durden the good work that the united way has been doing in this area. in addition we cultivated, and strengthen partnerships from such diverse groups as hope nationwide, the national association of colored people, the legal services corporation and the buddhist foundations. in addition we were close to the national association judicial interpreters, translators, the national rich will translation center, national council later, national disability rights work and save the children, and also worked with groups such as u.s. him in society. seeing that my time is short i will move on to say that this red cross is also in moral two in continuing to improve our disaster response and cost-effective way, the economic turndown in the post magnified by disasters at the same time that the donations to charitable organizations are decreasing. like many nonprofits that depend on the generosity of donors, we are faced with financial challenges. the major disasters of 2008 such as the wildfires in california, flooding in the midwest and hurricanes and gustav and i'd,

durden the good work united way has been doing in this area. in addition we cultivate its strength in partnerships with such diverse groups as help nationwide to national association of colored people to the legal services corporation in the buddhist foundation and an additional we've worked closely with national association interpreters, translators to national virtual translation center, national council of la raza, national disability rights network and save the children. we've also worked with pat rights groups such as u.s. humane society. seeing my time is short i will move on to say that the red cross is also involved and continuing to improve

durden? >> thank you, chairman landrieu. it's an honor and privilege to have the opportunity to speak today on behalf of the united way and the 211 system across america. as you are aware 211 is an information referral line that connects people to existing community resources like rent and mortgage assistance as well as food and utility assistance. however, to 11 please a vital role in disaster response and recovery. trained specialists assist callers in times of natural disaster in crisis providing real-time information on shelter locations, food and water distribution sites and important evacuation routes. 211 disseminates accurate information about the prices and relieves the very overworked negative 11 dispatchers also taking those non-emergency calls. as you are aware, to 11 was a bright spot and a very difficult time in our state and responding to the 2005 hurricanes katrina and rita. prior to the land all of katrina, the 211 and new orleans had to close. united way, united we of northeast louisiana and monroe began ta

janet durden joins us on behalf a community in northeast louisiana which i'm very proud my husband's home town and in katrina they did a phenomenal job as the offices dropped off of their ability in south louisiana, north laws f louisiana picked up as i'm sure the same thing happened in texas and in alabama and mississippi and florida as these storms come in, the northern part of the state picks up a great amount of help and we want to hear about the increased affect tivity of the 2-1-1 operation, which is sort of the go to operation. they don't call 9-11, they call 2-1-1 and we want to help americans understand that. so i'd like to ask mr. few gate, good to see you senator. i would like to ask mr. fugate to begin. let me ask senator burriss, i know you're just coming in and welcome. do you want to make any brief opening statement or should we go right to the panel? thank you. thank you, senator. we are happy to have craig fugate with us who is the new administrator from fema who i supported and many members of the senate, you are greatly experienced. we thank you for the work you've

janet durden joining us of a community of northeast louisiana. my husband's home town and with katrina they did the good job as the office is dropped off, north louisiana picked up as i am sure what happened in texas, alabama, mississippi, f lorida the northern part of the state picks up a great amount of help and we want to hear about the increased activity of the 211 operation which is they go to operation when people need help and assistance they do not call 911 come with a call 211 and we want americans to understand that. the like to ask mr. fugate good to see you, senator. out by to ask mr. fugate to begin the may ask senator burr i know you were just coming in, welcome, do want to make and a brief opening statement or should we go right to the panel? thank you. we're happy to have craig 85 with us the new administrator from fema and man who i gave my whole hearted support they give for the work to have done but we look forward to hearing from your administrator 35 because we have made progress there is a tremendous amount of work that has

janet durden joins us on behalf of a committee in northeast louisiana which i am very proud. my husband's hometown and in katrina, they did a phenomenal job through their 211 as the office is dropped off of their ability in south louisiana, north louisiana picked up as i am sure the same thing happened in texas and in alabama and mississippi and florida is the storms come in, the northern part of the state picks up the great amount of help. we want to hear about the increased activity of the 211 operation, which is sort of the go-to the operation when people need help and assistance. they don't call 911, they call 211 and we want to help americans understand that. with that opening statement i would like ask mr. fugate-mag good to see a senator. i would like to ask mr. fugate, if you can let me ask senator burris, i know you are just coming in and welcome. do you want to make any brief opening statements or should we go right to the panel? thank you, thank you senator. we are happy to have craig fugate with us who is the new administrative from the muck, and man that i suppor

durden, can you comment about the bill we're moving through congress and, again, just hit the two or three most important parts of that legislation are for supporting a national network, basically of volunteers in large measure. it's led by staff but leveraged by volunteers that would provide the, not only the operations, but the training necessary to provide that back-up communications so essential in disaster really of any size, for a small disaster and as mr. fugate said, if it's your roof that's gone, it's not a small problem, you know, for you. but tell us again about the specifics of what you see benefit anything that legislation. >> the calling for 211 act, senator, is critical, and i think the first point is that only 90 percent of our -- 80 percent of our country has access to 211. there are 23 states in america that have 100 percent coverage as we are in louisiana -- 25 counting, including puerto rico. i think there's a map that shows that. >> if the map could be put up there. so the full coverage -- >> the full coverage is in green, and the 80 percent is dark blue. >> and

janet durden, president of louisianan united way said she served as coordinating council person for louisiana 211 but this is a nationwide emergency response system that i think can be very helpful and all of the issues we've talked about this morning. so, mr. foresman if you will begin, thank you. >> [inaudible] >> can you pull the microphone a little bit closer? there you go. >> normally my booming voice works wonders. senator landrieu, thank you for the average bennati to be with you and talk about the work of the ready communities partnership. we've provided written testimony to respectfully requested it be included in the record. the community's partnership is an initiative of the corporate crisis response officers association that seeks to identify and implement best practices in public and private sector disaster response and recovery efforts. this initiative is grassroots developed by a coalition of public and private sector leaders who recognize better prepare best for emergencies and disasters couldn't depend on actions of federal government or in fact government alone. this initiat

janet durden, president of northeast louisiana united way. she served as a coordinating councilperson for louisiana 211 but this is a nationwide emergency response system that i think can be very, very helpful in all of the issues that we've talked about this morning. so mr. forceman, if you'll begin. thank you. >> senator, thank you very much for the invitation to be here. >> can you pull the mic a little bit closer. there you go. >> normally, my booming voice works wonders. senator landrieu, thank you for the opportunity to be with you this afternoon and to talk about the important work of the ready community's partnership. we provided written testimony and respectfully request that it be included in the record. it seeks to identify and implement best practices that help support improvements in public and private sector disaster response and recovery efforts. this initiative has grassroots. developed by a coalition of public and private sector leaders who recognize that better preparedness for emergencys and disasters could not solely depen