framework makes it essential that the states have certain guidance
from the federal government. The guidance is now available in the
form of a national plan and an example state plan. The latter will
be distributed to you at this meeting. It will be our responsibility,
within the year that we have allowed for the purpose, to study this
example state plan in relation to the situation that exists in Maryland
and to adopt it as necessary to meet our needs as well as to create
and test the organization and procedures to implement it.

As I stated earlier, we deliberately sought busy men and women
to form this committee. We know you will willingly devote your

full-time and efforts to this task should we ever be so unfortunate as
to face the emergency against which the plan is being designed. How-
ever, we also appreciate the fact that in a competitive economy we
cannot ask you to divert a large part of your time to the "pick and
shovel" work that the preparation of such a plan entails. Therefore,
with federal funds made available through the contract, we have
recruited a capable staff to do the actual writing and General Van
Brunt will tell you how we hope to employ them to minimize the
burden upon the time of your task force. Despite our best efforts to
ease the burden, we must call upon your personal participation and
"know how" to insure that our plan will in fact be geared to the
situation that exists in Maryland.

I have made it a policy of this Administration consistently to sup-
port all non-military defense measures designed for the survival of
our people and the recovery of our economy in event of disaster. The
fulfillment of this contract will entail the collateral assignment of
many man hours of effort by key State employees which I authorize
and encourage.

I should like to point out that the principal federal agency with
whom we will be working in this venture is no stranger to us in
Maryland. It was the Office of Emergency Planning that coordinated
the federal assistance that so effectively supplemented our own efforts
to cope with the devastating storm damage to the Eastern Shore which
occurred on Ash Wednesday of 1962. Under the terms of Public Law
875, the State of Maryland received some $521, 000 in federal assist-
ance. In addition, through the assistance of the Corps of Engineers
and OEP, the beach from the inlet to the Delaware boundary was
rebuilt at a cost of approximately $1, 300, 000 to the federal govern-
ment. Further, the Small Business Administration provided significant
assistance to private individuals in restoring their operations. The
measures which we develop in this current endeavor should, to the

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