Washington, D.C. — The following are opening remarks, as prepared for delivery, from Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Vice Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Sharice Davids (D-KS) during today’s hearing titled, “Disaster Readiness: Examining the Propriety of the Expanded Use of FEMA Resources.”
Video of Larsen’s opening statement is here and here.
More information on the hearing can be found here.
Ranking Member Larsen:
Thank you, Subcommittee Chairman Perry and Subcommittee Vice Ranking Member Davids, for calling today’s hearing on disaster readiness.
I welcome the opportunity to discuss how Congress can help FEMA better fulfill its mission of helping communities before, during and after disasters.
Talking about non-traditional disasters in an ideal world, FEMA would never need to respond to a worldwide pandemic. But the worst-case scenario occurred, and FEMA stepped in and responded to the unthinkable, which is exactly what we expect FEMA to do anytime there is a disaster.
FEMA’s assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic kept our health care system afloat, provided lifesaving medical equipment, administered unemployment insurance that helped families keep a roof over their head and food on the table, ran vaccine sites that saved countless lives and offered grieving families a small comfort though funeral assistance.
The testimony from the Office of the Inspector General says that money was lost to fraud and ineligible payments when FEMA administered their COVID-19 relief programs, including the Lost Wage and Funeral Assistance programs.
Fraud is bad. We need to protect taxpayer dollars.
But no program is going to be perfect when you are administering it in the midst of a global emergency—especially an emergency as unexpected and unprecedented as the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a certain point, it’s necessary to step back and see the bigger picture where scrupulously accounting for every penny of disaster relief can result in such a long and complex process that a single mother struggling to survive is unable to access desperately needed assistance.
FEMA has also stepped up when asked to provide humanitarian assistance for migrants. FEMA’s role at the US-Mexico border has not undermined its ability to respond to natural disasters.
I fully support the mission of the Shelter and Services Program, which provides short-term humanitarian assistance like sheltering, food and medicine to individuals who have come to our country fleeing violence or in search of a better life.
When people are suffering, does America stand by and do nothing? Or do we do the right thing and provide assistance that can save lives?
Non-traditional disasters are not the only factor we should be considering when discussing disaster readiness.
Climate change is making disasters more frequent, intense and costly—straining FEMA’s workforce and resources.
In the 1980s, the country experienced, on average, a billion-dollar disaster every four months. Now, there is, on average, a billion-dollar disaster every three weeks.
In 2023, the U.S. experienced climate and weather disasters causing $92.9 billion in damage.
This data shows that climate change is expanding the amount of work FEMA must do to carry out its mission.
Investment in mitigation and resilience are proven to lessen the impact of climate and weather-related disasters and should be at the center of FEMA’s strategy to assure readiness in an evolving world.
Communities are vulnerable—many infrastructure systems in the US are at the end of their useful life and are not designed to cope with additional stress from climate change and extreme weather.
This is why I am such a strong supporter of the resilience investments included in the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
I am pleased to see FEMA make climate change a central focus of its Strategic Plan while implementing these bills. FEMA’s work is making mitigation projects possible in communities around the country.
Funding for mitigation and resilience is not enough. FEMA also needs a workforce ready to rise to the challenge.
The FEMA workforce demonstrated incredible capability and resilience during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but future success and workforce resilience requires adequate staffing.
I remain concerned with the Government Accountability Office’s finding that a 35 percent staffing gap exists across different positions at FEMA and urge the Agency to prioritize the recruitment and retention of a resilient and diverse workforce.
Diversity is important because it will improve program delivery and the Agency’s understanding of challenges faced by disaster survivors across the nation—from rural Texas to northern Alaska, Puerto Rico, Maui and even in the Puget Sound.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law made great progress in making our nation more resilient by providing nearly $7 billion to help communities proactively prepare for disasters.
Maintaining a resilient workforce, incorporating climate change projections into all of FEMA’s programs and prioritizing investment in mitigation is key to ensuring our nation’s readiness to disasters.
Administrator Criswell, you have a difficult job, and I thank you for all the good work FEMA has done under your leadership. Your dedication to FEMA’s mission and service to communities before and after disasters is building a safer nation.
I look forward to discussing with you and the other witnesses how we can work together to achieve disaster readiness and help FEMA achieve its goals.
Thank you all for being here. I look forward to hearing your testimony today.
Vice Ranking Member Davids:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank our witnesses for joining us today to discuss FEMA readiness and the cause of the expanded use of FEMA resources.
Climate change and the related severe weather events have changed the disaster landscape and strained capacity and resources at the local, state, and federal levels. Government and insurance industry data show disasters are more expensive and have a greater impact than ever before. To be disaster ready, FEMA must acknowledge the strains climate change is placing upon its programs and develop strategies to adapt.
The FEMA workforce is the backbone of the Agency’s programs and is key to enabling proper disaster planning and successful response. But additional work is needed to strengthen that workforce. A recent GAO report found that FEMA has fallen short of its yearly staffing target since 2019. As disasters grow increasingly frequent and complex, it is important that skilled personnel are at FEMA to ensure the Agency can fulfill its mission.
I would be remiss to not highlight that capacity challenges experienced by state and local emergency managers whose obligations have been stressed by the increase of complex climate and weather disasters impacting their communities. Many are managing recoveries for multiple events and submitting reimbursements for multiple federal disaster declarations. Even then, state and local governments are expanding the breadth of tasks their managers are being asked to support. It is critical that the federal government recognizes the magnitude of emergency managers’ workloads and support policies that provide adequate funding and resources to this essential workforce.
The ultimate goal of our work is to protect communities and ease the burden of disaster survivors. Natural disasters amplify existing disparities in our society, and it should go without saying that the government must address the needs of every American equally during recovery. Some of our most vulnerable populations, however, have been neglected.
As such, I commend Administrator Criswell for the publication of FEMA’s new interim final rule for the Individual Assistance program. This rule acknowledges the documented shortcomings of FEMA’s assistance for disaster survivors and will help the Agency do everything it can, within existing law, to close assistance gaps.
But FEMA cannot do everything alone. Congress must do our part, and I am glad we are having these conversations today to better support Americans impacted, both physically and financially, by severe weather events.
Administrator, I thank you and your colleagues for rising to the challenge as an evolving disaster landscape has increased the scope and complexity of your mission. I look forward to a conversation with all the witnesses on solutions that will help emergency managers continue their essential work and guarantee public safety.
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