Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I am a proud sponsor of this bill, the Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act.

In 2018, Congress made the recovery process fairer and more equitable for communities when we passed important reforms to the disaster preparation and recovery processes. This bill builds upon those efforts by ensuring that funds spent by disaster victims aren't clawed back by the government.

When victims apply--and this is in good faith, mind you--when victims apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and receive it from the agency, those individuals likely need to move quickly to use that assistance for eligible expenses like home repairs to speed up recovery and to begin rebuilding their lives, for obvious reasons. So, these victims should never expect that FEMA is going to come back weeks, months, and sometimes even years later and say: Oops, we made a mistake. Now you, the victim, are going to have to give back those funds that you have already put to good use.

To add insult to injury, FEMA's information on how disaster victims can appeal these decisions is incredibly confusing, and it is absolutely insufficient.

Remember, this is due to no fault of their own, but many disaster victims are faced with debt collectors and the full force of the Federal Government when it comes to repaying these funds.

This is absolutely unacceptable. People acting in good faith to rebuild should not be revictimized after they have properly relied upon FEMA's determination that they were qualified for the assistance that they did receive.

This bill, H.R. 539, is going to clarify that if FEMA makes an error, and there is no evidence of fraud, then the victim will not be revictimized. Their debt is automatically viewed as a hardship, and it is waived.

In addition, the bill would also require FEMA to report back to Congress, to us, on its error rates and tell us what they are doing to be more accurate.

Last Congress, this bill passed on the House floor and had bipartisan support. This Congress, the bill now has a companion version in the Senate, and I hope that we can see this legislation enacted into law this year and truly help disaster victims not only in my district but also across the Nation.

Madam Speaker, I encourage support for this bill. It is a good bill, and people don't need to be revictimized.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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