Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2019
Floor Speech
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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Chair, I thank the chairwoman for yielding and for all that she is doing to end the Trump shutdown and open up our government, but I rise today to engage in a colloquy with the distinguished chairwoman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, Congresswoman Roybal-Allard, in regard to a commitment made between the two of us.
My district and the State of California were, once again, ravaged by devastating and historic fires. In my own district, the Mendocino complex fire burned a combined total of 460,000 acres, making it the largest physical fire in California history. As a result, a major disaster declaration was announced for Lake County, which, sadly, has been rocked with fires for the past several years.
California also experienced the deadliest and most destructive fire in our State's history with the Camp fire, which, tragically, took the lives of more than 60 people. The town of Paradise, which was home to almost 27,000 people, was near completely destroyed, and more than 12,000 structures were burnt to the ground.
In addition, our State experienced other devastating fires, and they continue. We need the continued support from the Federal Government because it is essential as residents seek to rebuild and California begins long-term recovery.
In response to these devastating disasters, I offered a bipartisan amendment with Representatives LaMalfa, Lieu, Calvert, Garamendi, Huffman, and 19 other bipartisan cosponsors from our State. This amendment provided much-needed relief to the State of California and local entities by increasing to 90 percent the Federal cost-share for debris removal and emergency assistance for the 2018 wildfires.
The substance of this amendment has been supported by both the Speaker and the majority leader and is consistent with the relief generously provided in the 113th Congress.
The distinguished chairwoman and I have discussed this amendment and the importance of Congress providing this much-needed relief to the State of California and all affected communities impacted by these wildfires.
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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Chair, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
I appreciate the opportunity to speak in support of my proposed amendment.
Over the past 2 years communities across my district and throughout the State of California have been devastated by some of the biggest, deadliest, and most damaging wildfires in history. These disasters have catastrophic consequences for our agricultural communities.
Wildfires can and do incinerate entire fields of crops, but they also pose a threat of smoke contamination, exposure to high levels of smoke which damages crops beyond repair.
While smoke damage can affect a range of crops, wine grapes are particularly vulnerable. I have heard from dozens of my constituents who are facing the loss of their crop as their grapes are rejected due to this smoke damage.
I want to thank the Appropriations Committee and their staff for working with me to ensure that grape growers like those in my district are supported.
However, many wine grape growers do not discover smoke damage until after removing their fruit from the vine. These growers sustain heavy losses and deserve support. They should not be penalized simply because the damage to their grapes was discovered after the harvest.
My amendment would clarify that assistance offered under H.R. 268 is available to growers who discover smoke damage after removing their grapes from the vine. This situation is tragic and far too common, and this clarification is needed to ensure that growers like those in my district receive the support that they deserve.
Madam Chair, I want to reiterate my thanks to the Appropriations Committee and their staff, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Chair, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
Madam Chair, I rise in support of amendment No. 8, which provides an additional $50 million in community development funds for the 2017 federally declared disasters.
In October 2017, my district experienced, at that time, the most devastating fires in the history of California. The October 2017 wildfires devastated nearly 300,000 acres in California, destroyed some 7,000 homes, caused billions of dollars in damage, burned to the ground many businesses, and, most sadly, took the lives of 44 people.
In response to these fires, Congress enacted legislation that delivered California Community Development Block Grant disaster relief funding to address unmet needs and mitigation against future disasters.
As communities in my district continue the long and hard process of rebuilding, we are finding that the unmet needs are greater than the Federal relief provided. Local inspections of residences damaged or destroyed in the October 17 fires indicate that FEMA's individual assistance inspection process significantly underestimated the number of homes damaged or destroyed in Santa Rosa, one of the cities in my district, by a difference of nearly 2,900 homes.
Because the FEMA IA data may have informed HUD's initial allocation to the State of California, this leaves some communities in California, including Santa Rosa, with considerable unmet need for homeowners who are rebuilding.
In terms of public infrastructure, California's CDBG-DR action plan allocates 3 percent, at a total of $3.5 million for the entire State, to aid unmet need for public infrastructure. However, Santa Rosa alone has significantly greater needs for recovery of public infrastructure with its projected local cost share for the repair of the damage infrastructure over $11 million.
In addition to the local match requirement for FEMA public assistance projects, there are several large infrastructure projects needed due to the 17 wildfires, including street repairs, street tree removal, repair to the sidewalks in one particular area, and restoration to neighborhood parks.
The estimated cost for these projects is more than $20 million. My amendment aims to help close this gap by providing the additional moneys in community development funds for the 2017 federally declared disasters.
Continued support from the Federal Government is essential as residents seek to rebuild and my district continues its long-term recovery.
Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to my colleague from California (Mrs. Torres).
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