The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today approved legislation to 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) streamlines the federal government’s disaster response and recovery programs while also making FEMA a cabinet-level agency once again that is directly accountable to the President. The bill rewards … Continue Reading
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today approved legislation to reauthorize, reform, and reasonably expand the existing counter-unmanned aircraft system (counter-UAS) authorities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) joined Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) and Ranking Member Bennie Thompson in introduci… Continue Reading
—Today, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Dina Titus (D-NV) released the following statement after President Donald Trump abruptly fired Robert Primus, a Senate-confirmed Democratic member of the Surface Transportation Board (STB) whose term is not set to expire until December 2027. “President Trump’s abrupt removal of Robert Primus from the Surface … 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