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Some people have referred to it as the
"secret government" of the United States. It is not an
elected body; it does not involve itself in public
disclosures; and it even has a quasi-secret budget in the
billions of dollars.
This government organization has more power than the
President of the United States or the Congress. It has the
power to suspend laws, move entire populations, arrest and
detain citizens without a warrant and hold them without
trial. It can seize property, food supplies, transportation
systems, and can suspend the Constitution. Not only is it
the most powerful entity in the United States, but it was
not even created under Constitutional law by the Congress.
It was a product of a Presidential Executive Order.
No, it is not the U.S. military nor the Central Intelligence
Agency; they are subject to Congress. The organization is
called FEMA, which stands for the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. Originally conceived in the Richard Nixon
Administration, it was refined by President Jimmy Carter and
given teeth in the Ronald Reagan and George Bush
Administrations.
FEMA had one original concept when it was created—to assure
the survivability of the United States government in the
event of a nuclear attack on this nation. It was also
provided with the task of being a federal coordinating body
during times of domestic disasters, such as earthquakes,
floods and hurricanes.
Its awesome powers grew under the tutelage of people like
Lt. Col. Oliver North and General Richard Secord, the
architects on the Iran-Contra scandal and the looting of
America’s savings and loan institutions. FEMA has even been
given control of the State Defense Forces, a rag-tag, often
considered neo-Nazi, civilian army that will substitute for
the National Guard, if the Guard is called to duty overseas.
The most powerful organization
in the United States
Though it may be the most powerful
organization in the United States, many people don’t know it
even exists. But it has crept into our private lives. Even
mortgage papers contain FEMA’s name in small print if the
property in question is near a flood plain. FEMA was deeply
involved in the Los Angeles riots and the 1989 Loma Prieta
earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of the black
helicopter traffic reported throughout the United States,
but mainly in the West, California, Washington, Arizona, New
Mexico, Texas and Colorado, are flown by FEMA personnel.
FEMA has been given responsibility for many new disasters
including urban forest fires, home heating emergencies,
refugee situations, urban riots, and emergency planning for
nuclear and toxic incidents. In the West, it works in
conjunction with the Sixth Army.
FEMA was created in a series of Executive Orders. A
Presidential Executive Order, whether Constitutional or not,
becomes law simply by its publication in the Federal
Registry. Congress is bypassed.
Executive Order Number 12148 created the Federal Emergency
Management Agency that is to interface with the Department
of Defense for civil defense planning and funding. An
"emergency czar" was appointed.
FEMA has only spent about 6 percent of its budget on
national emergencies, the bulk of their funding has been
used for the construction of secret underground facilities
to assure continuity of government in case of a major
emergency—foreign or domestic.
Executive Order Number 12656 appointed the National Security
Council as the principal body that should consider emergency
powers. This allows the government to increase domestic
intelligence and surveillance of U.S. citizens and would
restrict the freedom of movement within the United States
and grant the government the right to isolate large groups
of civilians. The National Guard could be federalized to
seal all borders and take control of U.S. air space and all
ports of entry.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has broad powers in
every aspect of the nation. General Frank Salzedo, chief of
FEMA’s Civil Security Division stated in a 1983 conference
that he saw FEMA’s role as a "new frontier in the protection
of individual and governmental leaders from assassination,
and of civil and military installations from sabotage and/or
attack, as well as prevention of dissident groups from
gaining access to U.S. opinion, or a global audience in
times of crisis."
FEMA’s powers were consolidated by President Carter to
incorporate: The National Security Act of 1947, which allows
for the strategic relocation of industries, services,
government and other essential economic activities, and to
rationalize the requirements for manpower, resources and
production facilities; the 1950 Defense Production Act,
which gives the President sweeping powers over all aspects
of the economy; the Act of August 29, 1916, which authorizes
the Secretary of the Army, in time of war, to take
possession of any transportation system for transporting
troops, material, or any other purpose related to the
emergency; and the International Emergency Economic Powers
Act, which enables the President to seize the property of a
foreign country or national.
These powers were transferred to FEMA in a sweeping
consolidation in 1979. Hurricane Andrew focused attention on
FEMA. FEMA’s deceptive role really did not come to light
with much of the public until Hurricane Andrew smashed into
the U.S. mainland. What came out of the critical look was
that FEMA was spending 12 times more for "black operations"
than for disaster relief. It spent $1.3 billion building
secret bunkers throughout the United States in anticipation
of government disruption by foreign or domestic upheaval.
Yet fewer than 20 members of Congress, only members with top
security clearance, know of the $1.3 billion expenditure by
FEMA for non-natural disaster situations. These few
Congressional leaders state that FEMA has a "black curtain"
around its operations.
FEMA has developed 300 sophisticated mobile units that are
capable of sustaining themselves for a month. The vehicles
are located in five areas of the United States. They have
tremendous communication systems and each contains a
generator that would provide power to 120 homes each, but
have never been used for disaster relief.
FEMA’s enormous powers can be triggered easily. In any form
of domestic or foreign problem, perceived and not always
actual, emergency powers can be enacted. The President of
the United States now has broader powers to declare Martial
Law, which activities FEMA’s extraordinary powers.
Martial law can be declared during time of increased tension
overseas, economic problems within the United States, such
as a depression, civil unrest, such as demonstrations or
scenes like the Los Angeles riots, and in a drug crisis.
These Presidential powers have increased with successive
Crime Bills, particularly the 1991 and 1993 Crime Bills,
which increase the power to suspend the rights guaranteed
under the Constitution and to seize property of those
suspected of being drug dealers, to individuals who
participate in a public protest or demonstration.
Under emergency plans already in existence, the power exists
to suspend the Constitution and turn over the reigns of
government to FEMA and appointing military commanders to run
state and local governments. FEMA then would have the right
to order the detention of anyone whom there is reasonable
ground to believe will engage in, or probably conspire with
others to engage in acts of espionage or sabotage. The plan
also authorized the establishment of concentration camps for
detaining the accused, but no trial.
Three times since 1984, FEMA stood on the threshold of
taking control of the nation. Once under President Reagan in
1984, and twice under President Bush in 1990 and 1992. But
under those three scenarios, there was not a sufficient
crisis to warrant risking Martial Law. Most experts on the
subject of FEMA and Martial Law insisted that a crisis has
to appear dangerous enough for the people of the United
States before they would tolerate or accept complete
government takeover.
The typical crisis needed would be threat of imminent
nuclear war, rioting in several U.S. cites simultaneously, a
series of national disasters that affect widespread danger
to the populous, massive terrorist attacks, a depression in
which tens of millions are unemployed and without financial
resources, or a major environmental disaster.
For EXECUTIVE ORDERS associated with FEMA
that would suspend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.