Political Quotes

“I am proud to introduce the Fairness in Federal Disaster Declarations Act today, together with my colleague Senator Duckworth, to try to bring some transparency and fairness into FEMA's disaster declaration process. The inspiration for this bill was a tragic one. On February 29, 2012, a category F-4 tornado tore through southeastern Illinois, causing major damage in the towns of Harrisburg and Ridgway. Eight people in Harrisburg died in that event and 15 people were killed in total. Winds reached 175 miles per hour. It is not too much of a stretch to say these two small towns were almost wiped off the map. And just last week, on February 28, 2017, another tragedy struck the small towns of Ottawa and Naplate after a category F-3 tornado tore through North Central Illinois. Two people in Ottawa died in last week's storm and at least 50 homes were damaged or destroyed. Requests for Federal assistance after a disaster are made by the Governor of each State based on State emergency management damage assessments. In the case of the Harrisburg and Ridgway tornado, the Governor's request for a Federal emergency declaration for individual assistance was denied, as was the State's appeal of that decision. With that denial, individuals whose homes or properties were damaged were precluded from direct Federal help. When I asked FEMA why it denied the Governor's request, I was told that the disaster did not meet or exceed the State's per capita figure.…”