Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders introduced legislation in the U.S. House that would provide the most robust legislative reform of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and federal disaster assistance programs in decades. The Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025 (H.R. 4669) was introduced by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO); Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA); for… Continue Reading
The U.S. House of Representatives today approved bipartisan legislation to strengthen, support, and authorize funding through 2029 for the United States Coast Guard and its critical missions to safeguard the nation’s borders, facilitate maritime commerce, ensure maritime safety, and more. Approved by a vote of 399 to 12, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025 (H.R. 4275) was introduced by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO), Transportation and Infrastructur… Continue Reading
—The following are opening remarks from Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Greg Stanton (D-AZ) during today’s hearing titled, “Fixing Emergency Management: Examining Improvements to FEMA’s Disaster Response.”Video of Larsen’s and Stanton’s opening statements are here and here.More information on the hearing can be found here.Ranking… Continue Reading
June 26, 2025
Hurricane season is here, and according to government forecasts it’s shaping up to be brutal. And then comes wildfire season, which is growing more destructive in the West. The U.S. just faced the worst tornado season in more than a decade. You wouldn’t know it by the Trump administration’s approach to disaster preparation. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is in disarray, and President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kirsti Noem want to dismantle the disaster response agency altog… Continue Reading
February 05, 2024One year ago, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, displacing a community, jeopardizing health, harming the local environment and exposing gaps in our rail safety laws. The derailment and subsequent fire of tanker cars carrying vinyl chloride led Norfolk Southern to release and burn these toxic chemicals to prevent a dangerous explosion. As a result, the town was forced to evacuate all residents within a one-mile radius, upending thousands of lives. Thanks to the … Continue Reading
February 03, 2022By Chairs DeFazio and Larsen The rollout of our country's 5G wireless network has been marked by delays, dysfunction and denial. It didn't have to be this way! In 2019, aviation stakeholders, policymakers like us and safety advocates loudly warned it would be a grave mistake to turn on 5G without first ensuring that interference from these powerful networks wouldn't adversely impact aviation safety. Unfortunately, the Federal Communications Commission ignored and even mocked these concern… Continue Reading