From: believer@telepath.com Subject: IP: One-Stop Shopping for Anti-Terrorism Aid Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 17:55:09 -0500 To: believer@telepath.com Source: Fox News - AP Reno offers one-stop federal anti-terrorist aid 3.37 p.m. ET (1938 GMT) October 16, 1998 By Michael J. Sniffen, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Janet Reno trumpeted a new FBI office Friday that will offer local police, fire and rescue workers one-stop shopping for federal training and equipment to respond to chemical, biological or nuclear attacks by terrorists. The FBI's new National Domestic Preparedness Office, staffed by officials from a variety of federal agencies, "will assume overall responsibility for coordinating the government's efforts to prepare America's communities for terrorist incidents involving weapons of mass destruction,'' Reno told her weekly news conference. After an attack, "the first few minutes are very critical,'' Reno said. Usually, the first to arrive at the chaotic and dangerous scene are local rescue squads, firefighters and police. "For many victims, what these first responders do in those first few minutes can mean the difference between life and death.'' State and local officials responsible for these efforts have complained in recent years that federal aid — either training or equipment — is hard to find and inadequate and that some federal agencies duplicate the work of others while gaps remain. The new program "is trying to address the issues that first responders have raised and create a two-way street so that we hear from them, that we provide one central place where they can go, knowing that they will get the best information, both from the FBI, Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Public Health Service, and that they will get the latest information with respect to equipment,'' Reno said. Under a new interagency agreement, Justice and the FBI will take over from the Defense Department as the coordinator, funded by $49 million from the Pentagon in the coming fiscal year. The program will train state and local workers, distribute money to buy equipment, set up joint federal-state-local practice exercises and work with state and local officials to draft contingency plans unique to each local situation, Reno said. "State and local governments (will be) a full partner in the planning effort, since they know what they need there at the front line.'' The FBI has been investigating a rising number of suspected biological, chemical or nuclear-radiological incidents — 68 in 1997 and 86 in 1998. But Bob Blitzer, chief of the FBI's domestic terrorism unit, said, "the vast majority of these are hoaxes.'' He said the bureau believed it had averted four or five potential attacks in the last couple years. Many fire department have good hazardous materials units to deal with chemical attacks, and for many years there has been "a pretty robust capability to handle'' nuclear-radiological attacks, Blitzer said. "The real weakness that we have right now is the ability to detect and counter a (biological attack), because it's much more insidious and much more difficult to detect,'' Blitzer added. "There's certainly less protection, particularly on the medical side.'' © 1998 Associated Press. All rights reserved. ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- **************************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address or (un)subscribe ignition-point-digest email@address **************************************************** www.telepath.com/believer ****************************************************