“There are many ways that preparedness directly affects response - though few are as important as planning. The draft NRF states that operational planners from multiple agencies have been assigned to the IMPT - an interagency group managed by the Department's Director of Operations Coordination - to develop strategic guidance and plans for the 15 National Planning Scenarios. The draft NRF assigns FEMA the responsibility to conduct operational planning to support these strategic plans. This construct raises important issues that the Department must clarify in the final NRF: what is FEMA's role with respect to the strategic guidance and plans being developed by the IMPT, and how does the draft NRF ensure that those strategic plans will be consistent with FEMA's operational plans? Perhaps more importantly, how does this construct ensure that the Department does not repeat the same mistakes it made prior to Hurricane Katrina when it split preparedness from response?” (Lieberman, Letter to DHS Secretary Chertoff, October 22, 2007)