based in San Francisco, is currently responsible for administering emergency management assistance programs and responding to disasters throughout the Pacific--including American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, the Federated State of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands--as well as in California, Arizona, and Nevada. It is by far the largest of FEMA's regions, covering an area greater in size than the U.S. mainland. But the current grouping of Hawaii and the Pacific Islands within Region IX results in the Pacific islands receiving less than adequate attention. The Pacific insular states are seven different jurisdictions that are culturally, economically, and politically distinct from mainland states. The estimated 110 FEMA employees who staff the San Francisco office are too remote, both geographically and culturally, to provide the full range of disaster-related assistance to the unique Pacific insular states.”