National Commission on Children and Disasters Reauthorization Act of 2010

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 5266 and ask for the support of the House. It is a bill to reauthorize the National Commission on Children and Disasters, sponsored by my colleague from Florida, Representative Corrine Brown.

The National Commission on Children and Disasters was created as a result of the indelible lessons of Hurricane Katrina and as a result of the effects that disaster had on children. The commission was authorized by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the Kids in Disasters Well Being Act of 2007, which was also sponsored by Chairwoman BROWN.

The commission's work has been well received, and many of its recommendations have been implemented, especially those related to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. I was pleased to chair a hearing of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management that received testimony from Mark Shriver, the chair of the commission, on its interim report when it was issued last October.

The commission just issued a progress report on May 11, and I recently had a talk with Chairman Shriver about that report. While FEMA has made good progress on many of the recommendations, other agencies have not; and, therefore, the commission's work remains incomplete. The subcommittee will continue to work with the commission on the implementation of its recommendations.

H.R. 5266, the National Commission on Children and Disasters Act of 2010, reauthorizes the commission by extending the deadline for its final report until December 31, 2012, and requires annual interim reports from the commission. The commission will sunset 180 days after the date of its final report.

H.R. 5266 authorizes appropriations of $1.5 million in fiscal years 2011 and 2012 and $1 million in fiscal year 2013, the final year of the commission. The bill also rectifies a problem the commission experienced at the outset when it took nearly 5 months for all of the members of the commission to be appointed. The bill requires vacancies to be filled in 90 days, which should help minimize any delays in the commission's work in the event of a vacancy.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 5266, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I want to join the chairwoman, Ms. Corrine Brown, not only in asking the House to pass this bill, but to commend her.

The chairwoman discovered this issue and acted on it. She discovered it in Florida, when there were refugees, as it were, from Katrina. She was moved by it. She decided to do, in fact, work on the ground in Florida for these children and others who were caught in Katrina, and she followed up with legislation, and never let up until this very day. And I know she won't let up until the other body sees fit also to pass the bill.

So I want to commend her for her discovery of a vital issue that my own committee, which has jurisdiction over FEMA, had not noted with nearly as much attention as the gentlelady from Florida.

I want also to note the work of Mark Schreiber, whose work on the commission went far beyond his chairmanship. He took this cause unto his own, pressed it with all that he had, and deserves great credit for making sure that we got to the day when we would pass the bill.

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