Disaster preparedness ... and what else?

Sebastian Ronin, in a comment to yesterday's post, brought this to our attention. Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D-Florida) has introduced HR 645, to establish "national emergency centers" on military installations. Those who remember the mishandling of Hurricane Katrina are horrified already-- for the rest of us, please note subsection (b)(4):

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY CENTERS.

(a) In General- In accordance with the requirements of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish not fewer than 6 national emergency centers on military installations.

(b) Purpose of National Emergency Centers- The purpose of a national emergency center shall be to use existing infrastructure--

(1) to provide temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster;

(2) to provide centralized locations for the purposes of training and ensuring the coordination of Federal, State, and local first responders;

(3) to provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, esponse, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations; and

(4) to meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Sounds like a nice loophole to enable the construction of concentration camps, which would not be unprecedented in American history. A letter to your Congressman requesting, at minimum the deletion of subsection (b)(4), would definitely be in order!