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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (484943)	11/1/2003 9:31:34 AM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Bush to visit state amid controversy By Michael Doyle and Laura Mecoy -- Bee Staff Writers Published 2:15 a.m. PST Saturday, November 1, 2003 WASHINGTON -- As California's biggest fire continued to burn Friday, President Bush announced plans to visit Southern California next week as controversy grows about his administration's handling of the state's vulnerability to catastrophe. Though details of Bush's trip aren't final, this visit will be far different in tone from his last one three weeks ago. Then, he was scooping up money for his re-election campaign and conducting a choreographed meeting with Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, the focus will be the most destructive wildfires in state history. "The president (will) view the fire damage and receive an update on our efforts to assist the people of California," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Friday from Crawford, Texas. Bush's decision to see the California devastation came a day after Schwarzenegger completed his trip to Washington, where the search for federal fire relief topped the agenda. State officials said they hope Schwarzenegger succeeds where they failed to gain federal attention -- and help -- in the months preceding the fires. Specifically, the California officials cite their April 16 request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance in removing damaged trees on 416,000 acres in Southern California. Many of the beetle-weakened trees had died and turned tinder-dry. FEMA denied California's request Oct. 24, prompting questions now about whether the aid might have made a difference. "I have to say, I believe it would have," said Dallas Jones, director of the California Office of Emergency Services. Asked about the FEMA decision Friday, Schwarzenegger said: "I don't think it's time now to point fingers at anybody. When this is over, there will be enough fingers pointed." Gov. Gray Davis, who appeared with Schwarzenegger at a news conference at a FEMA assistance center in Claremont, also declined to assign blame but said the request is still valid. "There is still time to get money out here to mitigate these trees," he said. "Whatever happened in the past happened. Let's go forward." The mood was less conciliatory on Capitol Hill, where California lawmakers from both parties grumbled not just about FEMA's rejection but also about the six months the agency took to notify the state. "We need to take a very hard look at why these decisions were made," said David Sandretti, spokesman for Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. In April, urged by forestry officials and the state Office of Emergency Services, Davis asked for federal help in removing trees damaged by drought and bark beetles. Davis specifically requested that FEMA help Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties, saying they faced emergency conditions. In his four-page request, Davis estimated the state needed $430 million, with $300 million of it expected to come from the Forest Service. Davis' request amounted to about a fifth of the entire Forest Service wildland fire management budget for all 50 states. Republican and Democratic members of the California congressional delegation followed up a week later with their own letter. The lawmakers said that the forests were "a tinderbox of such magnitude that the loss of life and resources would be incomprehensible should fire break out." "We've been talking about this issue and wanting to get the administration to act on the state's request," Sandretti said. "Unfortunately, this was not acted upon by the administration." FEMA officials said Friday that they provided help to the state once the fires began. Asked why the state's earlier request was denied, a spokeswoman referred to the two-page rejection letter sent a week ago, which said that "after a careful review of the information ... and the resources already committed to the state, it has been determined that federal assistance through FEMA is not warranted." In the letter, Michael Brown, undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said California could appeal the rejection. Brown met one-on-one with Schwarzenegger in Washington on Wednesday. Brown said in the letter that some of the specific FEMA grant money Davis requested should more appropriately come from other agencies, such as the Department of Agriculture. Thirty-two House members have sponsored legislation introduced this week to provide $500 million in federal emergency funds for California. The money would be provided through FEMA. Unlike the money sought in April, this money would aid victims rather than be used for prevention. Federal and state forestry experts said that quick fixes are hard to come by because Southern California's forest problems developed over decades. "This problem has been 100 years in the making," said Jack Blackwell, regional forester for the U.S. Forest Service. "And it's going to take many years to get it corrected."