Mike McCaul

I think we can streamline the process so that reimbursement can take place more in real-time.

I believe the fire starts Sunday night. Monday, we're out there. Wednesday, they arrive from California.

I first would like to thank my good friend, Congressman Henry Cuellar, for agreeing to be the Ranking Member of this committee's hearing.

Twenty-one thousand fires, and it takes this type of explosion to finally get the attention of the President

Let me echo your sentiments about the local volunteer firefighters. They really were the heroes of this story.

I think we should have had more assets pre-positioned to handle the Bastrop and others.

I think that it should be done more efficiently and not take 3 years to do that.

I do think that we should have had more in terms of aviation assets pre-positioned.

I think that's--that's a clear lesson learned we ought to be taking from this.

I don't know how they--how it survived the fire, but it certainly--it demonstrated a lot to me, that we are going to prevail.

I think a lot of people were very angry and upset about that when they got that news.

The purpose of this hearing is to examine whether bureaucracy prevented a timely response to the recent devastating wildfires experienced in our State.

The lack of immediate response from these aircraft assets caused significant delays in fighting the fires in Bastrop County.

I think it's outdated. The Stafford Act, which governs disaster response, recognizes that the States and local communities and not the Federal Government--I emphasize, not the Federal Government--have the primary responsibility to address…

We've got to cut the Federal Government. The Federal Government is getting in our way.

So--I mean, it says 'aircraft approval.' So they are approved as airworthy.

What happened in Texas this year is inexcusable and unacceptable.

Texas has been the epicenter of a great natural disaster this year.

The State of Texas remains to be a tinderbox, and I think it's very foreseeable, as it has been this past year, that we'll have many more fires, unfortunately.

We want to thank you, Mr. Starbuck, and thank you for your great service.

I'll be the first one to say we need to do a lot more.

What happened in Texas is inexcusable and unacceptable.

FEMA must also change its defined jurisdictions for declarations.

I view the commitment of the present administration as a serious commitment to the needs of the border.

Allowing a porous border is not only a threat to our citizens and Nation's food supply, but also a threat to our homeland security.