Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1665, the Disaster Declaration Improvement Act, as amended, which will ensure that the severity and number of recent disasters are afforded greater weight by FEMA when making disaster declaration recommendations to the President. This bill addresses an unfair situation where small and rural communities located in States with large populations are seemingly denied Federal disaster assistance because of the State's large population. We have seen instances where a storm inflicts similar damage in two communities of similar size located in different States, but the State with a lower population receives a disaster declaration while the State with a larger population does not receive the disaster declaration. For example, in 2013, several counties in Illinois were hit by a tornado causing 6 deaths, at least 180 injured, and widespread damage. The same storm system produced tornadoes and caused damage in the smaller neighboring States of Missouri and Kentucky, both of which received disaster declarations, while the State of Illinois did not. To be clear, the Stafford Act prohibits the denial of disaster assistance to a State or local community based on income or population. However, given some of the examples, it appears that that is precisely what is occurring. It is time for this to stop and to treat all small and rural communities fairly. Mr.…”