Then came the explosion. A car bomb detonated on the fairgrounds, killing several people, wounding a great many more, and collapsing a parking garage. Meanwhile, in the densely populated region around Newark, New Jersey, a trickle of patients coming into hospital emergency rooms with flu-like symptoms soon became a flood of thousands. Responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle in a nearby parking lot, investigators discovered a sport utility vehicle with a hose nozzle sticking out of a rear window. It was a commercial sprayer that presumably had been used to disperse a biological agent.
Fortunately, there was no real biological agent in New Jersey. Nor was there a real chemical situation in Connecticut. The car bomb was a controlled explosion. The dead, wounded, and sick were actors.
What was real was the importance of this massive exercise to test federal, state, and local emergency response capabilities to their limits. It's called TOPOFF 3 – TOPOFF for Top Officials, 3 because this is the third (and largest) comprehensive terrorism response exercise conducted to date by the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies. By the time the week-long exercise ends, more than 10,000 emergency personnel and volunteer "victims" will have participated. The planning, coordination and execution of more than 275 agencies at all levels of government will be subject to many twists and turns in constantly changing scenarios. In addition, two international partners, the United Kingdom and Canada, will conduct simultaneous, related exercises.
I attended Day 1 of TOPOFF 3 on Monday in New London. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, I have a special responsibility to help ensure that our nation improves its capacity to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks.
In many ways, what I saw was very encouraging. Although TOPOFF 3 is a gaming exercise, it is no game to those dedicated first responders and emergency officials from all levels of government, who have taken on the urgent responsibility of terrorism prevention and response. While many of the first responders, especially at the local level, are volunteers, their professionalism is clear.
At a Day 1 news conference, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff noted that the evolving scenarios of TOPOFF 3 are designed to push our emergency-response systems to failure. It is only by exposing our weaknesses and vulnerabilities that we can know where best to direct our homeland security resources. It will be several months before a comprehensive assessment of TOPOFF 3 will be complete. However, one situation arose in New London that lies at the heart of one of my greatest concerns about our homeland security efforts: directing adequate resources to our small cities and rural regions; and helping our first responders obtain the training and equipment they need.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, communications problems delayed the transport of many "victims" to local hospitals. The anticipated swamping of hospitals by the sick and injured never occurred because first responders on the scene had difficulty organizing and deploying emergency transport for a small city surrounded by small towns. In a real-world situation, this could have devastating consequences.
The communications gap was made evident by the fact that many first responders at the waterfront festival had to carry as many as three different radios in order to communicate with all of their counterparts across the emergency-response community. One of the most sobering lessons from Ground Zero on September 11th, 2001, was the extent to which incompatible and ineffective communications hampered evacuation and rescue efforts.
I attended TOPOFF 3 with Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on my Committee. Senator Lieberman was my valued ally last year in our successful bipartisan effort to enact the intelligence reform recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. We have one again teamed up to ensure that our state and local homeland security partners get the resources they need.
The Administration's proposed Homeland Security budget for the 2006 fiscal year of $41.1 billion represents a 7 percent increase, and recognizes that we have yet to address many threats and vulnerabilities to our homeland security. I applaud many of the initiatives in this budget, such as directing more resources to develop and deploy technology that can detect chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, and to enhance Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
At the same time, however, I find several provisions to be troubling. The proposed across-the-board cut of $1.7 billion, some 38 percent, in first-responder programs will deny those on the front lines in the war on terrorism the equipment and training they need to meet the challenge. Coming from a state with three international cargo ports, I am very aware of the importance of the maritime industry to our nation's economy and security, and I am very concerned that the proposed budget also lacks a separate line item for Port Security Grants. Two weeks ago, Senator Lieberman and I offered an amendment to the budget to restore $705 million to first responder programs and to guarantee $150 million for port security. I am pleased that the full Senate strongly endorsed our amendment. I believe that the lessons we already have learned from TOPOFF 3 strengthen our case.
As a senator, it has been my privilege to meet often with first responders throughout Maine and across the country. I am always struck by the fact that most of these courageous and dedicated men and women went into law enforcement, firefighting, or emergency medical services never suspecting that one day they would find themselves on the front lines against terrorism. They are committed to carrying out this new and dangerous duty. We must match their commitment with the resources that homeland security requires.
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