Brian Schatz: “every month in States all across the country, more and more communities are confronting the awful burden of recovering…”

“every month in States all across the country, more and more communities are confronting the awful burden of recovering from a disaster. The process is long. It is expensive. It is confusing, and it is painful. Some communities are at the very beginning of their recovery, and others, like Lahaina on Maui, are more than a year into the process but still nowhere near back to normal. And they need our help. It has now been more than 15 months since the ferocious fires leveled Lahaina in August of last year, destroying 2,200 structures--most of them homes--and displacing more than 12,000 people. For more than a year, survivors and their families have shifted from one temporary housing unit to the next, struggling to find any semblance of stability. Finding a new job when tourism is still lagging is hard. Rebuilding small businesses without access to capital and a robust workforce is hard. Catching up children on lost time in school is hard. Helping loved ones cope with their grief and trauma is hard. And even after enduring months of uncertainty and persistent hardship, survivors have little assurance that the road ahead will be any easier. They are doing all that they can to get back on their feet for themselves and their families, for their communities. But the simple fact is they cannot do it alone. They need the Federal Government's help. Thousands of homes need to be rebuilt, yet only a small fraction have begun the process.…”