Small State and Rural Rescue Act
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7211) to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, review a final rule of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 7211
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Small State and Rural Rescue Act''. SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF SMALL STATE AND RURAL ADVOCATE.
Section 326(c) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5165d) is amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (2);
(2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) assist States in the collection and presentation of material in the disaster or emergency declaration request relevant to demonstrate severe localized impacts within the State for a specific incident, including--
``(A) the per capita personal income by local area, as calculated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis;
``(B) the disaster impacted population profile, as reported by the Bureau of the Census, including--
``(i) the percentage of the population for whom poverty status is determined;
``(ii) the percentage of the population already receiving Government assistance such as Supplemental Security Income and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits;
``(iii) the pre-disaster unemployment rate;
``(iv) the percentage of the population that is 65 years old and older;
``(v) the percentage of the population 18 years old and younger;
``(vi) the percentage of the population with a disability;
``(vii) the percentage of the population who speak a language other than English and speak English less than `very well'; and
``(viii) any unique considerations regarding American Indian and Alaskan Native Tribal populations raised in the State's request for a major disaster declaration that may not be reflected in the data points referenced in this subparagraph;
``(C) the impact to community infrastructure, including--
``(i) disruptions to community life-saving and life- sustaining services;
``(ii) disruptions or increased demand for essential community services; and
``(iii) disruptions to transportation, infrastructure, and utilities; and
``(D) any other information relevant to demonstrate severe local impacts.''. SEC. 3. GAO REVIEW OF A FINAL RULE.
(a) In General.--The Comptroller General shall conduct a review of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's implementation of its final rule, published on March 21, 2019, amending section 206.48(b) of title 44, Code of Federal Regulations (regarding factors considered when evaluating a Governor's request for a major disaster declaration), which revised the factors that the Agency considers when evaluating a Governor's request for a major disaster declaration authorizing individual assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq).
(b) Scope.--The review required under subsection (a) shall include the following:
(1) An assessment of the criteria used by the Agency to assess individual assistance requests following a major disaster declaration authorizing individual assistance.
(2) An assessment of the consistency with which the Agency uses the updated Individual Assistance Declaration Factors when assessing the impact of individual communities after a major disaster declaration.
(3) An assessment of the impact, if any, of using the updated Individual Assistance Declaration Factors has had on equity in disaster recovery outcomes.
(4) Recommendations to improve the use of the Individual Assistance Declaration Factors to increase equity in disaster recovery outcomes.
(c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on the review required under this section.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DeFAZIO. 7211.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7211. This bill amends the Stafford Act to expand the responsibilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Small State Rural Advocate so they can better assist smaller States and rural communities that have difficulty dealing with the forms and all the requirements to apply for disaster funding.
When disaster strikes the heart of a small or rural community, a significant percentage of the overall infrastructure or housing stock is often damaged or destroyed. However, the community's size may make the total dollar amount of damage seem too low for FEMA to authorize Federal assistance.
This legislation will enable the Small State Rural Advocate to better help States demonstrate localized impact when applying for Federal disaster aid. It also directs the advocate to consider factors such as the impacted jurisdiction's per capita income and poverty status, among other factors.
Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. I don't have any other speakers, so I would view this as my closing.
When you see a small community get hit by disaster, it just breaks your heart. I remember, as chief of staff to Governor Daugaard, being on the ground in Wessington Springs just hours after a tornado ripped up that town. I was struck by this young mayor, Melissa Mebius, a part- time mayor, as small-town mayors are. She was not an expert in disaster recovery. She didn't know how to navigate the FEMA process.
I was reminded of her strength and her persistence just a couple of weeks ago when I was in Castlewood and was able to meet with that mayor, Brian Ries, and get his sense of how their town had been devastated by a tornado.
Mr. Speaker, these are not big towns. To be specific, Castlewood is 627 people, and Wessington Springs has 956. These are good mayors. These are good public works directors. These are good city councilors. These are able leaders, but this is not an area of their expertise.
The gentleman from New York says it right when he says that this is about fairness. H.R. 7211 makes sure that FEMA will have an advocate who will help these small communities better collect and present the information that is vital to a disaster declaration.
We all get it. If the information that is filed with FEMA is deficient, if it does not prove a certain amount of damage, then you are not going to get the declaration that is needed by these communities so that they can move forward with the recovery that these small and rural communities need every bit as the larger, more sophisticated communities do.
Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from New York for his leadership on this issue, and I ask my colleagues to support this legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I, too, thank the gentleman from New York for his leadership on this issue and his friendship on the committee. We are both moving on to maybe greener pastures, but this is an important piece of legislation as part of his legacy. There is much more to it, but at this point, this will be something that will help people around the country.
I lost the entire town of Blue River in my district in the Labor Day fires just 2 years ago. We had winds that we had never experienced before, gusting up to hurricane force down and out of the Cascade Mountains. A power line broke and started an inferno that moved at an incredible pace down the valley.
We are lucky a lot of people didn't die. The evacuation--there is only one way in and one way out of that town, and it is a miracle that more people weren't trapped. It was an extraordinary effort.
The town, except for the high school, which was a little way out of town, was totally devastated. They are now struggling back. They didn't have any technical expertise, in terms of a professional city manager or a grant writer or anything like that.
The State has rendered a lot of assistance to them, as has the county and as has the regional FEMA office. So, they are beginning to rebuild. This legislation will make it a lot easier for communities like that in the future.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source