Fema

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In 1979, President Carter signed an executive order that transferred many of the disaster relief agencies into one large agency known as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. After the events of 9/11, FEMA became one of the four major branches of the new Department of Homeland Security. Currently, FEMA has 2,500 full-time employees and approximately 5,000 disaster-ready reservists.

FEMA is generally associated with natural disasters. However, the agency’s actual purpose is much broader and includes any national emergency related to terrorism or civil unrest. Its professed purpose is to assure the survivability of the United States government.

Because disasters have the potential to create chaos, FEMA has expanded powers which are not given to any other government entity. It has the power to develop plans to take control of the mechanisms of production, distribution, energy sources, wages, salaries and the flow of money during a national emergency. FEMA is also empowered to take over modes of transportation, take control of the media as well as food resources, assume control at airports and seize and direct citizens. Congress is even prevented from reviewing these actions until six months after a state of national emergency has been declared. Thus, FEMA essentially has the power to put the Constitution on hold while trying to restore order in the wake of a perceived disaster—thus turning the country into a military state.
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http://www.rutherford.org/articles_d...?record_id=357