Brian Schatz: “it has been more than 5 months since the President submitted a domestic supplemental appropriations request to Congress.…”

“it has been more than 5 months since the President submitted a domestic supplemental appropriations request to Congress. And, among other things, it called for funding recovery efforts in communities across the country struck by disasters, including Lahaina Maui. Every one of these affected communities in Florida, in California, in Vermont, in Mississippi, in Alabama, in Arkansas, in Alaska, in South Dakota, in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, and Tennessee need help. Each one of them is in the middle of a long and difficult process of rebuilding and getting back on its feet. Recovering from a disaster--whether natural or manmade--it is hard, it is time-intensive, and it is incredibly expensive; surveying the damage in the immediate hours and days following the event; undertaking the complex and often dangerous process of debris removal; rebuilding homes and roads and schools and other essential infrastructure that were destroyed; providing financial assistance to people, families, and small business owners who lost their jobs and livelihoods overnight. It takes months and years and tremendous effort from thousands of people to return these communities to anything close to normal. Today, another community is, unfortunately, confronting the colossal task of rebuilding--this time in Baltimore in the wake of the tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Our hearts go out to the families of the six men who were lost that day.…”