[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2455 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2455

    To prohibit any requirement of a budgetary offset for emergency 
               disaster assistance during 2011 and 2012.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 7, 2011

 Mr. Richmond introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To prohibit any requirement of a budgetary offset for emergency 
               disaster assistance during 2011 and 2012.

    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 ``Humanitarian Aid for Americans 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Presidential emergency declarations trigger aid that 
        protects property, public health, and safety and lessens or 
        averts the threat of an incident becoming a catastrophic event.
            (2) The number of disasters has grown on a bipartisan basis 
        and is a reflection of the weather events of the period: in the 
        1980s (1980-1989) there were 237 Presidential major disaster 
        declarations; in the 1990s (1990-1999) there were 460 
        Presidential major disaster declarations; and in the 2000s 
        (2000-2009) there were 561 declared disasters, an average of 56 
        per year during the 2000s.
            (3) In 2011 alone, there have already been 48 major 
        disaster declarations in Texas, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, 
        Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Alaska, Illinois, Minnesota, 
        Oklahoma, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mississippi, 
        Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, 
        North Carolina, California, Hawaii, Wisconsin, Oregon, 
        Washington, New Mexico, Connecticut, New York, Utah, New 
        Jersey, and Maine.
            (4) Historically, the Congress has recognized the 
        importance of retaining flexibility to provide immediate 
        disaster assistance, understanding that limiting its 
        flexibility to respond would impede the ability of the Congress 
        to address constituents' needs and limit its ability to fund 
        disaster relief, thus forcing State and local governments to 
        face the insurmountable challenges of rebuilding alone.
            (5) Despite this history, some members of the 112th 
        Congress have called for offsets to any emergency aid package.
            (6) Timely disaster aid allows for a humanitarian response 
        and a comprehensive recovery, and should not be slowed while 
        the Congress considers additional cuts to infrastructure, 
        homeland security, Medicare, education, and infant nutrition 
        before responding to an unforeseen disaster.
            (7) For these reasons, this Act allows the Congress to be 
        responsive to its constituents, removing any requirement that 
        emergency disaster funding be offset by spending cuts.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF REQUIREMENT OF BUDGETARY OFFSETS FOR EMERGENCY 
              DISASTER ASSISTANCE DURING 2011 AND 2012.

    Any appropriation during calendar year 2011 or 2012 for disaster 
assistance pursuant to a declaration by the President of a major 
disaster or emergency under section 401 or 501 of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 
or 5191) shall not be counted for any budgetary purpose of title III or 
IV of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) or of 
any rule of the House of Representatives or the Senate, and shall not 
be required to be accompanied by any budgetary offset.
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