Peter DeFazio

We are going to deal with underserved communities whose voices have not been heard and needs have frequently not been met.

We are going to make it safer, more equitable, cleaner, with less carbon pollution.

Unfortunately, the blame for gradual erosion of Congress' war powers does not lie at the feet of the executive. For decades, Congress itself has shirked its own constitutional responsibility to declare war and prevent executive overreach…

Chairman DeFazio recently wrote with the leadership, bipartisan leadership of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, sent a letter to the Federal Maritime Commission to express our concern about ocean carriers prioritizing…

I urge the Biden administration and the Corps to quickly implement the critical reforms included in this transformational WRDA.

WRDA 2020 finally ensures the full utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund by unlocking critical funds collected from shippers for harbor maintenance that have sat idle in the Trust Fund for decades.

I want to thank, again, my ranking member, Sam Graves, for joining me in a letter earlier this year.

I got this committee to unanimously support unlocking the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.

Regular enactment of WRDA sends a signal of predictability, both to the Corps and to non-Federal sponsors.

This was initiated by my predecessor and friend, Bill Shuster, after many years of erratic reauthorizations.

Statement from Congressman Peter A. DeFazio dated March 23, 2021

It's imperative that BRIC is fully capitalized so it can fund an even greater number of projects in the out years.

Smart investments of Federal dollars in projects focused on mitigating risk and bolstering resilience is just basic good government.

For all the work FEMA employees have done and will continue to do to help us recover from disasters--thank you.

We have got our work cut out for us to go forward in a bipartisan way.

I am certainly open to working with him in pursuing one.

I think it should be for all federally funded infrastructure, and we will be looking in our surface bill to build back resilience.

I plan on working with our colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee, and, hopefully, they will advance the measure.

FEMA should prioritize improved information sharing in this area.

Speed matters. If a homeowner has already rebuilt, the incentive to participate in the acquisition program fades.

I think that we need to expand our view of what kinds of activities will be acceptable.

In October, I led a bipartisan letter with Ranking Member Graves, Chair Titus, and then-Ranking Member Katko to FEMA Administrator Gaynor and OMB Director Vought, urging them to set aside the full $3.7 billion for BRIC from the COVID…

The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, the BRIC program as we call it, is totally oversubscribed.

FEMA has been busy. It was quite a year--the pandemic, above average tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, and wildfires in the United States.

I think there has to be a balance, and it should be, it seems to me, dictated by the region and the risk.