Fishery Improvement to Streamline Untimely Regulatory Hurdles Post Emergency Situation Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DONALDS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill, the FISHES Act.

I represent Florida's 19th Congressional District in southwest Florida, which has a significant coastal presence.

In southwest Florida, hurricanes are common, which often bring about significant damage to critical infrastructure, businesses, and communities alike.

When people think about disaster relief, FEMA and the SBA often come to mind. However, we must not forget about the critical disaster relief that NOAA provides in the aftermath of a federally declared fishery disaster.

For background, during the fishery disaster relief process, States must submit a spend plan to NOAA which lays out how the State will spend disaster relief it receives from the Federal Government.

Currently, the Office of Management and Budget can voluntarily decide to insert itself into the Federal fishery disaster relief process, which it often does, to review a State's spend plan.

Unlike most other aspects of the process, OMB has no deadline to review a spend plan. Predictably this has led to unnecessary delay in allocating crucial Federal relief post disaster. For example, the State of Florida alone has requested fishery disaster relief on seven different occasions since 2012, however, for each occasion, over 2 years had lapsed from the time of approval to when fishery disaster relief funds were ultimately made available. This is simply unacceptable.

We must throw coastal communities and businesses a life raft to help them stay afloat post disaster. As we saw firsthand in southwest Florida, time is of the essence once a disaster hits.

We, as legislators, must continue to find ways to cut self-induced red tape and streamline the disbursement of relief to communities devastated by a natural disaster.

That is where the FISHES Act comes in.

This simple bill expedites the allocation of Federal fishery disaster relief by requiring OMB to review a State spend plan concurrently with NOAA, while also requiring that funds be distributed to grantees within 90 days after a complete spend plan is received. Time is of the essence when it comes to disbursing relief post disaster.

This isn't just a Florida issue. It is a nationwide issue. This fact is illustrated by the diverse coalition of nationwide organizations that endorse the FISHES Act, along with the vast number of bipartisan Members across the country who have decided to cosponsor this bill.

Specifically, the FISHES Act is cosponsored by 48 of my colleagues, and this bill is currently endorsed by 107 organizations of all kinds representing the environmental community, fishing community, boaters, hospitality industry, retail and restaurant industries, and so on.

The overwhelming support my bill has received speaks for itself, and it really highlights how vital it is for the FISHES Act to be signed into law as soon as possible.

Time is of the essence once a disaster hits, and we as Congress have the ability to expedite the disbursement of Federal relief to communities in need.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this commonsense bill and pass the FISHES Act.

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