Political Quotes

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Shuster for his tremendous support and leadership on this bill. Few Members of Congress have had a greater impact on reforming our disaster programs since Hurricane Katrina than Chairman Shuster. This bill represents another important step in that effort, and I greatly appreciate the chairman's help. I also want to thank Ranking Member DeFazio and Ranking Member Carson for their bipartisan support of the bill. The FEMA Disaster Assistance Reform Act has two primary goals: to help save lives and to save taxpayer money. {time} 1715 The bill helps save lives by fixing a longstanding problem that hinders the deployment of critical search and rescue teams between States. These reforms will help ensure our constituents receive the help they need when disaster strikes. Additionally, this bill helps save money by improving the cost- effectiveness of FEMA's existing disaster assistance programs. For example, there are provisions that will speed up reconstruction and lower administrative costs. The bill also saves money by encouraging smart recovery practices and mitigation to lower the costs of the next disaster. The bill commissions a comprehensive review of the growing disaster losses the Nation has experienced over the past decades. Experts estimated over $1 trillion of disaster losses have occurred in North America since 1980.…”