Fire chief named a U.S. homeland security adviser

Campbell County Fire Chief Gary Scott was appointed Tuesday in Washington, D.C., as one of 17 members of a federal advisory committee for homeland security.

Scott was sworn in by Homeland Security Adviser Tom Ridge to the Emergency Services, Law Enforcement and Public Health and Hospitals Senior Advisory Committee. It advises President Bush's Homeland Security Advisory Council.

The purpose of the committee, which is composed of various people from the nation's emergency response community, is to provide the council with advice on improving the nation's security.

"It'll all be tied in to looking at America's security from the viewpoint of emergency services," Scott said.

He was selected earlier this year through a congressional process and underwent various security checks before his appointment, he said.

The appointments come in the wake of President Bush signing the Homeland Security Act of 2002 into law on Nov. 25. The law creates the Homeland Security Department to improve security and better protect the county against acts of domestic terrorism.

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