Hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee - Opening Statement of Rep. Graves, Hearing on "Disaster Preparedness: Disaster Recovery Reform Act Implementation and FEMA Readiness"

Hearing

Our Committee has a critical role in emergency management, and that includes ensuring FEMA and federal emergency management programs are working as efficiently as possible to help communities hit by disaster. In recent years -- and even days -- we have seen significant storms, floods, and wildfires across the Nation.

In the Midwest, we had above average snow in parts of the northern plains. That, combined with severe storms and heavy rainfalls, resulted in severe flooding along the Missouri and Mississippi River systems, including in my district. The flooding impacted tens of thousands of acres of farm land and caused significant damage to homes, communities, and infrastructure.

I'm glad that Missouri received a federal disaster declaration this week for Public Assistance, but more is needed. My constituents have experienced millions of dollars' worth of damages to farms and personal property. I hope this is given full consideration as FEMA moves forward with recovery efforts.

Like other regions of the country hit by disasters, our state and local communities, first responders, faith-based and other organizations responded, but federal aid is sitting idle. Federal resources will be critical to helping our communities recover, and it can't get there fast enough. Even as we work to recover from April flooding, as we speak we are experiencing more flooding across the state of Missouri.

It makes little sense for us to simply rebuild the same way over and over again. That is why it is important for the reforms we passed in the Disaster Recovery Reform Act to be implemented quickly. Helping communities build in mitigation upfront, streamlining the recovery process, and reducing the bureaucracy will save lives and reduce costs.

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