Committee. The committee will come to order. I would like to point out we are glad to have two representatives velazquez and plaskett and join us in the questioning as we pursue this hearing. I recognize myself for five minutes for Opening Statement. Im convening todays subcommittee hearing to examine preparations by fema to respond and helping our nation recover from Natural Disasters which will overlap with the nations efforts to fight the pandemic. Fema is responsible for coordinating response and Recovery Efforts for all domestic disasters including the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A has struggled to anticipate the severity of multiple disasters due to Climate Change and contracts for supplies and retain and deploy key personnel. As United States continues to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, in a recent surge of cases across the country, its clear this unprecedented moment has left all of us in unchartered territory. People have called the year 2020 apocalyptic. It does feel like we are not too far off from the truth. More than 140,000 americans have lost their lives due to the current administrations lack of leadership, distrust of science and continued hesitation to meet the challenges associated with the coronavirus pandemic. And because of this complete lack of leadership and inept response, tens of thousands more will die. All of this is a horrifying loss of life and wasnt tragic enough. Climate change is changing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Setting that stage to lose american lives as a result of Natural Disasters. Therefore, it is imperative that congress and the america cap public understand the steps that fema is taking to to prepare for and respond to Natural Disasters including hurricanes, wildfires, flooding and extreme heat on top of nationwide efforts to stop and slow the spread of the coronavirus. The 2020 Hurricane Season began on june 1. Noaa forecasters expect 1319 named storms including 610 hurricanes and 36 major hurricanes. Residents in states known to be hit hardest like florida and North Carolina are facing some of the highest rates of confirmed cases of covid19. This years predicted higher than average Hurricane Season increases the chances of large evacuations of people to northern states like new york and new jersey, areas previously hit hard by the virus which would cause the potential for increase for the spread in those states. For those who are forced to stay and seek emergency shelters as they do not have the means to evacuate, overcrowded shelters from school gyms to shelters risk to becoming infection hot spots. The lag of covid testing if not ixed will lead to ea symptomatic people staying in the shelters and many of the same people who have less access to health care are more likely o have unknown or uncontrolled comorbidities and complications from covid19. These are prime example of how Climate Change acts as a threat multiplier during Public Health crises. Over the last five years, the. U has seen in 2017 and 2018, california experienced the deadliest wildfires in its history. Risk are re related high in my home state and recent weeks these areas have seen staggering covid19 cases continue to rise. Both smoke and covid19 negatively impacts our respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Ildfires exacerbate lung conditions especially in children and older adults and those with asthma, chronic heart disease. Many of these increase negative Health Outcomes and mortality rates with those infected. While cloth masks can help stop the spread of coronavirus, these kind of face coverings do not offer protection from smoke. Only properly fitting n95 masks filter out dangerous particles and we have seen those in short supply. There is the extreme heat. No other year in recorded history has been as hot as the years between 20142019 and 2020 has the high likelihood of being the hottest year on record and this poses a challenge. When it gets incredibly health, low wealth households who do not have air conditioning may flock to cool and crowded indoor areas which could result in appear increase in coronavirus cases. As we sit here today, every state in the United States is currently facing a budget shortfall. As a result, many states, territories and local governments may be more dependent on fema for supplies and personnel than in recent years. In the middle of the respiratory pandemic, we need to know what steps are being taken to safeguard the lives of fema personnel and disaster survivors and whether or not medical supplies will be accessible for communities in need and how plans are being adapted to account for disasters and we need to be ready, willing and to address likely worst Case Scenarios and help fema so they can be fully prepared to meet their mission. As the saying goes, by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. In this moment, our nations challenges are unprecedented and extraordinary and our plans and acks must rise to meet the seriousness and grave reality we face now and in the coming months and years. The topics we are discussing today are matters of life and death. I appreciate fema administrator gaynors participation in this hearing and i hope todays discussion which help the support that fema is tasked. Because the stakes could truly not be higher. To give a mr. Gohmert fiveminute Opening Statement. Im not going to fact check the slanderous opinions that were made about the Trump Administration in the beginning of your Opening Statement because this is an important hearing. Im very glad to participate in person for this hearing. The business of this committee cannot be done virtually and i hope we continue working for the American People. I want to thank the administrator for testifying today. You are an extremely busy man but im interested to learn the good work that fema has been doing in response to covid19. The pandemic has affected 3. 8 million america caps and killed more than 140,000. Through President Trumps leadership, fema has responded swiftly. On march 13, President Trump declared a National Emergency pursuant to section 501b of the stafford act. All states and territories requested emergency declarations. All 50 states and five u. S. Territories and the district of columbia have been approved for major disaster declarations. According to fema, a major declaration provides programs including funds for both Energy Emergency and permanent work. Vice president pence designated fema as the lead agency for federal response to the pandemic on march 19. Fema transitioned into this new role and prioritized to protect the health and safety by whole of government and whole of america approach. After this announcement, fema enacted the nrcc. It became the focal point of interagency coordination efforts. Fema has done a tremendous job. And i want to highlight a few numbers to support that. As of july 17, fema, h. H. S. And e private sector coordinated delivery 189 million n95 respirators, 784 million surgical masks. 33 million face shields. 331 million surgical gowns coveralls and 20 billion gloves. S of july 21, fema delivered 21,981 medical supplies to Nursing Homes in 52 states and territories. With regards to testing, c. D. C. , state and local and Public Health labs have tested more than 48. 6 million samples. While these numbers are impressive i look forward to hear plans for the United States to produce lifesaving equipment for medical workers. Fema has described this as a National Security issue. Federal funding has played a large part in response to this crisis. As of of july 17, fema and h. H. S. Have combined committed 139 billion. In terms of staffing, as of july , fema has 2,245 employees supporting covid19 Pandemic Response out of 20,831 Agency Employees ready to respond to any other potential emergencies. These are staggering numbers and i applaud the work that fema has done in response to covid19. Fema is currently responding to 114 active disasters and 97 emergency declarations concurrently. I look to hear about how fema will prepare for the Natural Disaster season while battling covid19. I look forward to todays testimony. Thank, Ranking Member comer. Its my honor to recognize our witness, peter gaynor who is the administrator at the federal Emergency Management agency. We will swear him him. Please raise your height rand. I do. Let the record show that the witness answered in the affirmative. Without without objection, your witness statement will be made part of the record. You are recognized for your testimony. Good morning, chairman. Im pete gaynor and fema administrator. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the actions taken by fema to protect the health and safety of the American People as well as the agencys ongoing efforts to enhance Disaster Preparedness within a covid19 environment. On behalf of the men and women of fema, i offer my condolences to the 144,000 americans who lost their lives to covid19. One life lost is one life too many many and our hearts go out to those affected by the pandemic. This has been a trying time and fema has been working around the clock to help our nation respond and recover from other fat tral disasters. It has been my honor to work along side dedicated professionals at fema. I want to acknowledge that work force and our partners for their commitment to the nation for their response. The response to covid19 and other Natural Disasters will be executed, state managed and federally supported. The president has made a decision to declare a nationwide emergency and the team has worked tirelessly to make a positive impact. Many have risked their own health and safety to do so. We have a major disaster in every state, and one tribe and five territories and district of columbia. 97 emergencieses across the american heartland. The magnitude of this pandemic reexamine fema to our past practices and reduce staff while accomplishing our mission. Fema manageses events that are limited in Geographic Scope and impact. In response to covid19 and other Natural Disasters, fema has managed finite medical supplies and equipment rather than managing resources, we are managing shortages. And we are moving them to america with the goal of providing temporary relief. In addition tore expediting supplies into the United States, the federal response is stabilizing the lives of americans in many ways. Since march 13, we have provided obligations under the stafford act to states for covid19 related activities. Over 1 billion has been allocated to both california and new york alone. 1. 7 billion has been allocated to National Guard troops and 5,300 d. O. D. Title 10 medical professionals who provided medical support to numerous hospitals. While we continue to respond to covid19, we want to ensure we are using available resources to address these critical shortfalls. The federal government has utilized the defense production act to ensure our nations future preparedness is not overreliant on foreign producers. This increase of domestic manufacturing will allow us to pivot to Hurricane Season preparations and other Natural Disasters. Operating in overlapping disaster environments will create new challenges while evacuating people in the covid19 so that social distancing can be observed wherever possible. Critical supplies like ventilators, p. P. E. And other Key Pharmaceuticals located in the path of hurricanes will have to remain available for use. As part of preparing for other disasters, fema released a planning guide to help local officials best prepare for more common disasters. The operational is scaleable and functional andal has arizona planning document. While this document focuses on Hurricane Season preparedness, these considerations can be applied to any disaster operation in the covid19 environment to include wildfire responses. Further increase femas responses, our agency continues to expand its work force. Since the beginning of this fiscal year, we have on boarded more than 2,300 new disaster personnel which is 22 over f. Y. 2019. They have been onboarded while adhering to pandemic safety protocols. Last year, fema introduced a requirement for states and territories to developed mammingment plans under the Emergency Management grant program. All 56 states and territories have plans that involve commodity distribution, transportation best practices and fema personnel will contract nd distribute goods and to survivors. When in the context of a pandemic, fema will help our partners recover from past events. Fema and its federal partners have provided support for the commonwealth of puerto rico during the ongoing recover of the two hurricanes. Since mid2019, fema has gone from funding 10 and 15 workers per month. Fema has objectly depated more funding for emergency work in puerto rico than in texas and florida combined. Our services have accelerated the awards processes and we have provided 25 billion to the response in puerto rico. Regardless of the challenges that fema will continue to front, we need to protect the American People before, during and after disasters and the framework by which we accomplish this is unchanged. Response is most effected when locally executed and state managed. We are doing so in our core values of compassion, fairness, integrity and respect. The response to the pandemic will continue to require a whole of america effort and fema works closely with congress to protect the lives of the American People. I like to tank the committee to testify today. Look forward to answer questions. Without objection, the gentlewoman from state of new york and woman from u. S. Virgin islands will be recognized for questioning the witness. With that, i would like to recognize the vice chair of the subcommittee, congresswoman laib for five minutes of questioning via webex. Thank you for joining us for this difficult time for so many americans. I want to be direct with the administrator. And i feel this compels to tell you, i hear my colleagues talk about the approach and the fact that we have done all this work to try to combat the pandemic. One of the statistics in my state is very alarming and i want to talk about this specifically because we are talking about vulnerable communities. More of my black neighbors die from covid. 40 of those that died from covid in michigan were africanamerican. And even though they make less than 15 of the total population in the whole state of michigan. And i was just curious, what have you all done, how intentional are you to make sure you are covering communities that are black and brown and how ou approach this pandemic . I have been doing this for almost 13 years at the local, state and now federal level. And what i have learned when theres preexisting challenges in a community before a disaster and whether its poverty, homelessness, unemployment, medical care, the disaster that comes next and it can be any disaster makes all those conditions much worse. And we knew that early on in covid19 and we took an aggressive approach with our authorities. Some of the things we have done across the country and one of the thidges that we had not done in a disaster before, i have an office of equal a rights and should a civil rights bulletin that made sure that individuals, communities and groups had opportunity to receive information. We had food programs that states are using, housing and testing programs. Ms. Tlaib i understand. Im glad you are talking about the conditions that existed prior to the pandemic are racist and do not include every Single Person that lives in the United States. I heard in a different committee, but we heard one of the folks come in and say that during katrina, they were very aguess i have about giving food direct cards to get assistance and diapers and formula which was a huge barrier during that time. Even though we want to claim civil rights for everyone and going to have this policy and task force to study that, i dont think that is resulting in taking care of our most vulnerable. Already not having access to health care and pollution and preexisting conditions, all of hose things, homelessness or housing, we need this is a pandemic. Fema should be doing a lot more direct contact with these communities beyond just statements that you dont want them to get hurt more than anyone else. They are and you have acknowledged that there are these other conditions. There are systems that have been broken for a long time and no one has paid attention to them and we are seeing this across the country. Administrator, i want to urge you, as someone who represents not only part of the city of detroit but a lot of communities through wayne county, its not just alone on the flooding that you have been working with me and my community but during this pandemic that you have access to resources. You can waive cost sharing for grants. They are now having to cut city services. You have decided not to do that or push against the 100 reimbursement. When we do that and help local governments, which are touching the lives of communities of color, we are short changing for them. You know this. You have to be doing more. And it has