WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Biden administration officials and lawmakers went in front of a Senate committee on Wednesday to advocate for new disaster relief funding. The request has a $98 billion price tag, but those testifying argue it is well worth the cost to help hurricane affected regions recover.
At the hearing Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said it would be hard to get through his testimony without tears, because of the extent of the damage that his state sustained from Hurricane Helene.
“They don’t need tears, they need action,” Tillis said.
Tillis, a Republican, was joined at the hearing by Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat. The two lawmakers are both urging their colleagues to support the disaster relief funding package.
Each leader laid out totals showcasing the devastation in their region, highlighting the hundreds of lives lost, thousands of homes and businesses destroyed, and billions of dollars in damages.
“The numbers are staggering, but this isn’t about numbers, it’s about families and rural communities,” Ossoff said.
While they push to pass funding to respond to immediate recovery needs, the leaders who testified also say it’s time to start thinking about the next storms.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator, Deanne Criswell, told the senators that her agency’s funds need to be replenished now so that they can be prepared.
“These needs have rapidly exhausted our available funds and without a supplemental, our ability to respond to new disasters could be jeopardized,” Criswell said.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg added that as storms become more intense and hit more frequently the government has to rebuild strategically.
“We know that investing in resilient infrastructure up front can save lives and reduce the cost of rebuilding,” Buttigieg said.
Senator Tillis argues that lawmakers also need to rethink policies to improve future federal disaster response efforts.
“We’ve got to react differently to storms. This may be the first, but it won’t be the last. Like we’ve seen in North Carolina, and we owe it to the American people to be ready to do better,” Tillis said.
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