Good morning, the hearing will come to order. Er id like to say on one hand, its nice to see senator carper acting as my Ranking Member, but thesa circumstances are unfortunate to say the least. Senator mccaskills husband is in the icu, so senator mccaskill is with him in missouri. We certainly want to send them our thoughts and prayers, for claire, for joe, and their family members as well. I just mentioned, i texted with claire last night to see how he was doing. He apparently had a massive heart attack, a serious heart attack, and had an internal defebrlter that mayay have save his life, and theres some additional surgery work that needs to be done, but to what the chairman said, keep them in our thoughts and prayers. Thank you. Ng i also want to thank our witnesses. Not only for being here, for your testimony and for what youre about to answer in terms of ouron questions, but really r the last two and a half months. I have been to femas response center. I have talked to the men and women that are working with youk they have been doing an extraordinary job, working t 12shower shifts, weeks in a row for weeks onen end. This has been unprecedented. Starting with s harvey and then irma and then maria, within a span of 30 days, we just have not seen anything like this. I think its pretty heartening, really, after katrina, the Lessons Learned, a lot of those lessons have been put into it place. And used to rather great effect, but s when you have hurricanes d disasters of this magnitude, you cant just snap your fingers and make it all well again. This is going to be a recovery effort thats going to go on for years. But i think the response and i think wellay hear that in testimony today, has really been quite extraordinary. Nothing is ever perfect. You can always have continuous improvement, but i think the mey and women who work with you in all of your agencies need to be commended. I think in terms of your management of them, also needs to be commended as well. Again, i thank you. I think the Committee Thanks you as well. This will be what i consider first in a series of hearings. Itit really, from my standpoint started with the highrisk hearing when i asked inspector yerl roth to take a look at the problems in fema grant lending, how we spend money in emergency situations, what kind of controls andf inspector roth responded very quickly, june 2nd, the letter to me, made a number of recommendations which we have turned into a piece of draft legislation working with senator mccaskill, also senator janes, anybody else on the committee who wants to work with us on that, we have been talking to appropriators on how to potentially marry that with some of the emergency funding requests, the supplemental funding requests were passing here. Th were spending a lot of money. It needs to be controlled. I think that the issue with whitefish, im sure well get into that, is just exhibit a of how careful we need to be in terms of how we spend the taxpayers hardearned money. Im hoping, and i see certainly with director longs testimony, we do need to review and lay out femas proper role within the Emergency Management response. Its a subordinate role. If we can quick put up the chart there. Wherever our chart is, there we go. Everybody has this as well. This is just a history that is put together by the heritage foundation. Goes up to 2011. It just shows the history of femahe declarations of emergencies. And its really striking. Back in the 50s, there were somewhere between 7 and 18 a year. In 2011, high water mark, 242 federal disaster declarations ol fema declarations. There are a number of reasons for that. Certainly, we continue told bui. We have that moral hazard. We continue to build and rebuild in flood zones and hurricane zones and Property Values are increasing dramatically. But i think also, more and more often, states are looking to the federal government to do what i believe was probably more suited toward state and f local respon. As a result, it puts a great deal of stress on federal disaster resources and certainly fema, and im sure director long, you have felt some of that pressure over the last couple l days. So i think its appropriate for this committee longterm to really take a look at what is the proper balance between state and local response and the federal response in these re situations. You know, from mypa standpoint,s much as we can rely on the state in terms of preparation, standing up to those Emergency Centers and the response before these disasters occur, the better off were all going to be. So i want to make sure were talking a little bit about that during the hearing. I did go down to puerto rico. I was down there on the 7th, about two and a half weeks n afterwards. I will say that my initial response, having flown over lowflying helicopter about a quarter or a third of the island, i was first relieved that thehe Property Damage was t anma extensive as i expected ito be. Theres Property Damage, but i have seen pictures of st. Enmaarten, and then two and half weeks, 22 of 23 ports have been opened. 75 of gas stations and Grocery Stores were opened. A third of the roads were open, but as we flew over, it looked likepa in excess of 90 were clear, but obviously blocked in certain choke points. Cell phone companies responded pretty appropriately. Kind of shared the burden, cordon off the island, fixed each others towers. It will be interesting to hear what percent of the Cell Phone Service is back and operational. All 72gi of the municipalities back then were already accessible by road. Al so logistics problem was being eased. But the biggest problem was at that point in time, only 12 of the elekctrical power had been brought back online. Ied convinced and i think i continue to be convinced that the primary problem longterm now in puerto rico and even before the n disaster was the power grid. It was weak. It was fragile before the hurricane. And now its off line and a very complex problem trying to reestablish and maintain the balance of thefu electrical gri. Well be spending an awful lot of money. From myt standpoint, thats go to be controlled. And hopefully it can be spent in a manner where we create a more resilient grid where we produce ail vibrant economy for puerto rico for years to come. I have been in contact with the chairman of the oversight board, and i just received an email or a text from him last night. And they asmet, and im just gog to readr you the text. Ill enter it into the record. We have unanimously asked for a chief transportation officer to take over the transportation and Power Authority in order to establish power asow quickly as possible. We mustto transform the energy sector. In order to do that, we have to depoliticize the authority, open it up to competition in order to attract private capital. Puerto rico does not want to return to d. C. With hat in hand in the future. They have named a retired air force colonel with organizational experience including management of energy and Infrastructure Projects that was signed by jose carrion, the chairman of the financial oversight board. They recognize the fact that we have a real problem with the governance of, the Public Ownership of prepa, and that was exhibit a based on the 300 Million Contract, which apparently now has been pulled back with whitefish. But again, i just want to thank the witnesses and ill turn it over to senator carper for any Opening Statements you want to make. Thanks so much. Thanks for bringing us together. I know a couple weeks ago, senatorn mccaskill had called fr a bipartisan investigation scheduling hearings. Im delighted this is to hear this is not the last t but the first of several. I want to express our thanks and appreciation to those at the table before us, those who work with you, for the extraordinary work theyre tdoing. I believe in the last 100 years or so, we have had a total of 33 category 5 5 hurricanes that ha struck the United States. 33 in 100 years. And we had literally two within a week of each other this year. Our friends at gao present to us each year a highrisk list, every year. Things we need to focus on, ways if we did, we could send some money for years. We have been saying one of our high risks is the instance of extreme weather. The cost here is extraordinary. In terms ofle root causes, we nd to keep that in mind. Im delighted to hear via the chairman mentioned the electric grid. In puerto rico. I oftentimes quote Albert Einstein who said famously, in adversity lies opportunity. As badad a the adverity is here there is also hopportunity. I have been to puerto rico a number of times as a naval flight officer operating there, as a governor hosted by a governor. Just as a family vacation, and been around the island a fair amount. And my recollection is most of the power is generated south of the island. Most of the people live in the north of the island. Most of the power is generated from diesel Power Generators and utilities. And it is dirty, expensive. The cost for electricity in puerto rico is roughly twice what we pay on the mainland. And they have ann opportunity, talked with the governor rossello onyesterday, who was basically a teenager, his dad and i were contemporaries today in the National Governors association. We talked about his vision. His vision would be to move Power Generation from the south to north where the people are, so you dont have to transmit all that t electricity from one side of the island to the other. And to use natural gas, bring down the cost. And right now, the diesel fuel comes from, i think, mostly from south america, including venezuela. Were not sure thats a good place to be dependent on. And the idea of having the ability of large ships to come in with natural gas to the north, to have Power Generation there, and to also, the governor said to me, this goal in time is to step up increasing dependence on the generation of electricity from renewables, maybe solar and wind, maybe distribution of electricity, things like fuel cell Power Generators for electricity, especially to help at hospitals and places like that. I want to mention my prepared comments if i could. Im proud of our Delaware National guard. Wegi had National Guard units deployed to texas, florida, puerto rico, u. S. Virgin islands. Were grateful to the men and women, not just Delaware National guard, but National Guards all over thetu country tt are part of this team effort. Mr. Chairman, i hope in the very nearor future, we could have th governors of texas, maybe the governors of atflorida, puerto rico, the u. S. Virgin islands before us so we can hear their perspectives on what worked well, whatin didnt, how we cou be more helpful, and maybe include some mayors. Sometimes we dont want to always hear from people who are going to bere critical, but we need to hear folks who are cr critical as well as folks who think a good f job has been don. I like to say, the imperfect make it better. I thinke if we could hear from governors, and governors and otheres leaders, that would be helpful. Were at the beginning of a long and difficult rebuilding effort. It may well exceed 300 billion. More than double the total economic20 damage of both hurricanes katrina and rita in 2005. That the federal government is meeting the needs of the survivors of the disasters and at the same time, insure that federal funds, as the chairman said, are being usedd. Efficiently and effectively. Every dollar wasted is a dollar help ont be available to other americans who are still in need. Allegations are problematic, mismanagement and questionable contracts, and many of us, im going to talk about this anyway. This has been discussed quite a bit. I dontho think it could be discussed too much. A lot of us were shocked to learn of the 300 Million Contract to repair the electric grid awarded by prepa to whitefish energy, and a company with two fulltime employees existed only two years ends up getting a 300 Million Contract. Heaven help us. Heaven help us. Thats just unbelievable. Cant overstate the urgent need for action to quickly restore power to theird homes, their structures as well as to insure the availability of safe and clean Drinking Water for all citizens of the United States. Iwo talked about electric generation. I wont go into that further. Looking forward to going down, i think senator murkowski is going to lead a delegation maybe as early as this weekend. I would love to be a part of that with her. They have a fair amount of jurisdiction overas this, as do this committee, as does environmental and public works where i serve as well. Finally, just say i understand i think the time under which people can actually apply for individual assistance has been extended, maybe to march. Can somebody nod their headd on that if thats correct . I heard something. Okay. If you address that when you speak, that would be great. And yep, says here, fema last night extended the deadline to march. Were happy to hear of that. And mr. Chairman, in closing, i want to say a few words about the obligations our federal government hasas to help rebuil when disasters strike our country, any part of our country, when extreme weather like this hits, its scary, dangerous, often far more powerful than we imagined it would be. For those of us who havent had the experience, its hard to imagine. I have ridden out hurricanes in a Navy Destroyer off the atlantic coast. I have flown into monsoons in airplanesoa out in the pacific ocean. Got run over by katrina with a bunch of boy scouts on a sailboat coming down the coast of florida during that storm. So had a little bit of taste of this stuff. It is scary as can be. But forbe the people whose realy has become a nightmare, they just want to know theres a path to a better and safer future. Clearing that path is a shared responsibility. The residents of puerto rico, their leaders and governors must do their part, but our federal government has a moral obligation to help as well. Like folks at home depot like to say, you can do it, we can help. That applies here, too. And keeping with the spirit of the golden rule, lets continue to make sure we just do that. Ec thanks so much. Thank you, senator carper. I wouldre like my full opening statement, my written statement into the record. I would like to make a similar request, thank you. Without objection. It is the tradition of this committee to swear in witnesses. If youll all rise and raise your right hand. Do you swear the testimony you will give before this committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god . Please be seated. Our first witness is mr. Brock long. Mr. Long is the administrator of the federal Emergency Management agency. He leads femas workforce to respond to natural disasters and emergenciess facing the United States, hincluding the recent hurricanest harvey, irma, and maria. I dont know how long you were on the job before harvey hit, but stagain, i just want to tha you for your what i think is Extraordinary Service over the last two and a half months. Sb thank you. Before i get started, i would like to say that my thoughts and prayers are with Ranking Member mcgaskal and her husband. D. Chairman johnson, senator carper, as well as the distinguished members of this committee, its a pleasure to bd here today. It truly has been unprecedented, and im here todi discuss anythg you would like to regarding the response and Recovery Efforts that my staff has helped to coordinate across the federal partnership when it comes to all of thehe agencies that have bee involved in. Like me, what i have seen in my agency is i work every day with people who areay truly deadcade who come to work every day to save lives and help people get on the pathway to recovery as well as become more resilient. I have beenn in offer 132 days. For 78 of those days, we have been actively responding to harvey, irma, meruearia, and th extraordinary California Wildfires as ewell. Each onera of these events that spoke of could truly be catastrophic ivenlts, standalone events, but they happened in a rapid succession of a 25day period, which is unprecedented. Chairman fjohnson, in regards this, you know, i think its important to point out that before harvey hit, fema was responding to over 30 different disasters across the nation and many states that you folks represent. And not only in addition to those major disaster declarations, we were also responding to over 50 different Fire Management assistance grants due toto the wildfires tt are taking place. Now, while theres many improvements to be made to insure a whole Community Response and make sure it continues to grow in a puzative way, i do recognize that there are manyly challenges ahead, particularly when itni comes to california, texas, florida, as well as the Virgin Islands and puerto rico. I want to put a couple things into context about the magnitude of this most recent response. If you start with harvey, all the way over to the California Wildfires, over 25 million americans have been caimpacted. Thats 12 of the population. And basically ame twomonth perd or over a 50day time period. The fema search and rescue teams alone saved over 9,000 lives. Thats in addition to our dod t partners, coast guard partners, state and local partners, First Responders, neighbors helping neighbors. Like the cajun navy coming from louisiana to houston. Tens of thousands of lives have been saved.