10 



[Mr. Tobey's statement may be found in the appendix.] 

 Chairman Torkildsen. Thank you, Mayor Tobey, for your very 

 succinct testimony, very much to the point. I appreciate it. 

 Ms. Heanue from MEMA, your testimony, please. 



TESTIMONY OF CRISTINE HEANUE, DISASTER RECOVERY 

 MANAGER, MASSACHUSETTS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 

 AGENCY, FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS 



Ms. Heanue. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. I, too, thank you for 

 the invitation and opportunity to testify before you today. 



I am here representing the Massachusetts Emergency Manage- 

 ment Agency to seek your Subcommittee's support for the Common- 

 wealth's request to the Small Business Administration for an Eco- 

 nomic Injury Disaster Declaration on behalf Massachusetts fisher- 

 men in the counties of Essex, Bristol, and Barnstable. 



The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency conducted a 

 survey of businesses in the above-mentioned counties, the results 

 of which concluded that numerous businesses, particularly the fish- 

 ing industry, suffered severe economic losses and thus require Fed- 

 eral financial assistance. 



Often disaster victims turn to the Federal Government seeking 

 grants to assist in their recovery efforts. The fishing communities 

 of Essex, Bristol, and Barnstable Counties seek only loans provided 

 by the Small Business Administration. 



To address the needs of the Massachusetts ground fishermen, the 

 Commonwealth of Massachusetts first sought Federal assistance 

 through the Federal Emergency Management Agency in a request 

 dated March 29, 1995. Said request sought assistance in the form 

 of a major disaster declaration for the impacted counties. The re- 

 quest was denied by FEMA, appealed by the Governor, and denied 

 yet again. 



It is interesting to note, however, that in the letter to Governor 

 Weld dated December 8, 1995, the FEMA Director James Lee Witt 

 stated that, "The information provided in your appeal supported 

 the logic that a combination of natural factors, including predation, 

 competition, and general warming trend in water temperature ag- 

 gregated the decline of groundfish stocks." He went on to say, "We 

 do not dispute that these natural factors have aggravated poor fish- 

 ing conditions." 



On April 30, 1996, on behalf of the Massachusetts fishermen, the 

 Commonwealth again requested assistance, this time from the 

 Small Business Administration; specifically, an Economic Injury 

 Disaster Declaration. Said request was denied, in part based on the 

 fact that, according to SBA Administrator Philip Lader, our request 

 did not support this particular situation being characterized a dis- 

 aster within the statutory definition of such. 



In our opinion, ample supporting information has previously 

 been provided to validate the position that this disaster is, in fact, 

 a natural disaster. We have similarly concluded that this disaster 

 is, in fact, a sudden natural disaster. 



Clearly, tornadoes or earthquakes are all deemed to be sudden 

 disasters, but so too are hurricanes and floods. They are consist- 

 ently referred to as sudden events when, in fact, they take weeks 

 and even months to develop. A hurricane may spend weeks becom- 



