Critical Releases in Homeland Security: February 25, 2009

Recent debate among U.S. lawmakers has centered a whether FEMA should remain a part of DHS or become its own agency. "In the past few months, as the federal government prepared for the transition to a new administration, others also began to weigh in on whether FEMA should be a part of DHS or whether it should be pulled out and made a stand-alone agency. The question is not new. FEMA's inclusion in DHS has been the subject of intense debate in Congress, including during consideration of both the legislation that created the department, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296), and the legislation passed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006, (P.L. 109-295, Title VI-National Emergency Management, of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2007, hereinafter Post-Katrina Reform Act). In both instances, after much consideration and debate, Congress voted to include FEMA in DHS. In an effort to help focus and inform the current debate, we present in this white paper some of the important elements that should be considered when deciding FEMA's placement in the federal government."

"The National Infrastructure Protection Plan provides the unifying structure for the integration of a wide range of efforts for the enhanced protection and resiliency of the nation's critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) into a single national program. The overarching goal of the NIPP is to build a safer, more secure, and more resilient America by preventing, deterring, neutralizing, or mitigating the effects of deliberate efforts by terrorists to destroy, incapacitate, or exploit elements of our nation's CIKR and to strengthen national preparedness, timely response, and rapid recovery of CIKR in the event of an attack, natural disaster, or other emergency. The 2009 NIPP replaces the 2006 version and reflects changes and updates to program elements and concepts. It captures the evolution and maturation of the processes and programs first outlined in 2006 without changing the underlying policies. The revised NIPP integrates the concepts of resiliency and protection, and broadens the focus of NIPP-related programs and activities to an all-hazards environment."

The U.S. Government Counterinsurgency (COIN) Guide is complementary to the doctrine in the Army/Marine Corps COIN Field Manual and provides a basic COIN overview for civilian policy makers. "This Guide, the first of its kind in almost half a century, distills the best of contemporary thought, historical knowledge, and hard-won practice. It is the best kind of doctrinal work: intellectually rigorous, yet practical." The State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs developed this interagency counterinsurgency guide in conjunction with the Department of Defense, U.S. Agency for International Development, Department of Justice, Department of the Treasury, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Agriculture, Department of Transportation, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence.