FEMA: The Secret Government
by Harry V. Martin with research assistance from David Caul
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.
Three times FEMA has stood by ready for emergency In April 1984,
President Reagan signed Presidential Directive Number 54 that allowed
FEMA to engage in a secret national "readiness exercise" under
the code name of REX 84. The exercise was to test FEMA’s readiness to
assume military authority in the event of a "State of Domestic
National Emergency" concurrent with the launching of a direct United
States military operation in Central America.
The plan called for the deputation of U.S. military and National Guard
units so that they could take into custody an estimated 400,000
undocumented Central American immigrants in the United States who would
be interned at 10 detention centers set up at military bases throughout
the country.
The plan called for the suspension of the Constitution, turning control
of the government over to FEMA, appointment of military commanders to run
state and local governments and the declaration of Martial Law.
The plan also advocated the rounding up and transfer to "assembly
centers or relocation camps" of a least 21 million American Blacks
in the event of massive rioting or disorder, not unlike the rounding up
of the Jews in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
The second known time that FEMA stood by was in 1990 when Desert Storm
was enacted. Prior to President Bush’s invasion of Iraq, FEMA began to
draft new legislation to set up operations within any state or locality
without the prior permission of local or state authorities. Much of the
mechanism being set into place was in anticipation of the economic
collapse of the Western World.
The third scenario for FEMA came with the Los Angeles riots after the
Rodney King brutality verdict. Had the rioting spread to other cities,
FEMA would have been empowered to step in. As it was, major rioting only
occurred in the Los Angeles area.
The crux of the problem is that FEMA has the power to turn the United
States into a police state in time of a real crisis or a manufactured
crisis. Intelligence reports indicate that FEMA has a folder with 22
Executive Orders for the President to sign in case of an emergency. The
crisis, as the government now sees it, is civil unrest.
For generations, the government was concerned with nuclear war, but the
violent and disruptive demonstrations that surrounded the Vietnam War era
prompted President Nixon to change the direction of emergency powers from
war time to times of domestic unrest.
Diana Reynolds, program director of the Edward R. Murrow Center, summed
up the danger of FEMA today and the public reaction to Martial Law in a
drug crisis:
"It was James Madison’s worst nightmare that a righteous faction
would someday be strong enough to sweep away the Constitutional
restraints designed by the framers to prevent the tyranny of centralized
power, excessive privilege, an arbitrary governmental authority over the
individual. These restraints, the balancing and checking of powers among
branches and layers of government, and the civil guarantees, would be the
first casualties in a drug-induced national security state with Reagan’s
Civil Emergency Preparedness unleashed. Nevertheless, there would be
those who would welcome NSC (National Security Council) into the drug
fray, believing that increasing state police powers to emergency levels
is the only way left to fight American’s enemy within. In the short run,
a national security state would probably be a relief to those whose
personal security and quality of life has been diminished by drugs or
drug related crime. And, as the general public watches the progression of
institutional chaos and social decay, they too may be willing to pay the
ultimate price, one drug free America for 200 years of democracy
(sic)."
The first targets in any FEMA emergency would be Hispanics and Blacks;
the FEMA orders call for them to be rounded up and detained. Tax
protesters, demonstrators against government military intervention
outside U.S. borders, and people who maintain weapons in their homes are
also targets.
Operation Trojan Horse is a program designed to learn the identity of
potential opponents to Martial Law. The program lures potential
protesters into public forums, conducted by a "hero" of the
people who advocates survival training. The list of names gathered at
such meetings and rallies are computerized and then targeted in case of
an emergency.
The most shining example of America to the world has been its peaceful
transition of government from one administration to another. Despite
crises of great magnitude, the United States has maintained its freedom
and liberty. This nation now stands on the threshold of rule by
non-elected people asserting non-Constitutional powers. Even Congress
cannot review a Martial Law action until six months after it has been
declared.
For the first time in American history, the reigns of government would
not be transferred from one elected element to another, but the
Constitution, itself, can be suspended.
The scenarios established to trigger FEMA into action are generally found
in the society today, economic collapse, civil unrest, drug problems,
terrorist attacks, and protests against American intervention in a
foreign country.
All these premises exist; it could only be a matter of time in which one
of these triggers the entire emergency necessary to bring FEMA into
action, and then it may be too late, because under the FEMA plan, there
is no contingency by which Constitutional power is restored.
Copyright FreeAmerica and Harry V. Martin, 1995.
Clinton's Executive Order 12919 (The Idaho Observer, May, 1997) gives the
president the power to declare an emergency which instantly gives FEMA
the authority to take control of the things listed in this article. EO
12919 is just one more clue that should tell Americans what
"our" federal government has in store for all of us.—The Idaho
Observer, website:
http://www.proliberty.com/observer
Ph. 208-777-7888; fax 208-777-2032
P.O. Box 1806, Post Falls, ID 83877
(Somewhat abridged. All underlines are by Midnight Herald for
emphasis.)
Here are a few EXECUTIVE ORDERS associated with FEMA that would suspend
the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These Executive Orders have been
on record for nearly 30 years and could be enacted by the stroke of a
presidential pen:
#10990 allows the government to take over all modes of transportation and
control of highways and seaports.
#10995 allows the government to seize and control the communication
media.
#10997 allows the government to take over all electrical power, gas,
petroleum, fuels and minerals, public and private.
#10998 allows the government to take over all food supplies and
resources, public and private, including farms and equipment.
#11000 allows the government to mobilize American civilians into work
brigades under government supervision; allows the government to split up
families if they believe it necessary.
#11001 allows the government to take over all health, education and
welfare functions and facilities, both public and private.
#11002 designates the Postmaster General to operate a national
registration of all persons: men, women and children, for government
service.
# 11003 allows the government to take over all airports and aircraft,
including commercial aircraft.
#11004 allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities,
build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned as
"unsafe", and establish new locations for populations.
#11005 allows the government to take over railroads, inland waterways and
storage facilities, public and private.
#11051 specifies the responsibility of the Office of Emergency Planning
and gives authorization to put all EOs into effect in times of increased
international tensions and economic or financial crisis.
#11310 grants authority to the Department of Justice to enforce the plans
set out in EOs, to institute industrial support, to establish judicial
and legislative liaison, to control all aliens, to operate penal and
correctional institutions, and to advise and assist the President.
#11049 assigns emergency preparedness function to federal departments and
agencies, consolidating 21 operative EOs issued over a fifteen year
period.
# 11921 allows the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency to develop plans
to establish control over the mechanisms of production and distribution,
of energy sources, wages, salaries, credit and the flow of money in U.S.
financial institution in any undefined national emergency. It also
provides that WHEN A STATE OF EMERGENCY IS DECLARED BY THE PRESIDENT,
CONGRESS CANNOT REVIEW THE ACTION FOR SIX MONTHS.
-end article-
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-InfoWarz
"There is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so
watchful, so interlocked, so pervasive that they better not speak above
their breath when they speak in condemnation of it."
- President Woodrow Wilson