Washington, D.C.—Today, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Ranking Member Greg Stanton (D-AZ) released the following statements after President Trump’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) review council cancelled today’s meeting to reveal their report’s recommendations and conclusions.
"The historic flooding devastating western Washington makes clear the urgent need for a fully functioning FEMA," Ranking Member Larsen said. “The FEMA review council has cancelled the release of its report. Fortunately, Congress does not need to wait for the review council to act. We do not need the council’s work, because Congress already did its work. Chairman Graves and I introduced our bipartisan bill to protect and reform FEMA and advanced it through the committee with near-unanimous support.
“I hope we can take immediate action to move our bipartisan bill through Congress because disaster-affected communities in Washington and across America can’t afford to wait any longer.”
“FEMA’s mission is to help Americans in their darkest hour,” Ranking Member Stanton said. “The agency isn’t perfect, and its job is getting harder as disasters grow more frequent and more severe. But the solution is not to tear FEMA down—it’s to work across the aisle to build the agency up. Congress should pass our bipartisan Fixing Emergency Management for Americans Act and give communities the effective, depoliticized disaster response system they deserve.”
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