mrs. 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

mrs. 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

mrs. 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

mrs. 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