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▶ 0:23:04the committee on Homeland Security subcommittee on emergency management technology will come to order without objection the chair May declare the subcommittee in recess at any point the purpose of this hearing is to assess the current role of FEMA including FEMA's expanding Mission set FEMA stewardship of taxpayer dollars and its coordination with the state and local governments in Disaster Recovery response without objection the gentleman from Guam Mr Morland and the gentleman
▶ 0:23:35from Florida Mr MOS moscowitz are permitted to sit on the dis and ask questions to Witnesses I now recognize myself for an opening statement good morning and thank uh thank you to everyone for joining today for this uh first hearing of the committee on Homeland Security subcommittee on Emergency Management and technology in the 119th congress with over four Decades of experience as a first responder having served the people of Alabama
▶ 0:24:05as both an emergency medical technician and volunteer firefighter I'm honored to serve as chairman of this subcommittee I'm committed to using this subcommittee to advance the cause of First Responders and emergency managers Across the Nation making sure that they prepare that they are prepared and resilient against all challenges I also wish wish to congratulate my colleagues across the aisle Mr Kennedy of New York on his role as ranking member
▶ 0:24:35I look forward to working with you as we strive to ensure our communities are prepared to prevent respond to and recover from emergencies and disasters I'd like to welcome back Mr Breen of Oklahoma and finally I want to welcome the newcomers to the subcommittee and to Congress Mr Evans of Colorado Mr McKenzie of Pennsylvania and across the aisle Miss Johnson of Texas and Mr Hernandez of Puerto Rico I look forward to working uh
▶ 0:25:05with all of you this Congress to do the work securing our homeland in the interest of ensuring our homeland is uh resilient and prepared for all types of disasters it is fitting that the subcommittee's first hearing is on FEMA the nation's primary disaster relief agency FEMA oversees National preparedness grants and federal Disaster Assistance coordinates relief efforts and ensures our nation is able to prepare for respond to
▶ 0:25:36and recover disasters recent events have overwhelmed our state and localities and challenged their ability to mobilize and help their communities in 2024 alone FEMA responded um and administered resources for over 100 major declarations according to Noah natural disasters last year caused 568 fatalities and damages total
▶ 0:26:08billion hurricane Helen and Milton alone devastated the East Coast causing $251 deaths and $13.9 billion in Damages beginning in January of this year fires and Los Angeles County and Southern California cause damage and economic loss that is projected to be somewhere between 250 billion and $275 billion which would make it the costliest single disaster in our nation's
▶ 0:26:38history surpassing the record set by Hurricane Katrina our states and localities deserve all the help they can get in protecting people's lives and property against deadly disasters the aid that FEMA delivers before and after disasters is greatly appreciated and greatly needed but as recent events demonstrate there is room for improvement we must ask what efficiencies can be found what reforms can be implemented
▶ 0:27:09to create a better Emergency Management Enterprise and how can FEMA uh be improved to better support those on the ground and disaster survivors I applaud president Trump's January 24th executive order to convene a FEMA review Council composed of individuals with expertise in Disaster Response and Recovery who will be tasked with providing recommendations on reform to
▶ 0:27:40FEMA even the be best government agencies are in continual need of Reform and FEMA is no exception the purpose of this hearing is to solicit feedback from stakeholders within the Emergency Management community that can help guide president Trump's FEMA review council at as it explores what aspects of FEMA deserves the most reform I thank the witnesses for their perspective and for being here today as we begin our conversation
▶ 0:28:10there are a few areas of potential reform which I would like to highlight FEMA's Mission set has expanded greatly in recent years to include tasks Beyond preparing for and responding to traditional disasters for example FEMA assisted the federal government's efforts in providing shelter and supplies to uac's from the sou Southwest border it also supported the Department of Homeland Security and re in the resettling of Afghan refugees
▶ 0:28:40by way of operation welcome since 2019 FEMA has been administering funds to local governments and nonprofit groups to offset the cost of humanitarian relief efforts of caring migrants at first through the emergency food and shelter program humanitarian and since 2023 the shelter and service program as the boorder of Crisis ballooned during the Biden Administration
▶ 0:29:11I wonder how much time was wasted administering this program when the FEMA Workforce was already stretched th as we uh contemplate how best to reconfigure or establish efficiencies within FEMA to support its operations we must ask whether FEMA's expanding Mission set has slowly exhausted the agency's resources and Workforce preventing it from completing its core mission to the highest level of
▶ 0:29:42sufficiency in addition to FEMA's Mission creep there are concerns that FEMA has also enabled a certain degree of waste a GAO report found that FEMA mishandled the administration of funds for its covid-19 funeral assistance program with at least $4.8 million being approved for duplicate or ineligible applicants I look forward to our Witnesses thoughts on how to make FEMA as efficient as possible
▶ 0:30:12while still allowing it to carry out the fullness of its duties it is also a great of great importance that FEMA avoid any appearances of partisanship following hurricane Milton last year a fem employee in proper and illegally instructed canvassers not to go to houses displaying signs of then Presidential candidate Trump disregarding FEMA's mission of supporting every Diva disaster Survivor
▶ 0:30:43as I'm sure we can all agree FEMA must be impartial in its performance of all duties the FEMA review Council will also consider various structural changes to FEMA as indicated in president Trump's executive order some have suggested FEMA should be removed from the Department of Homeland Security once again making it an independent agent agency with direct access to the president of the United States I look forward to hearing our Witnesses
▶ 0:31:13perspectives on this matter and whether they think this move would have a positive effect on FEMA's efficiency and ability to operate as well as potential changes that could be created finally it is evident that state and and local governments have become increasing increasingly reliant on FEMA to meet critical Disaster Response needs I inv I invite our witnesses to offer suggestions on a more appropriate structure of Burden sharing between federal
▶ 0:31:43government and state and local government to best position them to respond to disasters again I thank each of you for being here today and I look forward to hearing your testimony on these and other issues uh to inform to inform the work of the FEMA review Council as they seek to reform FEMA to better serve the American people I now recognize the ranking member of the subcommittee for his statement
▶ 0:32:13thank you chairman and congratulations on um being named chair of this great subcommittee I want to also recognize and congratulate my colleagues on both sides of the aisle uh for taking part in this subcommittee uh I want to recognize all of the witnesses that are here today thank you for being here and thank you for the important work that you do for country the topic of today's hearing unfortunately is very timely disasters are striking harder and more
▶ 0:32:44often from wildfires that we're seeing today yet again floods hurricanes extreme snow and ice storms tornadoes we've seen hundreds of lives taken across communities and devastated na Nationwide California Kentucky Florida South Carolina New York and everywhere in between we need to strengthen our preparedness our response our recovery efforts like never before it's ever more critical that we do so
▶ 0:33:15we have to support them from Congress every step of the way and I'm deeply concerned about the Trump administration's attack on FEMA and the dedicated public servants in emergency management at every level president Trump is threatened to dismantle the agency fire 200 employees pushed out 800 more under Elon Musk unfunded resignation scheme it's a reckless and dangerous move that undermines Disaster Response when we need it the most and these Brave servants attempting
▶ 0:33:45to help communities ravaged by destruction are being fired without cause is shameful despicable act and it's wrong unfortunately the majority has chosen not to include any representatives from fem to attend this hearing is testify today about what's truly happening on the front lines currently there's no transparency from this Administration on how FEMA an agency with such critical Mission can operate while being dismantled one employee at a time even while the Trump Administration continues
▶ 0:34:15to downplay the critical role of emergency managers the truth is that for decades FEMA has come to the a of the American public time and time again and they've done so without being under staff I'm sorry they've done so while being understaffed and underfunded in addition to the direct attacks on FEMA president Trump is chipping away and weakening the agencies that provide support to FEMA like Noah the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reportedly the Trump
▶ 0:34:46Administration has fired approximately 800 probationary employees at Noah while another 500 resigned severely undermining critical weather forecasting and climate monitoring services say such Mass exoduses from essential agencies not only weaken our Disaster Response and preparedness capabilities but also jeopardize Public Safety and economic stability let me be clear the American people cannot afford to let president Trump and Elon Musk take a chainsaw to FEMA
▶ 0:35:16I've seen firsthand how critical FEMA is on a number of occasions but in 2022 my community was ravaged by winter storm Elliott during the week of Christmas 2022 a category for extratropical cyclone created crippling winter weather conditions including blizzards high winds snowfall and record cold temperatures across the entire country exacerbated in
▶ 0:35:46the Northeast this catastrophic storm claimed 47 lives in my hometown of Buffalo and Western New York this tragedy overwhelmed our entire community in the days weeks and months following from the mourning of loss of loved ones friends and community members to putting the pieces of lives and homes back together following this storm President Biden ensured that FEMA assistance was provided but the devastating blizzard
▶ 0:36:17highlighted outdated FEMA policies that left gaps in support currently FEMA has a snow assistance in severe winter storm policy that provides a criteria for assistance following an extreme snowstorm however snow assistance requires a record or near record snowfall over 1 to three days validated by the National Weather Service and compared to historical data for example where other
▶ 0:36:47storms are judged by the amount of damage they cause a snow storm must be the worst a community has ever experienced to qualify for assistance that means up to six to seven feet of snow just to get the attention of FEMA that is not acceptable and where other storms are judged by this damage and we have to see more snow than ever before in history
▶ 0:37:17uh we see this disproportionate impact on how federal assistance can be provided so federal assistance for snow snow storms must be on par with other national natural disasters that's why I introduced the snow act to expand Disaster Assistance for snowstorms ensuring communities get the help that they need specifically my bill removes outdated snowfall methodology and the Statewide total damages requirement if the affected response
▶ 0:37:47Zone and or region has determined by state emergency service agencies it unlocks individual assistance for disasters providing monetary relief for families who experience substantial damages to their homes it unlocks all categories of Public Assistance for snow disasters such as assistance in removing debris rebuilding roads and bridges rebuilding and maintaining public utilities and melting agents for ice on roads it adds snow removal equipment under FEMA
▶ 0:38:17ha Hazard mitigation grant program and raises the federal cost shared at 90% Federal and 10% state and local if the effect areas are rural or below the real median household income according to Census Bureau this will have an impact on every single Community across the United States make no mistake about it there's work to be done to improve FEMA but dismantling its experienced Workforce is reckless and dangerous as climate change
▶ 0:38:47fuels more frequent and severe disasters our Focus must be on strengthening FEMA's ability to respond not weakening it it's more crucial than ever before to have a robust response system the growing threats we Face demand it while a lot of today's conversation is likely to focus on natural disasters FEMA does more than Disaster Response it provides critical preparedness grants for communities Nationwide yet the White House froze These funds forcing courts to
▶ 0:39:18intervene even after a judge's order reports indicate that many grants remain blocked jeopardizing emergency Readiness this is not just bureaucrat red tape it puts lives at risk this funding Frozen by the administration supports First Responders and emergency managers in keeping us all safe in my district we know firsthand how vital the preparedness Grant resources are and just a few short months we'll be commemorating the third anniversary the racist
▶ 0:39:48white supremacist terrorist attack that robbed 10 lives innocent souls for my community on May 14th 2022 that day our First Responders our police our firefighters our EMS and so many others bravely rushed into Harm's Way putting their lives on the line to protect others they give so much for the well-being of our community so the very least we can do is ensure that they have the funding and support that they need I look forward to hearing from our Witnesses
▶ 0:40:18today about all of these issues and more and with that Mr chairman I you back thank you thank you ranking K uh member Kennedy other members of the subcommittee are reminded that opening State statements may be submitted for the record I'm very pleased to have such an important panel of witnesses before us today I ask that the witnesses please rise and raise your right hand do you solemnly
▶ 0:40:48swear that the testimony you will give before the committee on homeland security of the United States House of Representatives will be the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth so help you God thank you please be seated let the record reflect that the witnesses have answered in the affirmative I would now like to formally introduce our Witnesses Mr Jeff smitherman serves as the Director of the Alabama Emergency
▶ 0:41:18Management agency previously Mr smitherman served as the acting director of Alabama Emergency Management agency and has also served as its executive operations officer and State Coordinating Officer Mr smithman also completed a 28-year military career retiring in 2015 from the United States Army and Alabama National Guard thank you for your service uh Mr Daniel KUSI uh is
▶ 0:41:49the managing director of public sector at Marsh mclennen where he develops uh innovative solutions to public sector challenges and engages 90,000 experts in Risk strategy and people from 2017 to 2020 he served as the Deputy Administrator for resilience of FEMA early in his career Mr KUSI served as special assistant to the president for Homeland Security and senior director for response policy in the George W Bush
▶ 0:42:20Administration Miss krie Speranza is a president of the US Council of international Association of emergency managers and is the former chair of the FEMA National advisory Council Miss Baran is also the director of Emergency Management Solutions at Ezra before joining Ezra Miss beranza was deputy director of the District of Colombia's Homeland Security and Emergency Management agency thank you Mr Timothy Manning is a former Deputy Administrator
▶ 0:42:50for protection and National preparedness at FEMA more recently Mr Manning served as the White House Co 19 Supply coordinator prior to joining uh Federal service Mr Manning served as the cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and Homeland Security advisor to Governor Richardson I thank the witnesses again for being here today I now recognize Mr smitherman for five minutes to summarize his opening statement Mr
▶ 0:43:22smitherman good morning and thank you chairman strong ranking member Kennedy and other distinguished members of the committee for the invitation to testify here today I am Jeff smithman the director of the Alabama Emergency Management agency and a Cabinet member to Governor K iy today I want to share with you all what I believe about Emergency Management and the future of FEMA at Alabama EMA we are proud to be one of the Premier Emergency Management Programs in the country Alabama's success is directly tied to the professionalism training
▶ 0:43:52and experience of our First Responders and local emergency management program as director and Cabinet member and on behalf of my colleagues in state and local emergency management we thank you for this opportunity to provide a state perspective on the future of FEMA Alabama is no stranger to large scale disasters while as a state we ranked 24th in population we are seventh in major disaster declarations during President Trump's first term we had six major disaster declarations and during my
▶ 0:44:22time or my tenure at the agency from 2015 to present we've had 17 major declarations however States experience many other events that do not rise to a major disaster declaration but still required significant commitment of State resources I believe disaster preparedness response and recovery for all incidents start and end at the local level and that the relationship is critical between federal state tribal and local emergency management
▶ 0:44:53each jurisdiction maintains separate authorities and capabilities but must work together by connecting and supporting one another to effectively And Timely save lives and protect property states are critical to successful preparation response and Recovery within our communities to fully understand the critical function of the state I believe a state Emergency Management director must be included in the review process and on the president's FEMA review Council I believe we must use this reset opportunity
▶ 0:45:23to not just necessarily look at how to adjust the current system but to take a whole holistic look and approach to its redesign what do we want the emergency management system to look like after the president's review Council completes their work this is a generational opportunity for rebuilt network with a refined focus and efficiency I believe we can gain some efficiencies through this process with no additional federal funds I believe we can build more state and local capacity
▶ 0:45:54by adjusting the funding and redefining streamlining priorities I believe preparedness and resilience are related functions the more deliberate focus and effort that goes into preparedness is realized after an event with a more resilient population and infrastructure as such I believe we can place increased priority on State and local capacity using existing building resilient infrastructure and communities brick funding
▶ 0:46:24brick is a newer grant program that has not really ized its initial goals by redesignating a small portion of this funding to be made available to all states in order to develop their capacity and the capacity at the local jurisdictions it would be a highly efficient and effective way to serve our citizens who need timely and helpful assistance on their worst days not months or years of red tape the homeland security grants serve to train and certify existing local First Responders the same resources that Alabama deployed
▶ 0:46:55to North Carolina for Helen one important system that already exists for the states is the Emergency Management assistance compact the emac I believe emac is a viable proven framework and program to execute state-to-state Mutual Aid increased capacity can be used by States within the emac system to cover requirements that FEMA formerly tried to cover I believe Emergency Management is a team effort sometimes you rely on one aspect more
▶ 0:47:25than the other such as state versus FEMA but everyone still has a role I think the key during this critical review will be an important opportunity to clearly define the role of local state federal tribal nonprofit and private sector partners and create a new Dynamic Emergency Management that works everyone I believe there is a consensus on the lack of speed consistency and Clarity from FEMA and I know many in FEMA agree
▶ 0:47:55and welcome some level of of change the state's already built schools Parks government buildings Etc I believe we can rebuild better quicker and more efficiently in a system more like a block grant than the cumbersome system we currently use as I conclude I want to thank you again to the committee for the opportunity to appear before you today I believe Emergency Management is critical to the nation and The Time Is Now to implement improvements that will change the way we do business and ultimately better serve the citizens
▶ 0:48:25of United States thank you thank you Mr smithman I now recognize Dr Kowski for five minutes to summarize his opening statement chairman strong ranking member Kennedy my name is Dan KUSI and I focus on the public sector at Marsh mclenon it's the world's L leading Professional Services firm in the areas of risk strategy and people we're a US company with more than 990,000 colleagues worldwide advising public and private sector clients in 130 countries we
▶ 0:48:55have a deep understanding of disaster resilience and Recovery issues having been engaged with risk management Insurance challenges since our founding more than 150 years ago we work with clients including governments individuals businesses organizations and communities to analyze their disaster risk exposures help them Implement Solutions before during and after an event address and mitigate the financial impact of natural disasters through insurance and other risk transfer tools before join
▶ 0:49:26joining mclenon I had the pleasure of serving in the first Trump Administration as the second ranking official at FEMA I served alongside a dedicated FEMA Workforce that managed a barrage of back-to-back disasters from 2017 to 2020 we embraced a locally executed State managed and federally supported approach we always operated in support of the governor and I believe then and continue to believe now that FEMA should not be viewed simply as the federal
▶ 0:49:56government's ATM reimbursing States for their costs but instead positioned as the nation's risk manager my proudest achievement at FEMA was launching and leading the agency's resilience organization the pre-disaster mission of the resilience organization is comprised of three equally important parts preparedness mitigation and insurance much of my expertise relates to resilience and we at Marsh mclenon believe FEMA's mission
▶ 0:50:26of supporting state and local governments before a disaster can be strengthened making the agent a trusted risk adviser much in the way that we see ourselves at Marsh mclenon FEMA is most often associated with Disaster Response missions recent major disasters such as hurricane Helen and Milton and the LA wildfires demonstrate why that is when the spotlight is on FEMA it's when what FEMA does matters most in the moment but I strongly believe that what FEMA does before
▶ 0:50:56it disaster strikes is equally important today's hearing presents an opportunity to engage in a long overdue conversation about potential reforms to FEMA and more broadly appropriate levels of Burden sharing between federal state and local governments and with the sector I personally have seen FEMA reforms I was the author of the Bush White House Hurricane Katrina after Action Report the federal response to Hurricane Katrina lesson learned and at FEMA the first Trump administr
▶ 0:51:26ation we proposed to Congress and then implemented provisions of the disaster recovery Reform Act of 2018 including the building resilient infrastructure in communities or brick grant program the Strategic plan we developed at FEMA in 2017 contained a goal of closing the insurance Gap I now work in the Property and Casualty Insurance industry and continue to focus on that goal just like FEMA the insurance industry is at a Crossroads given
▶ 0:51:56the recent Deluge of recent disasters from flooding to hurricanes to wildfires there's a pressing need for proactive measures to mitigate risks and Safeguard the well-being of our communities thus resilience must be our Collective North Star whereby reduce the physical and financial impacts of disasters and transfer these risks off the backs of disaster survivors and the federal balance sheet but to do so we must be prepared to match the magnitude of risks we face with the magnitude of effort
▶ 0:52:27required to manage them FEMA through its various Grant programs both disincentivizes and incentivizes resilience Investments by state and local governments the FEMA public assistance program largely disincentivizes resilience because it amounts to a deao insurance policy for state and local governments in contrast femous pre- disaster programs such as brick Hazard mitigation programs encourage resilience by providing the funding that saves taxpayer dollars and reduce is disaster
▶ 0:52:57suffering the private sector can also incentivize resilience particularly in the areas of Finance insurance and real estate these sectors should view themselves as co- beneficiaries of resilience Investments and therefore should find ways to encourage individuals businesses and governments to make these Investments thank you for your time today and the opportunity to share how FEMA together with its state and local emergency management partners and the private sector can together make the nation more resilient I look forward to
▶ 0:53:27your questions thank you Dr KUSI I now recognize Miss spazza sparza there we go uh for five minutes um to summarize her opening statements good morning chairman strong ranking member Kennedy and members of the subcommittee my name is Carrie spranza and I'm appearing before you today as president of the US Council of the International Association of emergency managers an organization representing Emergency Management practitioners worldwide wide with over 5,000
▶ 0:53:58us members members of the subcommittee your local state tribal and territorial Emergency Management agencies ensure your communities are prepared to respond to and recover from emergencies and disasters we create and manage systems that save lives minimize damage to property and infrastructure mitigate future risks and help restore communities after a disaster we are grateful to be a part of today's conversation because we know that our efforts are only possible with the support of the Federal Emergency
▶ 0:54:28Management agency to serve our communities effectively disaster management must be ferally supported State administered and locally executed together with the Private Industry this multi- sector approach is a necessary partnership particularly when disasters overwhelm local and state resources reform of federal disaster programs is long overdue but I'd like to highlight a few FEMA programs that must be sustained through this process and also speak to opportunities for change first
▶ 0:54:58sustainment fima must maintain its role in driving change through its preparedness programs these programs serve as the underlying Foundation from which all local and state Emergency Management capabilities are derived through this investment FEMA helps to establish national standards for state and local Personnel so that assets can be provided through mutual Aid this capability is essential as illustrated by hurricanes Helen and Milton were over 6,300 public safety personnel deployed for 290
▶ 0:55:29Mutual Aid missions preparedness is not a matter of insurance before a disaster instead these FEMA preparedness programs provide assurances that we can Aid each other in times of disaster and preparing through planning training exercising and standardization is crucial femous Hazard mitigation programs must also be sustained as they drive long-term change by helping communities Safeguard against future risk without femus partnership communities will become more vulnerable as the
▶ 0:55:59National Institute of building Sciences outlined in its 2019 mitigation saves report public sector Grant investments in mitigation save $6 for every $1 spent meaning mitigating risks is simply good business opportunities for change First Reform must prioritize building a disaster resistant America by incentivizing and rewarding smart decision-making and fiscal responsibility at the local and state levels examples include establishing and adhering to building codes in all
▶ 0:56:29communities and requiring adequate property in rental insurance additionally jurisdiction should prioritize Emergency Management as a necessary function to invest in and all states should establish a disaster relief fund as their first line of defense to provide immediate aid to survivors before calling on FEMA to help FEMA can play a role in incentivizing these actions by increasing preparedness and pre- disaster mitigation Assistance or by reducing the non-federal cier requirements post disaster
▶ 0:56:59the second opportunity for reform involves efforts to minimize long-term recovery costs by adjusting the disaster declaration process and establishing a federal long-term recovery exit strategy FEMA has the expertise that provides communities with best practices for long-term recovery planning and coordination making them an invaluable partner at the onset of the recovery process however a calculated exit strategy that transitions leadership to the local jurisdiction coupled with recovery funds will help everyone when they need it most and the decrease in
▶ 0:57:30extended Federal oversight will expedite the rebuilding process recent ideas about FEMA reform have included shifting response and Recovery CA responsibilities and block grant Administration to the states I want to offer that this approach will only work if the methodology is transparent and financial controls are implemented to reduce long-term recovery costs policies must require a mandatory minimum pass through to the jurisdictions effect Ed by the disaster this will ensure that resources are not redirected
▶ 0:58:00to non-disaster related activities finally to implement any of these recommendations Congress must amend the Stafford act providing a modernized framework for FEMA to operate more effectively it is a necessary step in this process and we need your help Mr chairman and ranking member the International Association of emergency managers fully supports a comprehensive review and reform of FEMA reform will ultimately help help the people of America and that is what emergency managers do we help people before
▶ 0:58:31during and after disasters thank you again for the opportunity to be here today and I look forward to your questions thank you m spranza now recognize Mr Manning for five minutes uh to summarize his opening statement chairman strong ranking member Kennedy members of the subcommittee good morning I'm Tim Manning thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the state of FEMA FEMA is truly at a Tipping Point as is our national emergency management system and the timing of this
▶ 0:59:01hearing couldn't be more critical over the past 30 years I've served at all levels of Emergency Management from County Fire and EMS to the state to FEMA to the White House and FEMA has never been more called upon and its Workforce more stretched thin the growing frequency of catastrophic disasters and a once in a century pandemic have had widespread impacts on Emergency Management at large this changing Hazard landscape and the operations Tempo is now coupled
▶ 0:59:31with indiscriminate firings regressive changes in policy and freezes and funding all resulting in significant impacts on the nation's preparedness for emergencies disasters and terrorist attacks and these impacts are far wider than just the Federal Emergency Management agency FEMA is but the federal player in a broader Collective team a disaster in a disaster when CR when the crisis exceeds the the capabilities of a local government that local government requests assistance from the state and when it exceeds
▶ 1:00:01the ability of that state they request the help of the federal government from the president and FEMA on behalf of the president is the ex executive of that assistance FEMA coordinates the federal government's response but does not assume command of the overall response states have always and continue to Bear the primary responsibility and those and who along with their local governments respond to a great deal more emergencies and disasters than FEMA ever gets involved in
▶ 1:00:32it was in the 1970s for example that after Decades of fragmented and uneven support from the federal government that the southern Governors requested of the president that FEMA be created eliminating or drastically reducing the size and role of FEMA at this time would be intentionally rolling back hard-learned lessons erasing 70 years of reforms rooted in trying to avoid the mistakes of the past continuing to learn however is important rebuilding roads Bridges hospitals can take time and
▶ 1:01:02Government Contracting and oversight rules to prevent fraud waste and abuse can be burdensome but when the public complains about Disaster Response saying where's FEMA it's usually individual assistance that they need and the rules create their challenges that many Americans struggle to overcome misinformation exacerbates these challenges Public Assistance reform such as block grants could benefit state and local government administrative operations and individual assistance reforms
▶ 1:01:33would benefit disaster survivors more directly and visibly and reform should also include a review of FEMA's operational response capability such as the 28 Urban search and rescue teams the MS disaster emergency communications units these resources the resources provided to these critical assets have not kept up with a significant increase in the number of disaster deployments but FEMA's strongest asset is its Workforce for its Mission FEMA is relatively small it has no helicopters
▶ 1:02:03no airplanes no ships its strength is in its people the recent firing of the agency CFO and grants management staff for managing a congressionally authorized and appropriated program has had a dramatic chilling effect and the indiscriminate firing of a wide range of people and expectations of more has hurt morale and operational capacity its whole Workforce is critical as is true across the Emergency Management profession every FEMA employee has a Disaster Response role whether someone's day job is managing a terrorism Grant
▶ 1:02:33or flood insurance everyone in FEMA also has a second responsibility in which they support a Disaster Response they work in anoc or deploy down range to support survivors everyone is critical Mr chairman ranking member members of the subcommittee almost 20 years ago I was here testifying on almost this exact same issue where FEMA and DHS structur Ed correctly and were the dramatic unilateral changes put in at that time responsible for poor response Congress
▶ 1:03:03passed reforms and the administration at that time listened in the ensuing decades the nation has made dramatic improvements congress's Investments and capabilities through grants and legislative reform have resulted in more prepared communities theyve mitigated disasters provided a more effective response it's saved Lives Recovery is still challenging and slow Implement and the individual assistance provided to people and families is complicated and often less than anticipated by the public reforms to
▶ 1:03:33those programs would be greatly beneficial but there should be no question of the need for a single federal coordinating agency working with governors in support of the American people Mr chairman thank you for the opportunity this morning I look forward to your questions uh thank you thank you Mr Manning uh members will be recognized by order of seniority for their five minutes of question in uh an additional round of questioning may be called after all members have been recognized I now recognize myself for 5 minutes of
▶ 1:04:04questioning Mr smithman it's good to see you uh here representing the great state of Alabama since 1980 Alabama has faced 116 weather related disasters averaging one to two incidents per year as a result Emergency Management leaders throughout the state have forged strong Partnerships with the federal government particularly FEMA to support Community recovery and Aid individuals in their greatest time of need as you all know the president
▶ 1:04:34recently announced FEMA's review Council aimed at identifying areas of improvement within the agency and suggest changes to help state agency uh Emergency Management agencies respond to the aftermath of Crisis Mr smithman based on your experience what do you think is the appropriate level of FEMA involvement that enable states to maintain the lead in Disaster Response thank you chairman strong
▶ 1:05:04well from to to start with from from my experience we have a lot of disasters and we've dealt had FEMA come in and we established the Joint Force uh joint field headquarters we've done or joint field officers we've done that many times and and often um that that's really not necessary the for for Alabama we were one of the pilot States that piloted the state managed disasters we did that for Hurricane Nate in Alabama so we've already managed uh a disaster at the state level and I think
▶ 1:05:34with proper resourcing and considerations we could do that for many of the disasters we experience and save the The Limited FEMA um uh limited FEMA resources for the most catastrophic of events so that like what you seen in Katrina Helen when we've had our uh tornado outbreak 2011 we kind of rank up there with that in terms terms of uh when we would ask FEMA to come in we are not a state that relies on FEMA during the response phase we bring them in they're there that we have the regional Incident
▶ 1:06:04Management assistance teams in there with us they're integrated into our uh EOC and and we keep the FEMA headquarters informed of what we're doing through that process but uh as far as a need the biggest value to us FEMA is during the recovery phase and when they come in we just have have got to figure out a way to make that more responsive less complex less Bure ratic and actually get the the funds down to the locals who are trying so desperately to get their communities put back in in order from uh after that disaster incident
▶ 1:06:35you you got it I saw it firsthand as the chairman of the second largest county in the state of Alabama 350 homes totally destroyed that tornado e54 was on the ground for 126 miles thousands of homes totally destroyed and we had we're without power for 10 to 12 Days in some areas but it was definitely something that we'll never forget how can coordination be improved between federal state components in Disaster Response and recovery
▶ 1:07:06so so the I would say right now so the the communication I think the communication flow Works fairly well it's just that um that there there's so much that that goes on dayt day that that that has limited impact I think uh as one of my panel uh gu uh U colleagues here to stated one of the the critical components of that is that um being being in the preparation in the preparedness phase really so the what they can do to help identify and get
▶ 1:07:36consistency throughout the states so one one uh area that I would say is in the emac system the more we can Empower and and encourage the use of the emac system where the states can provide the mutual Aid back and forth as a particular state is able to use resources uh pre-event resources funding from FEMA to establish capability and capacity at that local level and at the state level it gives us a venue to be able to share that so that not everybody has to have everything we we can Empower what
▶ 1:08:06we already have and train and certify and equip it thank you as I mentioned in my opening statement FEMA has been tasked with managing an increasingly diverse Mission set um Mr KUSI in your uh in your opinion how has FEMA expand the expanded missions affected is ability to fully respond to any singular disaster well I think certainly at various times we've seen FEMA stretch thin that's most often
▶ 1:08:36takes place when there's a major disaster especially when there are multiple major disasters or like what we saw in 2017 when when I was at FEMA with hurricanes um that backto back backto back hurricanes and when you have that you simply can't recover and so this and that that applies both to FEMA which manages a variety of these disasters as well as the state and local governments that they themselves have been directly
▶ 1:09:06impacted thank you my time has expired I now recognize the ranking member Mr Kennedy for his five minutes of questioning thank you chairman uh last month president Trump and Elon Musk fired at least 200 FEMA employees now under the Trump administration's deferred resignation program over 800 female employees including highly skilled emergency professionals are leaving Mr Manning how all these Reckless staff firings impact FEMA disaster response and what will happen to the communities that rely on FEMA
▶ 1:09:38support ring member thank you for the question it's uh really devastating to the female Workforce to lose the the the broad swath of team members that they have uh you know the the firings the original indiscriminate firings were challenging enough and that they were targeting probation employees but not just beginning of career employees people throughout the organization including senior leaders and people who have been there for a long time and recently promoted the additional uh departure of a wide number
▶ 1:10:08of very senior very influential and important career uh leaders within the organization is going to uh slow its decision-making uh inhibit its Effectiveness uh and will have real implications in preparedness and disaster resp response thank you uh earlier this year the administration chose to illegally freeze funding previously appropriated by Congress including FEMA funding despite court orders to release disaster relief funds
▶ 1:10:38at least 140 FEMA grants remain Frozen impacting Wildfire protection flood mitigation disaster preparedness efforts a coalition of Attorneys General is now file the motion urging the court to enforce its ruling arguing that FEMA's manual review process simply a freeze by another name Mr smitherman are FEMA preparedness grants and disaster relief funding important to your operation uh yes Congressman
▶ 1:11:09they they are uh to to dat Alabama has only experienced uh small delays with um receipt of those funding with the exception of I think a couple of grants that that uh the notice of oper uh opportunity for funding has been withdrawn I think they're rewriting some of them put it back out but to to date we've not been impacted by that freeze the the money that we're able to draw down uh we're obligated we've been able to draw down the process has become a little bit slower through to the review
▶ 1:11:39but uh we have not missed uh missed any payments uh at the state level based on that uh would funding cuts to FEMA grants help or hurt your operation in community I think that the answer is obvious anytime you cut funding to a to an item but I think you really have to take a look holistically at the entire emergency management system what is it that uh the answer isn't always the federal system um what are we doing at the state what are we doing at the local how are we managing
▶ 1:12:09the funds that we're given are they are we efficient at that are we effective at that I think that would be the true measure um you know and and reward those who have demonstrated Financial um uh solvency in the way that they handle the money I think I would venture that Alabama we have um Alabama has a a committee in 2019 our legislature established something uh not too dissimilar from the Doge it's called the Alabama Commission on efficiency and services
▶ 1:12:40and uh so we have to and I get audited every year we've passed our audits we track our money we know where it's at we keep up with it and we spend it I think effectively and efficiently cutting funding would not be helpful I'm EXC excuse me sir cutting funding would not be helpful I I I think there's there's Readiness that can be gained Across the Nation as long as funding is available to attain that Readiness now we would discuss at what level we place that thank you uh DH grant funding has been essential for First Responders providing local agencies with the resources needed to handle
▶ 1:13:10disasters and emergencies and we know that First Responders Nationwide have stressed how critical these needs are yet F during his first term president Trump pushed major cuts and forc a 10% reduction in fiscal year 2024 Mr Manning with climate change driving more frequent and severe disasters how crucial is it to sustain or increase funding to ensure First Responders can protect vulnerable communities I believe the the homeland security grant program all of FEMA Grant uh
▶ 1:13:40preparedness programs from the Emergency Management performance Grant through the resilience grants that Dr KUSI was mentioning earlier have been absolutely critical in building capacity for the nation uh the redu any reduction in the resources available from the federal government to build the nation's response capacity to build preparedness will have a detrimental impact on our ability to prepare and respond to disasters and acts of terrorism and if you cut that funding from the federal level to FEMA that would otherwise go to the states the states have to make up for
▶ 1:14:10that funding in the moment correct I yeld back thank you thank you the gentleman's time has expired I now recognize the gentleman from Oklahoma Mr Breen thank you Mr chairman I have expressed U to the chairman privately I want to say publicly how grateful I am for this hearing I think this is something that is to to many of your comments long overdue I don't think most people realize that prior to 1979 there was no FEMA and it was established by an executive
▶ 1:14:41order by Jimmy Carter and so I think it would well serve us if we go back 40 years I'd love to find the people that were in Emergency Management 40 and 50 years ago to get their experience about the ease of not having to adhere to the regulatory burden um last year 50% of our supplemental funding and I say our I need to rephrase that the taxpayer financed spending taken from the taxpayer whether it's a direct tax or
▶ 1:15:11an indirect tax of inflation because of our deficit spending last year 50% of our supplemental spending all borrowed money was uh FEMA directed in 1980 it was 1% of the total supplemental fund that Congress allocated went to FEMA and so for some of you that are experts if you look at the chart of the growth of FEMA it is unbelievable it ways surpasses passes inflation we now have a FEMA that has become the Uber service for illegal immigrants in the last two and three years it is
▶ 1:15:41way outside of its bounds FEMA is involved with 30 different federal agencies now and so we have major mission creep that has to be rained in it has to be bidded bridled and somebody has to holler woe and so I'm grateful that this conversation is happening I'm going to give you um a personal example because I want to tie it into my questions I I have a a and and a dirt moving background when I was serving on the state level a friend
▶ 1:16:11of mine Mark Allen state senator at the same time I was a state senator after a 2012 tornado hit an area I represented he was kind enough to say hey I'll bring my Dozer down you get on the Dozer I'll get on the skid steer and we'll do some clean up to help people that don't have the ability to finances so we did did that and so I'm moving this Dozer I'm I'm in a very rural setting tuska Oklahoma and I'm moving material I'm separating the vegetative from the non-vegetative to make sure we abide by the FEMA regulations many brush piles over and I watched
▶ 1:16:41because of federal regulations because I I was in the Dirt Works business I was in the Dozer excavator trucking business what could have been something that in the in the country setting could have been solved like that it is done every day today where people in the country pull Timber together they they light it on fire we were not allowed to do that we had to multiply the cost four times over you had to bring in a half round which is a bathtub on the back of a of a semi and you had to take an excavator
▶ 1:17:11tracko and you had to load that material that I had pushed up into a brush pile dismantle it load it in in a half round haul it off Miles and Miles whether to be incinerated major crossed or to be buried by another bulldozer I can tell you CU I've turned in um estimates to many customers when I served when I was out of the government in the free market you multiplied that cost at least by four it didn't make any sense we've had stories come before this Committee of of not allowing snow to be moved snow that melts
▶ 1:17:42because of FEMA environmental regulations and tandem so I'm I'm setting you up because I'd love to hear Mr smitherman from your experience the waste that you've seen because of federal let me ask you a simple question I Lov what you said we piloted a state response how freeing was that for you all to be able to make your own decisions and make a decision that you knew would save taxpayer money and immediately respond in Alabama of course
▶ 1:18:12I'm a I'm a fan of our performance during that I think if you take a look at FEMA's evaluation of our performance you'll see an alignment with that uh so you know we have had one small disaster where the cost of FEMA coming in and establishing The Joint field office almost exceeded the cost of the disaster itself um so I think that would be my one example no that's not to say that uh or an attack on FEMA being wasteful it's the process they use and I think
▶ 1:18:42if you look at a state managed disaster for for those that we can handle just help us handle it and and and and let us go so I think that's one example of efficiency and and Sir if I may let me find my answer on funding that U the ranking member asked of course if there's funding Cuts but really what I want to talk about is is where you cut and where you put the resources because if you're talking about the First Responders that are responding during the disaster by no means am I talking cutting them
▶ 1:19:12I'm talking reallocating funding that you save elsewhere to put at the capacity level so that you have those capabilities that are so needed across the states and and the region and the United States that that's really what I meant with where to allocate the the funding Mr chairman if I may since he answer another member's question if I could have a little leanen see on my time yes glad you were able to respond to him I years ago US senator in Oklahoma Tom Coburn asked for our state uh director of transportation to build a mile of road
▶ 1:19:43under federal regulations and use an applet TOA comparison and build a mile of or what turned into to be a mile and a half under state regulations Apples to Apples comparison this is about 10 15 years ago he could build a mile of road at the same cost he could build a mile and a half under State Authority and this was quality work the dollars will go farther you'll have more decision-making and control and in a rate of inflation that deals with everything that f is involved with especially
▶ 1:20:13when you're talking about the large equipment that comes in and and under Disaster Recovery um this is a a solution that we have to make happen given where we're at financially as a country thank you the gentleman's time has uh expired the gentle woman from Texas Miss Johnson is recognized thank you Mr chairman in February of 2021 Texas was hit with our biggest winter storm to date killing over 240 Texans Texans were left without power busted
▶ 1:20:43pipes drinkable water and freezing to death not to mention the millions of property damage all across our state throughout this disaster support from FEMA was critical in saving the lives across North Texas communities simply put without FEMA This Disaster would have been 10 times worse and look not all of us could flee to Cancun but abandoning FEMA now would mean abandoning Texas and would serve to set up our state
▶ 1:21:13for even worse disasters in the future fma's rapid response provided Texans with 70,000 gallons of gasoline 5 million lers of water 60 generat and helped over 650 he households retain power these resources proved to be invaluable and likely saved thousands of Texans from the worst case scenario we all remember back in 2017 when Texas was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey 3500 FEMA employees
▶ 1:21:44along with 31,000 members of the National Guard were deployed to provide assistance to our Gulf Coast almost 800,000 homes had at least 18 Ines of water inside and 24 hospitals were evacuated within 30 days of hurricane Harvey over 270,000 households were provided with $1.5 billion from FEMA that covered temporary housing advancement pay for flood insurance and repairs to keep their home safe all of this was approved
▶ 1:22:14by President Trump we know that climate change is an escalating threat to our homeland security and we would be lying to ourselves if we set a catastrophe like this is not on the rise and will not ever happen again last May tornadoes tore through T North Texas Killing seven people including three children and injuring over 100 of my neighboring residents FMA stepped in and provided displacement and home repair assistance at a very critical
▶ 1:22:45time president Trump's decision to fire over 200 FEMA employees last month was not only irresponsible but will over overwhelm current employees who are already burned out and most importantly it will endanger the lives of Texans and many people throughout this entire country I'm all for cutting waste Fraud and Abuse but we can't lose sight of the humanity the time of Crisis needs that FEMA provides Elon Musk may not think that saving lives is an efficient
▶ 1:23:15use of federal dollars but I know that it is and I know that my neighbors would agree with me at this very moment the people of North Carolina who are just now starting to get on their feet from the catastrophic floods last year are currently on fire parts of California were just burned to the ground and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have the audacity to support the president's unconstitutional behavior and allow him to dismantle this important Federal agency and
▶ 1:23:45just last night the Dallas area was hit by yet another round of tornadoes and the damage is now still being calculated FMA is not the endall and Beall but with an unreliable Grid in Texas and natural disasters becoming more frequent Americans cannot afford to lose the life-saving services that FEMA provides Mr Manning how can federal state local governments effectively prepare for and respond to the growing climate threats
▶ 1:24:16without FEMA support without Federal support and what consequences will these Cuts have on underserved communities thank you for that question the the inability or at least the change in policy to uh disincentivize or even prohibit the consideration of climate change uh will have a incredibly detrimental effect on preparedness across the country it is changing uh our the complexion of Hazards in America uh there are
▶ 1:24:46more severe storms more severe impacts than we have seen historically if we only plan forward based on what we have experienced historically we will be drastically under preparing going forward uh and people will be in danger and may lose lives Texas has a very strong emergency management system but even Texas needs the assistance of FEMA uh over and over again a strong collaborative partnership between FEMA uh and the states is how we move America forward and how we assure that
▶ 1:25:16our most vulnerable communities have the protection that they need thank you so much for your answer I believe I'm out of time and I yield back the gentle woman's time has expired I now recognize the gentleman from Colorado Mr Evans for 5 minutes of questioning thank you Mr chairman thank you ranking member and thank you of course to the witnesses for taking the time to come today um so I spent two decades uh in between military and law enforcement on the military side was a Blackhawk helicopter pilot in the National Guard in Colorado so I've commanded all National Guard Aviation
▶ 1:25:46assets in the state of Colorado responding to wildfires um as a police officer uh for a decade I was pretty integ integrally involved and a lot of these um Disaster Response and Emergency Management things and so have a couple of questions here um Mr and I apologize I a b butcher it can uh KUSI did I get it um Mr KUSI just looking through your your bio here it looks like you have some experience in the insurance space and so one of the things that I hear uh specifically with regard
▶ 1:26:16to Wildfire from a lot of my electric utility providers is the exploding insurance rates that they have to pay to be able to provide electrical services through some of these high Wildfire risk areas and so um looking through your your comments here you're talking about effectively how an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure can you expound a little bit on how being able to do some of these um preemptive mitigation strategies might potentially be able to help alleviate
▶ 1:26:47some of the insurance burden that my electric utilities are facing as they try to provide uh electricity through some of these high Wildfire risk areas yeah Wildfire is a risk that requires a partnership it requires Partnerships not just those traditional partners that we think of maybe those of us in emergency management or those of us that were First Responders but it requires Partnerships from critical infrastructure as you highlighted and as critical infrastructure owners and operators uh you mentioned the power industry
▶ 1:27:17they need to understand what their risks are and what they can do about it and unfortunately all of that now come to the four because when someone loses power questions are raised fingers are pointed blame is placed and the reality is it's no one stakeholder it's not just that critical infrastructure owner and operator there's only so much they can do themselves by working with the
▶ 1:27:47local community as well as working with the state and local governments and looking at regulations that may inhibit or enhance the resilience of critical critical infrastructure we can hopefully make that infrastructure one more resilient and two reduce the risks that everyone faces so that Wildfire risk that might threaten a power line also threatens homes and so taking a community- based approach and understanding that by reducing that Wildfire risk
▶ 1:28:18it actually benefits everyone whether it be their home which is the most obvious I think all of us think about about when we think of wildfire risk but we also think about the loss of of power now I would say our company works very closely and our clients include uh major energy companies and this certainly is top of mind with them and making sure that there are Insurance products available to protect them but I would say it requires a partnership on the regulatory side with those State Regulators to make that
▶ 1:28:48feasible so so what are some of those specific Partnerships that currently exist and then are there any regulatory barriers that we can look to reduce to be able to build that federal state to local partnership ultimately with the goal of being able to um reduce some of the insurance burden that a lot of my Rural Electric co-ops are facing by being able to lower the risk specifically in my area for wildfires what what are some of those Partnerships what are the barriers um that we need to work on to make those more accessible so first a
▶ 1:29:18general statement insurance is just a reflection of the risk so when we talk about insurance premiums going up it's it's because the risk has gone up and so anything we can do to reduce that risk again it can be as simple as removing combustible materials around whether it be power lines or homes that's Wildfire risk but the interesting thing about Wildfire risk it's not just what you do it's what your neighbors do or what that Community does and so building codes play a preminent role here so making sure that
▶ 1:29:48the building code it's a Wildland inter you Urban interface uh fire you know fire would be really a building code would be very important to protect that Community whether it be again power lines or homes and at the state level because insurance is regulated at the state level there's really no one answer I can give you it depends on the state so it's really a a partnership whether it be emergency managers working with insurance Commissioners or with energy Regulators in that state I think
▶ 1:30:18would be uh a very advisable way way to go to build those Partnerships and so that we all see the term I used in my opening statement that we're all co- beneficiaries of that investment we all benefit from that investment in resilience thank you you'll back the gentleman from Colorado's time has expired and now recognized the gentleman from Puerto Rico Mr her Hernandez for five minutes of questioning thank you Mr chairman I bet if I ask my constituents to name one Federal agency they will all say FEMA FEMA has had a
▶ 1:30:48huge role in Puerto Rico following hurricane Maria and I'll be the first to acknowledge has serious problems with efficiency and bureaucracy you know out of tens of billions of dollars that were assigned to Puerto Rico by FEMA we've only seen a fraction our electric grid is probably worse off today than it was the day before hurricane Maria's struck so there's a lot of work to be done with regards to FEMA and so my first question Mr Manning what concrete legislative changes could we enact
▶ 1:31:19to make sure that federal funds that are obligated under FEMA are efficiently thank you Congressman I you know there if we talk about the pre- disaster side of the mitigation of preparedness grants uh and the post- disaster side there are slightly different answers but the comes down to FEMA administers a broad swath of legal requirements both out of the Stafford act but also a a merri of Grants laws uh and fiscal law
▶ 1:31:49and so there are going to be reforms that need to be looked at in public assistance to to streamline uh the provision of resources and the approval of projects which is where a lot of delays I believe in Puerto Rico they're experiencing it's the negotiation between the uh Commonwealth Puerto Rico and FEMA uh in the context of all of these fiscal and Stafford Act laws uh in the mitigation side and some of the pre- disaster and post- disaster mitigation a lot of those are coming through there are some delays
▶ 1:32:20now in the in the current administration's review process that could be fast-tracked as well if they were to resend some of those but there is I think that collaboration and that view through the the Stafford act reforms that we're discussing today are the most important great thank you um my second question is and this is for Mr smitherman let's assume that Congress moves towards dismantling or decentralizing FEMA to promote more Interstate cooperation should
▶ 1:32:50it consider some sort of special treatment for non-con ental us jurisdictions because I'm concerned Alabama can get help from Florida from Tennessee uh from Georgia but Puerto Rico Hawaii Alaska Guam the usbi the Mariana Islands American Samoa I hope I left nobody out uh can can have a harder time we got a lot of help from from the states I don't want to undermine that but it obviously is it it takes a lot longer to send a
▶ 1:33:20few trucks to an island in the Caribbean or the Pacific than it does from one state to the neighboring state so uh how how could we reconcile that in with these views of the centralizing FEMA and giving more support to the states to help each other thank you for that question so uh unabashedly yes states that are uh in the in the Continental us obviously have an an advantage in that regard uh I think you have to look at it uh just to
▶ 1:33:50totally from a different approach you with regards to an island support yes you have to find those different federal agencies whether it be a DOD or or maybe incorporate some additional way to pre-stage some of the the state to state assistance uh I particularly had a situation this past week or I think two weeks ago I was out at the United States Northern command working on a course and we had a member from Guam there and uh they talked about the challenges they they're having with both
▶ 1:34:20disaster you know taking care of the planning for disaster support and any nation state threats I think they've seen some spe specific nation state threats here recently and it's a challenge for them and they talk specifically to that how do we get this assistance and they they are looking at more of a DOD approach so maybe I think when we talk about looking holistically at uh a redesign you know FEMA is just one part of a of a larger emergency management system and anytime you make an adjustment on
▶ 1:34:50one area of a system you've got to account for other areas in that system to to make up that shortfall or that change so if you move away something from FEMA somebody somewhere has got to take that up so I think regardless of what the broad outcomes of the female review Council that the president's putting together whatever their recommendations are I think you have to follow on with that and said is what functions have moved before you establish what form that's going to look like so where are you moving that requirement
▶ 1:35:20where who's going to pick up the response for um Island um response and someone's got to pick that up and and who is that going to be and and let's if we move that function let's resource that function and I'm sorry to interrup because I have very few seconds left um I'm not fully convinced of DOD taking over FEMA but I look forward to working you know to find bipartisan Solutions should that be the approach that the majority in my in my in what I think would be unfortunate but should that be the approach to find some bipartisan solution to address the needs of
▶ 1:35:51the non-continental US jurisdictions thank you I yeld back thank you the gentleman's time has expired does the ranking member recognition yes chairman thank you very much I just like to ask for unanimous consent to offer these three documents into the record uh Bloomberg article on uh disaster relief funds uh asking the attorney's General asking that uh the Wildfire Aid be released uh senior leaders leaving an
▶ 1:36:21already depleted disaster agency uh the New York Times article uh regarding FEMA and the rank and file workers that have already left before the cuts and a GAO report on FEMA Staffing challenges from 2023 without objection uh the gentleman from Guam Mr Morland is recognized for five minutes of questioning thank you chairman strong and ranking member Kennedy for allowing me to wave and speak on the importance of FEMA
▶ 1:36:51to my district as Guam continues to recover from typhoons and prepares for other disasters FEMA assistance is still needed to demonstrate the need of FEMA and its deficiencies uh in the territories I will use FEMA's four phrases of Emergency Management first two are mitigation and preparedness now no one can predict how future disasters will affect us but FEMA has provided the tools to reduce the damage from the next for the next emergency
▶ 1:37:22utilizing bottom up approaches FEMA has ensured that Readiness begins at the local level FEMA provides assessments early warning and awareness methods that are vital to disaster preparedness and while Guam and many other Us locations face difficulties in hardening infrastructure Telecommunications Guam's partnership with FEMA has been extremely fruitful the other two phrases uh emous preparedness management here
▶ 1:37:52is respon some recovery and for all the success we can achieve before disasters come FEMA's True Value is seen during emergencies and the recovery efforts after stretch thin FEMA is often limited to how they can respond to disasters it has been 2 years since tyu moir destroyed our Island and we are still recovering funding opportunities like emergency operation center Grants and Recovery funds ensure that Guam can respond
▶ 1:38:24disasters now despite these successes we have a long way to go for streamlined emergency responses and Recovery Guam's disaster prone location is burdened with outdated Grant criteria limited funds and other administrative challenges femma region 9 is also associated with multiple pressing emergencies typhoons wildfires and Flash fuds while successes in the most recent
▶ 1:38:55Disaster Relief Fund represent a meaningful step towards full recovery we can't rely on legislative wins for the next emergency the battle against disasters is a NeverEnding effort let's not forget that the work we do today whether in government law enforcement or in communities will protect our country from the unpredictable nature of emergencies so together we can Ensure that the future of fima remains an organization
▶ 1:39:25committed to mitigating preparing and responding and recovering from disasters M Mr Manning as I already mentioned FEMA's bottom-up approach is crucial to an integrated and effective Disaster Response yet the spirit of integration has only traveled so far in the previous administration while my colleague from Puerto Rico could elaborate more on the controversies associated with this could you speak
▶ 1:39:55more about how FEMA has looked at the Jones act waivers when preparing for future disasters uh thank you for that question that is a perennially challenging issue um I can't of course speak to the previous administration of FEMA's uh operations uh in either Puerto Rico or Guam not having been at FEMA at the time but I know that that is a provision of assistance
▶ 1:40:26the logistics delivery of assistance to our Island territories and Hawaii are always challenging and I know the logistics organization within FEMA uh pays special attention to that in particular the Pacific Area Office femous Pacific Area Office uh in Hawaii um and I know that there's plans in between Guam American Samoa and and Hawaii as well going forward as we discuss the revisions to the
▶ 1:40:56public assistance process uh that would absolutely I believe uh considerations of Jones act uh challenges should absolutely be considered in any of those planning going forward very good thank you uh miss parenza your organization has Regional cils in every major region across the world for Guam specifically we often suffer from the same disasters that affect Pacific island countries as or in terms of coordinated Emergency Management
▶ 1:41:26how can the US promote Disaster Response interoperability across every region that's a really great question and so I think one of the ways that uh we can better coordinate across all regions is through the standardization that I talked about in my testimony right that's through the preparedness programs and that's making sure that every emergency manager at the state local tribal Territorial and even private sector levels have
▶ 1:41:56uh the training available to them to make sure that they can uh respond through mutual Aid should should the need arise and that's why those programs are really important is because it it ensures that every uh emergency manager or Public Safety official is trained to the same criteria so if something happens in your region and perhaps all of uh your resources have exceeded capacity you can reach back to another region for help and and in theory the pie the people that come to your region are are also qualified in
▶ 1:42:26that so I think that that is the primary uh priority for reformers to ensure that our preparedness programs can make sure that Mutual Aid is provided from region to region including in the islands uh thank you very much thank you Mr chairman the gentleman from Guam's time has expired I now recognize the gentleman from Florida uh Mr mowitz for five minutes of questioning uh Mr chairman thank you and thank you for allowing me to wave on today in a previous life I was the state Emergency Management director of Florida
▶ 1:42:57for governor Ronda santis as the State Coordinating Officer where an emergency is declared in Florida almost all of the governor's powers are also invested in the Emergency Management director and all secretaries of all departments report to the State Coordinating Officer so yes it was a little awkward to have all these other Republican appointees having to listen to a Democrat um but I got that job because I was qualified and I got to work with both Brock long who who was the director the administrator of FEMA uh during Trump Administration and Pete Gainer
▶ 1:43:27uh when when I was there I was there for the category 5 hurricane Michael recovery I ran the hurricane Irma Public Assistance reimbursement process the C the Citrus block grant program the timber block rant program and Florida's covid response uh and let me first say this any day that we're talking about Emergency Management is a good day because we are often overlooked and we are often underinvested in no one cares about us during blue skies but when gray skies hit that's when we get all of the
▶ 1:43:57attention during Hurricane Michael on the Panhandle I was deeply concerned about fiscally constrained areas this is a republican area uh and some of these towns had only $5 million City budgets their City budgets were $5 million a year but they had $35 million of cost those cities would have failed those residents would have had to leave those towns would have not have been rebuilt actually who helped save them it was President Trump president Trump helped save them because
▶ 1:44:28what he did was is he expedited the reimbursement to those towns and he increased the reimbursement rate to 90% and without that these towns of the Panhandle would have absolutely never recovered another piece of disaster management that a lot of people don't know is a lot of it's done by the private sector it's not done by government right the private sector does all sorts of functions technical assistance monitoring Logistics debris removal all done by the private sector Mr smitherman and thank you for your service uh cuz I know what that job is like you rely
▶ 1:44:58heavily on the private sector through vendors to go and and and complete a mission it's not done by government um Mr kukki you talked about resiliency in mitigation you're 100% right it would be great if we could be more proactive with the with the disasters but the problem is is that a lot of people don't want to change the building code a lot of people don't want to do these things why because it makes the cost of houses more expensive after Hurricane Andrew when we redid the building code in Florida which by the way has saved
▶ 1:45:28us a lot of money in disasters many people didn't want to do that because they said the cost of homes in Florida would go up so sure can we make homes more resilient to fire in California we can it's going to slow the rebuilding process it's going to slow recovery can we Elevate homes in Florida we can it's going to slow down the rebuilding process so there is a give and take uh with all of that stuff I want to talk about FEMA reimbursement it's super critical right Mr smitherman you would know this Alabama could not have afforded the Tuscaloosa
▶ 1:45:59tornado on their own if there was no federal reimbursement it's a$2 and5 billion dollar disaster Oklahoma gets 68 tornadoes a year okay they cannot Oklahoma and Alabama have what a 125 billion budget right these aren't budgets like Texas or California or Florida New York the a lot of these red States cannot afford a major disaster if there was no federal reimbursement and so the idea of FEMA going away would dramatically hurt red States could you survive
▶ 1:46:29a category 4 storm coming in from the Gulf of America without Federal reimbursement I know the answer your state would have to raise taxes it would have to raid the education fund it would have to raid do and if it didn't do that it would have to raid taxes and people would say to me well Jared how do the power companies do it how can the power companies come in how can they amass all these huge forces it's very simple they passed that cost off off to the consumer so when my power companies come in and spend 300 or $400 million getting the power up and thank God
▶ 1:46:59they do because getting power up is the most important thing after life health and safety in a disaster how do they do it so quickly cost doesn't matter because they push that cost off to the consumer in a SE charge so listen what do we do how do we fix FEMA first of all I support the president's EO I think the President coming out and forming a commission is the right idea and let's put experts on there that know what they're doing I have been proposing for years now to take FEMA out of Homeland that is my bill and I'm doing that with Byron Donald's
▶ 1:47:29uh of Florida in the house and we got Tom TS coming out in the Senate we'll be announcing that bill again but I've been doing it for two years why Homeland is a great agency it is but it's become too big and FEMA cannot function there for an agency that needs to be fast it can't function in an agency of 22 others and talking about them getting involved in Immigration they shouldn't be involved in Immigration but why are they because hom land is using FEMA to run every Grant of every agency all within Homeland half of FEMA's Personnel now is running
▶ 1:47:59grants they're not doing response and so we got to get them out of that the second thing we can do is we can block grant money down we absolutely can do that I did Citrus block grant Mr chairman you allow me just a couple y 45 seconds because balance the clock thank you thank you sir uh I did Citrus block grants I did Timber block grants we can block grant down the public assistance money we can get FEMA out of the housing business terrible at housing we can block grant that down to local governments and to states to do that stuff that would shrink
▶ 1:48:30the size of FEMA it would it would also allow FEMA to refocus on response when we say response FEMA doesn't have much they coordinate other Federal resources in fact that's what Mr smitherman does he coordinates the other Fe the other state resources that he has and so emac is great but we got to make sure they get the reimbursement police fire the National Guard they're all great resources they can't they will not come and help from other states on emac if they don't get their
▶ 1:49:00reimbursement and so I implore my colleagues let's not politicize disaster Aid that will not help blue States or red States you're going to be punishing your constituents Americans Patriots soldiers First Responders police departments fire departments but we can fix Fimo we can reform it we can save it and I yield back Mr chairman Mr chairman can I ask you unanimous consent inter Republican Applause for some of his comments to my Democrat colleague got it into the record the gentleman from Florida's times expired some
▶ 1:49:30of his comments I'll thank the witnesses for their valuable testimony and the members for their questions the members of the subcommittee may have some additional questions for the witnesses and uh we could ask the witnesses to respond to these uh in writing pursuant to the committee rule 7D the hearing uh record will be held open for 10 days without objection this subcommittee stands
▶ 1:50:21adjourned for