Providing Recovery for Flood Victims

Floor Speech

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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I was proud of the community members who stood with us and partnered with me in creating the Fix Our Flooded Basements Act.

Many people might not know this, but FEMA will provide financial help toward getting a new furnace and water heater, but they will not help in mitigating the toxins and the mold that can be created if they don't get rid of the water in order to clean out the basement.

In southeastern Michigan, we have seen that firsthand. We had two national emergency declarations.

Water damage, as you know, can lead to long-term issues created by toxic mold, which impacts the health of the family in the home.

Again, too many of our families were denied FEMA assistance because the current rules do not cover repairs to most basements where floods are often the most destructive. Again, it can lead to toxic mold if not mitigated.

Mr. Speaker, as flooding becomes more frequent due to the climate crisis, it is crucial that we take action to require FEMA to provide flood victims with the full resources that they need to rebuild their lives.

I still remember the senior in Inkster, Michigan. She was in her seventies, Mr. Speaker. After the first declaration, her basement was flooded. She did not have the means, nor the capabilities to be able to get rid of the water that was in her basement.

When I came by to visit her again, the water froze in her basement due to the weather. Years later, she is now dealing with toxic mold.

Mr. Speaker, we need to have a legislative fix that will help to mitigate those issues to make sure that our families are not living in unsafe conditions by being exposed to serious health risks from mold, mildew, and moisture damage.

Mr. Speaker, these are people who are recovering from a disaster. To have FEMA say: No, we cannot help in this regard, even though they were exchanging the water heater, helping with the furnace, the fact that they will not mitigate the basement, again, leaves many of our families out.

Mr. Speaker, a lot of my colleagues who have signed on to support this bill have realized for the first time that FEMA did not do this, and maybe it was created because it was for the coastal communities, but we know communities like Michigan are now impacted in the Midwest.

The Fix Our Flooded Basements Act will make sure that Federal disaster assistance finally covers all of the mitigation needs for basement water damage. The bill would expand the coverage for Federal assistance to cover the cost of repairing property and flood damage to basements after a major disaster.

Mr. Speaker, our residents must be able to live safely and fully rebuild their lives after disaster strikes. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation. It is critically important for our families. Ending Corporate Greed Through Price Gouging

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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, families in our communities are facing an affordability crisis. We hear it at our townhalls. We hear it on every corner of our communities. Families are struggling with rising grocery costs. The cost of groceries has gone up 28 percent, and the majority of Americans say that grocery prices are the major source of stress for their families.

Corporations are now using new technology to raise prices in new ways and without the knowledge of the consumer. Electronic shelf labels allow stores to change prices in seconds. The industry is not shy about it. They admit to raising the price of water and ice cream if it is hot outside. Even worse, corporations are tracking consumers and using their own personal, private information against them.

We all know that companies collect and purchase a tremendous amount of our private data and personal information. These custom, personal profiles on many of our families and residents allow companies to charge different people different prices for the same exact item by using things like mobile apps, online shopping, and facial recognition technology.

This is called surveillance pricing, and all of us need to wake up and see that this technology is fixing prices and increasing costs for our families.

Target, for example, charged higher prices to consumers who were using their app when they were inside their stores, assuming that the consumer either wouldn't notice or was unlikely to go anywhere else.

Mr. Speaker, this is outrageous and wrong. Companies should not be able to use consumers' online history, past purchases, the color of their skin, their income, where they work, or their ZIP Code to charge them a higher price.

Surveillance pricing will lead to increased costs for food and basic goods. It will harm working families who are already struggling to make ends meet. This is not just about discriminatory technology. It is about corporate greed in our country, and CEOs are getting richer while working people struggle.

I introduced the Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act to ban personalized price gouging by grocery stores, and I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort.

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