Chet Edwards For Congress

February 27, 2006
Proposed budget cuts hurt TEEX

The Battalion
By Bunmi Ishola | Battalion staff writer

Thirty thousand fewer emergency personnel may be trained at Texas A&M and 97,000 nation-wide each year if a proposed federal budget cut is passed, said U.S. Representative Chet Edwards.

A&M's National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC) is facing a possible $15 million cut for the 2007 fiscal year, decreasing funding from its current $22 million to $7 million.

Edwards is a member of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which is responsible for allocating funds for such programs as NERRTC.

On a local level, 55 staff members would lose their jobs, but the change would also impact local restaurants and hotels, Edwards said. With less people training at A&M yearly, it could be detrimental to the local economy, he said.

NERRTC was established in 1998 and funded by the U.S. Congress to improve the capabilities of emergency responders and local officials to respond to acts of terrorism and natural disasters. It is part of the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) in the Texas A&M University System.

As the founding member of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, NERRTC has delivered training on behalf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for more than 175,000 responders in all 50 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia, said Jason Cook, communications director for TEEX.

TEEX provides training courses ranging from threat and risk assessment to incident management and unified command, Cook said. Emergency personnel across the U.S. are equally prepared for national threats and natural disasters because training is standardized, he said.

Cook said the budget cut is not yet official and that a similar cut was proposed for the 2006 fiscal year. The change did not pass, and the program actually received a $2 million funding increase, he said.

"This is just the first step in the budget appropriation process," Cook said.

Yearly, the administration sends a proposed budget to the government. A budget appropriations committee looks over the proposed budget and suggests possible cuts or additions.

The budget passes between Congress and the president until an agreement is reached. Cook said it can take up to six months before a final budget is agreed upon and implemented.

The fundamental problem national budgeting faces is prioritizing, said David McIntyre, director of the A&M Integrative Center for Homeland Security. There is a short list of programs available for governmental funding, he said.

"I'd put NERRTC on the top of my list," McIntyre said. "(Cutting funds) would be a major mistake. (NERRTC) is really one of the crown jewels."