The Stafford Act provides the authority to the federal government to offer assistance to the States during major emergencies and crises (Farber, Daniel & Jim 5). The Act governs the country’s response to disasters, and outlines the level of response that the government should take. That is by dividing the costs among the local, federal and states governments. Additionally, the government deals with the economic losses that result from a disaster. The Act articulates the need for the government to come up with a budget and be prepared for any disaster (Farber, Daniel & Jim 13). Proper mechanisms are also supposed to be initiated to ensure that all the people who suffer from the disaster receive the required attention. They are also supposed to prepare for the intergovernmental coordination during the time of crises. The funds during the disaster are supposed to be appropriated by the Congress. That means that the funds are supposed to be available during the major disasters, with an aim of ensuring that there is a recovery of the whole community. Brief History of the Act The frequent disasters all over America necessitated the passage of the Stafford Act. The common disasters included floods and hurricanes which left the community in a bad situation. Some of the families lost them property and loved ones (Farber, Daniel & Jim 46). Hence, Robert saw that mitigation measures need to be put in place to give assistance to the communities affected. The Stafford Act was not intended to supersede the state relief program. It was a way of ensuring that the communities can get an orderly continuous assistance from the state. Thus, the government would assist the local community only in disasters. This ensured that the community received support from the federal government maximally. Hurricane Katrina The Stafford Act was of great help in the Hurricane Katrina disaster. This is because the Act stipulates how the crises should be handled to assist the members of the community. However, Craig Fugate an administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said that the communities cannot fully rely on Robert Stafford’s act. He said that the local and the federal government should have plans to partner with the agency. A policy formulation and review team has been set to reform the Act at the federal level. The Act is reformed because of the inadequate and the slow response. The failure of the Act during the Hurricane Katrina disaster led to the decision to reform the Act for betterment of the community in dealing with the disasters (Farber, Daniel & Jim 26). The bureaucratic and the red tape procedures of the Act called for a reform. There is needed to come up with new ways of dealing with situations hence the need for a reform. Question 2
The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 is an immediate source of recovery funds and relief for communities, families and individuals. The Act includes providing individuals with assistance in cases such as crisis counseling, temporary housing and disaster management issues such as unemployment. It also aims at providing funds to the members of the communities for issues such as emergency protective measures, repair and replacement of property after a disaster (Mazmanian & Blanco 52). The appropriations bill authorized release of $60 billion for disaster management. This was done by calculating the averages of the disaster relieve spending for the past ten years. This was done excluding the lowest and the highest spending on disaster management. This gives a fixed and a flexible way of providing funds for public assistance. The legislation was passed by the President on January 29, 2013 to reduce the risks associated with large scale storms and floods. This Act was applicable during the Hurricane Sandy a catastrophic which led to a drastic decline in the state of the economy. The catastrophic led to great loss of lives, damage of businesses, private residences and infrastructure. Additionally, the storm led to damage of the coastline and degradation of the coastal features. This led to increased risks of future storms and climate change (Mazmanian & Blanco 32). The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 was supposed to come in to rebuild the economy and strengthen the community. The Act is also supported to plan on how to rebuild the infrastructure and bring back the community into its economic state. The Act focuses on the total wellbeing of human beings. Recently, President Obama announced that $1 billion funds were released to help in natural disasters such as Ebola. The House of Representatives passed a short- term bill on December 11, 2014 to deal with the Ebola crises. The continuing resolution plan was to solve the Ebola crisis which is part of the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 (Mazmanian & Blanco 14). Question 3 The USA Patriot Act aims at strengthening Americans by providing the required tools in obstructing terrorism. Its main purpose is to prevent terrorists’ acts in America and all over the world to ensure that the terrorists are punished accordingly. The Act also comes up with measures to detect, prevent and prosecute any effort to finance terrorists’ activities (Abele 21).The Act also strengthens measures to prevent the United States financial system for personal gain which comes from corrupt foreign officials. Additionally, the Act facilities the deportation of stolen items to the countries to whom the items belong. It also allows the federal government to be in position to access all the business records during the terrorism cases. USA Patriotic Act also facilitates information sharing in different government agencies during the terrorism cases (Abele 23). The terrorists also have highly digitized weapons, warranting the need to come up with new technologies to counter their activities. The counter offensive mechanism focuses on both physical and online surveillance. The Act supports the security department to come up with new technologies so that they will be able to deal with all the terrorists’ activities. The Act also facilitates the monitoring of the hackers of the computers to help in combating the terrorist activities. Some of the terrorist's groups that the United States fights with include ISIS. They have strategic plans in controlling dams and oil fields. The Patriot Act comes in to prevent the movement of funds outside the United States of America. However, this Act seems ineffective because of the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The group is well armed with weapons of high quality. This makes it easy for them to transfer cash into their accounts from Unites States of America. The group has been a great threat to the American’s economy. History The USA Patriot Act was enacted by President George Bush in 2001. The law was mainly set to increase the law enforcement agencies to be in the position to search records such as financial, medical and e-mail communication records. The Act was supported by both Democrats and republicans (Abele 8). In conclusion, to respond to this crisis, the USA Patriot Act need to come up with advanced weapons and improve its technology so that they can be in the position to combat the terrorists’ activities. Improvement of technology is also highly recommended to ensure that they can deal with the terrorist's activities.
Abele, Robert P. A User's Guide to the USA Patriot Act and Beyond. New York: Lanham Press of America, 2005. Print.
Farber, Daniel A, and Jim Chen. Disasters and the Law: Katrina and Beyond. New York: Aspen Publishers, 2006. Print.
Mazmanian, D A, and H Blanco. Elgar Companion to Sustainable Cities: Strategies, Methods and Outlook. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014. Print.