White House taps experienced emergency manager to lead FEMA
By Katherine McIntire Peters kpeters@govexec.com March 4, 2009
President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he would nominate Craig Fugate, an experienced first responder who now leads Florida's division of emergency management, to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
A career firefighter in a state known for natural disasters, Fugate has served as Florida's state coordinating officer in 23 declared state emergencies, 11 of which were presidentially declared disasters. "Craig has what it takes to help us improve our preparedness, response and recovery efforts, and I can think of no one better to lead FEMA," Obama said.
Karen Cobuluis, a spokeswoman for the National Emergency Management Association, said the organization "is very happy that someone of Craig's experience has been nominated to lead FEMA."
Fugate, who has been a member of the board of directors at NEMA for several years and chairs the response and recovery committee there, is well-known in the emergency management community, she said.
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