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Floor Speech

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Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the NEHRP Reauthorization Act of 2023. This bipartisan legislation would reauthorize the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, NEHRP, and improve the Nation's earthquake preparedness.

This bill would reauthorize the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, NEHRP, and authorize a total of $175.4 million per year from fiscal year 2024 to 2028 across the four Federal Agencies responsible for long-term earthquake risk reduction under NEHRP: the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST, the National Science Foundation, NSF, and the United States Geological Survey, USGS.

Specifically, the NEHRP Reauthorization Act of 2023 would authorize $10.6 million for FEMA, $5.9 million for NIST, $58 million for NSF, and $100.9 million for USGS per year from fiscal year 2024 to 2028. This funding would support research, development, and implementation activities related to earthquake safety and risk reduction.

In California and across the Nation, earthquakes threaten lives, infrastructure, and communities. NEHRP allows vulnerable communities across the State to better prepare and respond to earthquakes through crucial tools like the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System Program and working to advance the scientific understanding of earthquakes.

I want to thank Senator Murkowski for introducing this important legislation with me in the Senate, and I hope all of our colleagues will join us in supporting this bipartisan bill to improve our nation's earthquake preparedness.

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