HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

40

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING HAWAII'S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO SEEK FEDERAL GRANTS FROM THE UNITED sTATES OFFICE FOR DOMESTIC PREPAREDNESS FOR THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.

 

WHEREAS, the Office for Domestic Preparedness is a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security's Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness, which is the federal government's lead agency responsible for preparing the nation against terrorism by assisting states, local and tribal jurisdictions, and regional authorities as they prevent, deter, and respond to terrorist acts; and

WHEREAS, the Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness provides a broad array of assistance to America's first responders through funding, coordinated training, exercises, equipment acquisition, and technical assistance; and

WHEREAS, the goal of the federal Office of Domestic Preparedness grant program is to provide funding to enhance the capacity of state and local jurisdictions to prevent, respond to, and recover from incidents of terrorism involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive weapons and cyber attacks; and

WHEREAS, the Office of Domestic Preparedness grant programs were initiated in 1998, and currently provide funds to all fifty states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands; and

WHEREAS, the State Department of Defense has sought an appropriation of $45,000,000 in the Regular Session of 2006 for:

(1) An assessment of the threat of terrorist incidents;

(2) The development of plans to deal with terrorist incidents;

(3) Training and exercises to implement such plans; and

(4) The procurement of equipment, materials, and supplies essential to meet the potential threats of conventional, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons;

and

WHEREAS, Hawaii is particularly vulnerable to attack with weapons of mass destruction as a geographically isolated island state; and

WHEREAS, the State Department of Defense has the responsibility to protect the State from terrorist incidents; and

WHEREAS, any federal grants to the State Department of Defense to provide homeland security would immensely help the State's civil defense plans; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, that Hawaii's Congressional Delegation is requested to seek federal grants from the United States Office for Domestic Preparedness to support the State Department of Defense; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to United States Senator Daniel K. Inouye, United States Senator Daniel K. Akaka, United States Representative Neil Abercrombie, United States Representative Ed Case, the Governor, and the State Adjutant General.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Homeland Security Funding