Some committee on economic public buildings in Emergency Management will come to order. I asked that your consent that the chairman be authorized to declare a recess at any time in todays hearing. Without objection so ordered. Consent that members not on the subcommittee be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at todays hearing and ask questions without objection so ordered. Members wish to insert document into the amendment email it to documents ti at mail. House. Love. Recognizing himself with the purposes of an Opening Statement for five minutes. I want to thank our witness, is it deeann . The administrator of the federal Emergency Management agency for being here today. We are focusing on the current state of the readiness response and recovery. The core mission is to help people before during and afterng disasters. Unfortunately, they have added layers of bureaucracy and adopted political agendas which have impacted how it delivers on its core mission. The Biden Administration is imposing an agenda focused on Climate Change and equity which is diverting away from femas core mission. On august 28 the committee was alerted that the disaster, we will consider that the drf at this point, would move to immediate needs funding until additional firms were appropriated. Under inf, federal reimbursements estates territories and federally recognized tribes for longterm Disaster Recovery projects are halted. Instead remaining imbalances reserved for any immediate lifesaving response activities. To meet staff, first asked fema back in february, a long time ago now what it was going to do to avoid the drf running out of money since femas own monthly reports indicated that it was projected to be depleted by now in september where we are. Fema provided no Real Solutions or answers. Despite ongoing inquiries in the weeks and months since we were not notified of a supplemental work best until it was officially submitted to congress in august. And the request was tied to ukraine spending. Bill wake up one of the deadliest fires United States history, a supplemental request for additional disaster funding comes with strength. You just think about that in the audience if youre watching this the american taxpayer, people that are suffering and somehow bother to discuss getting the drf refunded until august and it is tied to ukraine. I cannot reconcile that. I have overarching concerns about decisions being made that waste taxpayer dollars and reduce our readiness. We see fema funding request to support domestic Disaster Response activities tied with ukraine. N we see fema under the administration to significantly expand its mitigation programs in ways that no longer require projects to demonstrate that they will in fact reduce cost or actually save lives. N the name of equity and Climate Change. We also see fema resources diverted for other purposes such as the border crisis. Despite fema reportedly being understaffed. Obviously under responded. The Homeland Security act prohibits the diversion of fema assets functions or missions for the continued use of any other oudhs organization unless such assignments do not reduce the capability of fema to perform its missions. Yes, and yet your agencies cannot be bothered to follow that law. That is concerningy to me. They have a significant capacity problem. Every diversion undermines its ability to perform Core Missions they confirm the capacity issue. Wepr know response from lettersf the full committee to fema that the key fema personnel have been diverted by the secretary to assist with bringing people into the country illegally. The emergency food and Shelter Program to help homeless americans has become a program for foreignun nationals residing in our communities and in our cities. I know that i may disagree with any of my colleagues on the role of the federal government and what it should play when it comes to disasters, but regardless, fema should not be used to advance objectives and fema resources, taxpayer resources should not be diverted for other purposes unrelated to its mission. Ultimately, all of this impacts the readiness and ability to respond to disasters happening across our country from mauis wildfires to hurricane idalia and multiple flooding events. We can debate the role of the federal government, but at the very least, we need to ensure that fema is focused on its core mission because that is the oneh thing that this congress or a congress andbu the president agreed to an assigned to law. I look forward to hearing from you today administrator criswel and i now recognize the Ranking Member, representative titus for 10 minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you administrator criswell for joining us today. We just ask the ability to lead Disaster Response recovery. Since your testimony last year, climate continuing to generate dire circumstances that your agencies had to deal with. That Disaster Relief fund as a result which serves as the backbone for the program nearing depletion. It is of utmost importance that they fulfill the president s request for supplemental funding and we should do that free of any poison pills to try to impose social policy into this area. That is the only way that fema can continue to provide the necessary resources for ongoing Recovery Efforts like we are seeing in maui in florida and likely to see even more emerge in the near future as we are into Hurricane Season. I appreciate yourr steadfast leadership of fema during this difficult time. My home state of nevada has also experienced some terrifying impacts of Climate Change. Time to thank the fema people in the Emergency Response managers in my state for their Rapid Response to the extreme weather that threatens communities, especially in southern nevada. You do not think about having a hurricane in the desert but indeed we saw that across Southern California and some of its impact into the southern part of nevada. We also had unrelenting heat and we know that heat is a threat just like other Natural Disasters that need to be addressed and we had repeated flash flooding. A channel that can be drafted for years and suddenly becomes a rushing river. We have a drought in the west that has been ongoing and likely will cause some of these disasters to get worse in the coming years. So, as we Work Together with nevada communities, i think that this demonstrates one of the priorities of the administration which is in all of government s approach and that is the only way we can deal with it. In addition to all of government we think equity is important. We think that solutions, all disaster survivors and communities are created and treated fairly by these programs and these programs are addressed fairly regardless of the neighborhood. Natural disasters amplify existing disparities in our societyy. It should go without saying that government is scared to address the needs of every american equally, not just the more affluent neighborhoods that should be rebuilt as we try to respond to these kind of crises. The sub community has received considerable testimony from underserved communities about their frustration of how they seem to be ignored. How much time it takes and they are not in a position to get additional funding and we need to be sure that fema addresses that. I know that you do. I know that you recognize the disparities. You have been working with us to try to address this. We appreciate your work to implement new laws and policies that will have these longterm benefits and improve the wellbeing of victims all across the board. I especially appreciated value your public support for reforms in a bill introduced by myself. Congressman troy carter and jennifer gonzales, this is the disasters survivor fairness act. We passed that out of the full committee unanimously earlier this year. I would like to see it come forward because it was unanimous bipartisan. It was designed to make federal disaster aid more acceptable to survivors. Contributing to some of the problems that the chairman has pointed out about making his board efficient. It removes barriers by creating an application and it empowers the agencyen to assist damage me fairly, more quickly and more accurately. This could ease thend burden on families applying for Disaster Assistance and we hope to see it pass because these are the worst antimes in their lives. At least this is what their governor can do. I think you and your colleagues for the work you have been shepherding in aei positive direction. I think that you have done that by acknowledging and addressing the impacts of Climate Change, prioritizing equity which we think is important and investing in mitigation and resilience so we do builds back that are geared we recognize the challenges that you face and we want to do everything we can to help you and we know that that needs to be replenished. Thank you for being here and i yield back. Thank you. The chair now recognizes the chairman of the full committee. Chairman gray for five minutes for his Opening Statement. Thank you for being here. On a bipartisan basis this subcommittee in particular has worked to improve fema and the federal government Emergency Management. I am proud to begin. National security this month. Helping to educate the American People on what they can do to be prepared. Femas role is critical. We have recent flooding in my district. Working quickly and closely with the agencies and local response. Last month on august 4 antif2 tornado ripped through the city in knox county missouri, in my district. Governor parsons submitted a federal disaster declaration on september 6. I hope that fema will work swiftly and efficiently to approve this declaration so that people in missouri can continue to recover. I also hope that many of the reforms that we have passed in my time on the committee will help remove a lot of unnecessary bread tape and bureaucratic policies asof we move through ts process. I look forward to hearing what the administrator, what you have sto say today. Critical issues as we prepare for and to respond to disasters all across this country. With that, chairman perry, i yield back. The chair now recognizes the Ranking Member of the committee for five minutes for his Opening Statement. Thank you. Thank you for calling todays hearing. It will be an opportunity today to discuss the many challenges we are facing due to a busy disaster season and the strategies to overcome those challenges. Climate change is making disasters more frequent and intense and costly. Noah announced a troubling new record this month that in 2023 the u. S. Has experienced a Record Number of disaster events with losses exceeding 1 billion twentythree separate events with each of those events exceeding 1 billion. This figure is bound to grow. The intensity of the season is depleting the agencies Disaster Relief fund. I am very concerned about the lack of funding available to fight these disasters and the impact on the program spirit malleys wildfires in anticipation of hurricane, announcing the implementation of immediate needs funding to save what little money fema has left. I understand they are only obligated funds for direct aid for disaster survivorsrs and actions that immediately save life and property. The result is rebuilding roads, bridges and schools on hold indefinitely. Fema has had to put about 1610 recovery and mitigation projects on hold impacting nearly every state in every community in our country. The state of disaster is not femas fault it is Congress Responsibility to provide enough funding. It is imperative that congress Work Together in a bipartisan manner to replenish as soon as possible so that fema can continue to build it mission moving forward during and after disaster. Adjusting the Record Number of billiondollar disasters is more than just adding more money to the drf they need to adapt for an evolving world so it can provide an adequate response aneach time the disaster is declared. Deputy administrator briefed us earlier this year on current efforts outlined in the Strategic Plan to address that. I appreciate the time that that regional administrator and his team took to run a disaster tabletop exercise with my staff in Washington State. The exercise was very informative and facilitated several important connections in fact it is something that i would encourage other members to do and their reasons with their fema Regional Directors to better understand Congress Role in responding to disasters. There is always more work to be done. 50 increase iner storms and disasters in the last 10 years. They must use science to incorporate projections into all of its programs. Inwi order to address these disasters we need to expand mitigation and increase resilience. Overwhelming evidence shows mitigation common sense costeffective way save lives and property. The supporting of the inxs for mitigation in theseev projects. We need to leverage all the resilience funding. Palandmark legislation included seven billiondollar investment for predisaster legislation. They support the largest notice of funding opportunity in the building resilience infrastructure and communities project program. The brickk program. The largest inrt his history. And funding the new Storm Revolving Loan Fund program. New authorities provided by legislation such as representative david will also help the agency target funding for communities with the greatest need and highest risk of Natural Disasters. We have to ensure all communities have equal opportunity to access these divital funds. Systems to underserved applicants and thewe benefit cot analysis requirement. More needs to be done to ensure for Climate Change reductions in all programs and to make access, make access predisaster grants. Administrator, you have a difficult job. I want to thank you for the work that you do and that your team does and that they have done under your leadership. Your dedication and service to communities throughout the country as well noted and we need to do our job in supporting femas efforts to ensure more equitable outcomes of building a comore resilient nation. I look forward to discussing how we can Work Together to drive new reforms and help fema achieve its goals. Thank you for being here. I look forward to your testimony i yield back. I would like to again welcome our witness and thank you forle spending your time here with us today. I know that you are busy and we appreciate your presence. I would like to take a moment to explain our lighting system to you. Three lights in front of you. Green means go. Yellow means you are running out of time. Red means to conclude your remark. It actually means you probably shouldve already concluded your remarks. I asked unanimous consent that the full statement be included in the record without objections awarded. Your written testimony has been made part of the official record the subcommittee asked that you limit your remarks to five minutes. With that, administratorde criswell, you are recognized for five minutes for your testimony. Thank you, chairman perry and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for this opportunity to discuss estate of fema. Fema has a powerful Mission Statement spelled out in just seven words. Helping people before, during and after disaster. That Mission Statement, it is our northstar and it reflects a deep and abiding commitment of our workforce to public service. I can say without hesitation that our mission app fema has become more challenging. We can no longer really speak of a disaster season. From atmospheric rivers in january to tornadoes and wildfires in december, we now face intensified Natural Disasters throughout the year. Often in place is not used to experiencing them. In just the last several months alone, we have seen disasters ranging from record funding in vermont to the deadliest wildfire in over a century on the island of maui to the first Tropical Cyclone to make landfall in california since 1938. It is therefore vital that fema be ablee to tap into a properly funded Disaster Relief fund. We strive to be vigilant stewards of the taxpayer dollar. We are careful in our budget prediction. There are times when disasters outpace our appropriated funds. The administration has requested a supplemental funding package that includes 16 billion for the Disaster Relief fund. I urge congressional approval of this request in the administration specifically year 2024 budget request as soon as possible. As a result of this on august 29 fema implemented immediate needs funding for the First Time Since 2017. Under inf, we are prioritizing lifesaving and lifesustaining Disaster Response in delaying obligations for longerterm work as a result, we have needed to pause obligations to over 1000 public assistance projects across the country where it is over 1. 5 billion. You all have my commitment that fema will m