OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Concerns About Hurricane Season

Floor Speech

Date: June 9, 2025
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. SUBRAMANYAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise because I am deeply concerned about hurricane season and the state of FEMA and our national disaster preparedness.

A little bit of context: One of the reasons I got involved in politics was as a student at Tulane University in New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina hit the city at the time.

I couldn't believe the waste, fraud, and incompetence that occurred at places like FEMA.

Here we are, years later, with an acting FEMA director who doesn't even know we have a hurricane season. Well, we do have a hurricane season, and it is estimated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, that there will be at least 10 hurricanes this year.

After firing hundreds of weather experts and saying they wanted to traumatize the rest, NOAA is now scrambling to refill those empty positions. They also cancelled critical storm damage reports this year.

It just seems like we are not prepared right now for hurricane season and other major natural disasters.

Let's be clear. There is no room for error when it comes to this, and this poor leadership will cost us lives. The American people deserve better.

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