"In Oklahoma, I'm lucky to have a boss, Governor Brad Henry, who realizes emergency management is a customer service business. More importantly, he understands that the customers we serve are at the local level, not in Washington. Following disaster events, he expects me to brief him on what assistance is being provided to the victims immediately and what assistance we're working to provide in the future. The Governor does not expect me to provide anything which is not available under the law, but he does expect me to extract the full potential of the law to the victim's advantage. And, he expects the same level of customer service to be provided by the federal government, in the support of our state. Unfortunately, our recent dealings with FEMA, in response to disasters our state has experienced over the last 18 months, has done little to ensure customer service is a concern, or that we are even considered a customer. Since December 2005, Oklahoma has experienced wildfires, ice storms, tornadoes and floods which have resulted in six major disaster declarations, one emergency declaration, and 26 fire management assistance grants. One might say that this level of activity is proof that the "new" FEMA is working diligently to make sure assistance is being provided as quickly as possibly, but I would offer that each request has been viewed from a federal perspective of, "what is the minimum we have to provide, as opposed to, what is the need". Never before have I entered into so many discussions regarding the interpretation of the law or the standard of assessment. I've even had a FEMA attorney question the authority my Lieutenant Governor has to make a request for the state, in the Governor's absence. Through this all, the Governor has asked me some very simple questions, like: "Is FEMA this unresponsive because they re under DHS?; Why does it take two weeks to make a decision on my request?; Why does the FEMA Region support our request and FEMA Headquarters doesn't?; or even, Why won't they return my phone calls? . Regretfully, I have but one answer to each of his questions, "I don't know, sir. But, I do know this is not the way it's supposed to be". (Ashwood, Testimony... on "FEMA Preparedness in 2007, 2007, 3). "In conclusion, I'd like to summarize the current philosophical differences between my state and FEMA with a brief illustration. In my operations center a sign, defining what is expected of each employee, has hung on the wall for many years. It simply says, "If it's legal, moral and ethical... Just do it!" And while I realize much of this creed is subjective, by nature, it does stress the reason we are all employed... to provide a service to our citizens during their time of need. With this in mind, I wonder what a similar sign would say, if it were currently hanging on the wall in FEMA headquarters. Perhaps it would say something like, "If it's legally concise and limits our agency's exposure and potential liability, we should consider doing it, contingent of course on General Counsel's final opinion, in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget, and subject to the final vote of the tribunal convened to effectively disperse responsibility throughout the federal government". Whether this philosophy is a product of FEMA, DHS, the White House, Congress, or a combination of any or all of the above, I simply don't know. I only know it is does not meet my expectations, as either a state customer or private citizen". (Ashwood, Testimony... on "FEMA Preparedness in 2007, 2007, 4)