Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to make crystal clear what this does. In the aftermath of a disaster, you will have a local or State government that will fill out what is called a PW, project worksheet, trying to get reimbursement for something that is allowed under Federal law under the Stafford Act. Current law says the FEMA administrator may reimburse interest costs. As my good friend from Florida just noted, in some cases there are bureaucrats working through the paperwork for 10 years. In my home State of Louisiana, we have unresolved project worksheets dating back to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. According to my math, that was a long time ago. Mr. Speaker, we can't cause the burden of this debt to be undertaken by the local governments and by State governments. Rather than making it an option or a discretionary reimbursement, this bill ensures that the interest costs shall be reimbursable. Then local governments can borrow money, and there is more of an incentive for FEMA to actually expedite the approval of these project worksheets. I think it is a good clarification of law, removing uncertainty for local and State governments and electric co-ops. They will be able to rebuild faster after disaster and reduce the costs associated with delays. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2672, and I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore.…”