[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
EXAMINING FEMA'S READINESS TO MEET ITS
MISSION
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JUNE 29, 2021
__________
Serial No. 117-21
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
45-515 PDF WASHINGTON : 2021
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi, Chairman
Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas John Katko, New York
James R. Langevin, Rhode Island Michael T. McCaul, Texas
Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey Clay Higgins, Louisiana
J. Luis Correa, California Michael Guest, Mississippi
Elissa Slotkin, Michigan Dan Bishop, North Carolina
Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri Jefferson Van Drew, New Jersey
Al Green, Texas Ralph Norman, South Carolina
Yvette D. Clarke, New York Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Iowa
Eric Swalwell, California Diana Harshbarger, Tennessee
Dina Titus, Nevada Andrew S. Clyde, Georgia
Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida
Kathleen M. Rice, New York Jake LaTurner, Kansas
Val Butler Demings, Florida Peter Meijer, Michigan
Nanette Diaz Barragan, California Kat Cammack, Florida
Josh Gottheimer, New Jersey August Pfluger, Texas
Elaine G. Luria, Virginia Andrew R. Garbarino, New York
Tom Malinowski, New Jersey
Ritchie Torres, New York
Hope Goins, Staff Director
Daniel Kroese, Minority Staff Director
Natalie Nixon, Clerk
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Statements
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress
From the State of Mississippi, and Chairman, Committee on
Homeland Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 1
Prepared Statement............................................. 2
The Honorable John Katko, a Representative in Congress From the
State of New York, and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland
Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 3
Prepared Statement............................................. 6
Witness
Ms. Deanne B. Criswell, Administrator, Federal Emergency
Management Agency:
Oral Statement................................................. 7
Prepared Statement............................................. 10
For the Record
The Honorable Clay Higgins, a Representative in Congress From the
State of Louisiana:
Letters........................................................ 18
Additional Letters............................................. 24
The Honorable Ritchie Torres, a Representative in Congress From
the State of New York:
Letter From NYC Health + Hospitals............................. 53
Appendix I
Questions From Chairman Bennie G. Thompson for Deanne B. Criswell 65
Questions From Honorable Elaine Luria for Deanne B. Criswell..... 66
Appendix II
Letter From Everbridge........................................... 69
EXAMINING FEMA'S READINESS TO MEET ITS MISSION
----------
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Homeland Security,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., via
Webex, Hon. Bennie G. Thompson [Chairman of the committee]
presiding.
Present: Representatives Thompson, Jackson Lee, Langevin,
Correa, Slotkin, Cleaver, Green, Clarke, Swalwell, Titus,
Demings, Barragan, Gottheimer, Luria, Malinowski, Torres,
Katko, Higgins, Bishop, Van Drew, Miller-Meeks, Harshbarger,
Clyde, Gimenez, LaTurner, Meijer, Cammack, and Pfluger.
Chairman Thompson. The Committee on Homeland Security will
come to order. The committee is meeting today to receive
testimony on examining FEMA's readiness to meet its mission.
Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare the
committee in recess at any point. The gentlewoman from Florida,
Mrs. Demings, shall assume the duties of the Chair in the event
that I run into technical difficulties.
Good morning. The committee is meeting today to discuss
FEMA's readiness to meet its mission. We are pleased to be
joined by the Administrator Deanne Criswell who was confirmed
just 2 months ago. Administrator Criswell brings to the job a
wealth of experience from her roles as a New York City
Emergency Management Commissioner, leader of one of FEMA's
National Incident Management Assistance teams, and over 2
decades of service as a firefighter in the Colorado Air
National Guard. I would also note that she is the first woman
to be confirmed by the Senate to lead FEMA. I applaud the Biden
administration for selecting highly-qualified individuals who
reflect the diversity of our great Nation.
Administrator Criswell steps into the role at a critical
juncture as FEMA contends with on-going responses to previous
disasters, including western wildfires and 2017 hurricanes,
while also continuing to manage the COVID response, the current
disaster season, and other emergencies.
For example, in Mississippi we have suffered terrible
losses from recent flooding and I know many other communities
have dealt with similar disasters this spring and summer. Over
the weekend, we also watched in horror as a tragic building
collapsed in the Miami area. Last night, Tropical Storm Danny
made landfall in South Carolina amid what is predicted to be a
busy hurricane season.
FEMA is playing a key role in the response to all of these
incidents. The agency also continues to contend with long-
standing challenges like addressing a disaster assistance
backlog, recruiting and retaining a qualified disaster
workforce, and addressing incidents of harassment and
discrimination, and bolstering employee morale. The men and
women of FEMA have been doing yeoman's work during this
extraordinary time, and we must do everything possible to
support them in their efforts. Administrator Criswell will need
to play catch-up to address all of these issues, as FEMA's
mission was hampered by the prior administration's failure to
listen to competent leadership, its politicization of disaster
response, and its denial of the science on COVID and climate
change.
Under the Biden administration, things are already changing
for the better. On February 2, President Biden announced that
FEMA would provide 100 percent Federal funding for States and
local governments for their COVID-19 response and vaccination
efforts. Additionally, the Biden administration has provided
funeral assistance to families who lost loved ones to the
pandemic, mobilized mass vaccination efforts, and deployed
mobile vaccination units to help serve hard-to-reach and
underserved communities.
The Biden administration is also investing in resilient
critical infrastructure by providing $1 billion to communities
through FEMA's pre-disaster Building Resilient Infrastructure
and Communities Program, commonly called BRIC. With this
funding, FEMA would also be able to help prepare communities
for more frequent and damaging storms resulting from climate
change. FEMA's budget requests full funding for the Non-profit
Security Grant Program and Targeted Violence and Terrorism
Prevention Program. These programs are essential to helping
institutions at higher risk of targeted violence like State and
local governments, higher education, and non-profits.
That being said, Congress must restore the proposed $15.3
million reduction in both the Urban Area Security Initiative,
UASI, and the State Homeland Security Grant Program. Such a
reduction could hinder our ability to effectively prepare for,
respond to, recover from, and mitigate against all hazards.
Today, FEMA faces historic challenges as it seeks to carry out
its mission to support citizens and first responders as we
prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and
mitigate all hazards. I look forward to hearing from
Administrator Criswell about FEMA's readiness to meet its
mission and what Congress can do to assist. I thank her for
being here and the Members for their participation.
[The statement of Chairman Thompson follows:]
Statement of Chairman Bennie G. Thompson
June 29, 2021
The committee is meeting today to discuss FEMA's readiness to meet
its mission. We are pleased to be joined by Administrator Deanne
Criswell, who was confirmed just 2 months ago. Administrator Criswell
brings to the job a wealth of experience from her roles as New York
City Emergency Management Commissioner, leader of one of FEMA's
National Incident Management Assistance Teams, and over 2 decades of
service as a firefighter in the Colorado Air National Guard. I would
also note that she is the first woman to be confirmed by the Senate to
lead FEMA, and I applaud the Biden administration for selecting highly-
qualified individuals who reflect the diversity of our great Nation.
Administrator Criswell steps into the role at a critical juncture,
as FEMA contends with on-going responses to previous disasters
including western wildfires and 2017 hurricanes, while also continuing
to manage the COVID response, the current disaster season, and other
emergencies. For example, in Mississippi we have suffered terrible
losses from recent flooding, and I know many other communities have
dealt with similar disasters this spring and summer. Over the weekend
we all watched in horror at the tragic building collapse in the Miami
area. And last night, Tropical Storm Danny made landfall in South
Carolina, amid what is predicted to be a busy hurricane season. FEMA is
playing a key role in the response to all of these incidents.
The agency also continues to contend with long-standing challenges
like addressing a disaster assistance backlog, recruiting and retaining
a qualified disaster workforce, and addressing incidents of harassment
and discrimination and bolstering employee morale. The men and women of
FEMA have been doing yeoman's work during this extraordinary time, and
we must do everything possible to support them and their efforts.
Administrator Criswell will need to play catch-up to address all of
these issues, as FEMA's mission was hampered by the prior
administration's failure to listen to competent leadership, its
politicization of disaster response, and its denial of the science on
COVID and climate change. Under the Biden administration, things are
already changing for the better.
On February 2, President Biden announced that FEMA would provide
100 percent Federal funding for States and local governments for their
COVID-19 response and vaccination efforts. Additionally, the Biden
administration has provided funeral assistance to families who lost
loved ones to the pandemic, mobilized mass vaccination efforts, and
deployed mobile vaccination units to help serve hard-to-reach and
underserved communities.
The Biden administration is also investing in resilient critical
infrastructure by providing $1 billion to communities through FEMA's
Pre-Disaster Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC)
program. With this funding, FEMA would be able to help prepare
communities for more frequent and damaging storms resulting from
climate change. FEMA's budget requests full funding for the Nonprofit
Security Grant Program (NSGP) and Targeted Violence and Terrorism
Prevention (TVTP) program. These programs are essential to helping
institutions at higher risk of targeted violence, like State and local
governments, higher education, and nonprofits.
That being said, Congress must restore the proposed $15.3 million
reduction to both the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) and the
State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP). Such a reduction could
hinder our ability to effectively prepare for, respond to, recover
from, and mitigate against all hazards.
Today, FEMA faces historic challenges as it seeks to carry out its
mission to support citizens and first responders as we prepare for,
protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
I look forward to hearing from Administrator Criswell about FEMA's
readiness to meet its mission, and what Congress can do to assist.
Chairman Thompson. With that, I recognize the Ranking
Member, the gentleman from New York, Mr. Katko, for an opening
statement.
Mr. Katko. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for
holding this hearing today. I want to welcome the witness, Ms.
Criswell. I appreciate your time we spent last week together. I
found it very helpful and very informative and I am confident
we are going to have a good working relationship going forward.
Before I start my opening, I want to just acknowledge the
recent tragedy in Surfside, Florida. I know that Ms. Criswell
recently returned from there and my thoughts and prayers go out
to all those involved in the tragedy and those working the
rescue operation, including FEMA.
I would like congratulate Ms. Criswell on her confirmation.
In a field that has traditionally been dominated by men, Ms.
Criswell is the first woman to lead FEMA as a confirmed
director or B. For an agency that was formed in 1979, I would
say that is a long, long overdue achievement. Ms. Criswell, I
congratulate you on being a trailblazer and thank you for being
a role model for the thousands of women that are already in the
field of emergency management, and for those that are thinking
about a career in the field. I hope that you are the first of
many.
FEMA has had its hands full for the past several years.
After having not been hit by a major hurricane in over a
decade--Hurricane Wilma in 2005--2017 devastated the United
States with 3 major hurricanes, Harvey, Irma, and Maria. It
doesn't seem like things have slowed down since. In 2018,
Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Florida panhandle,
becoming the first Category 5 storm to hit the United States
since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Two-thousand nineteen also saw
an above-average hurricane season with 18 named storms. And
2020, although it was somewhat overshadowed by COVID-19, was
the most active and the fifth-costliest Atlantic hurricane
season on record. Not to mention record-breaking fire seasons
over the past several years. In 2020 alone, more than 4 million
acres were burned in the State of California.
Then came COVID. On March 13, 2020, President Trump
declared a Nation-wide emergency. Eventually every State,
commonwealth, territory, and the District of Columbia received
a major disaster declaration. That triggers FEMA, of course.
During the pandemic, FEMA with the help of HHS and the private
sector, coordinated the delivery of more than 600 million N95
respirators, 2.5 billion surgical masks, 131 million face
shields, 1.1 billion surgical gowns and coveralls, and more
than 56 billion gloves to State, local, Tribal, and territory
partners. Well done. Well done, indeed.
Additionally, FEMA has distributed more than $80 billion in
COVID relief and vaccine-related expenses. They have helped to
support 2,100 community vaccination centers and assisted in the
delivery of more than 371 million vaccines. I applaud the work
of FEMA--all the work FEMA has done over the past several years
and during the pandemic. These are certainly unprecedented
times for our country and for FEMA.
Despite the many successes of FEMA during 2020 and before,
I think that FEMA is facing multiple challenges today and will
in the years to come. With the many varying undertakings that
FEMA has been given, including now a mission at the border, we
must ensure that we have an adequately-staffed, well-trained,
and forward-thinking FEMA that is not only prepared for
hurricanes, but for whatever challenges lie ahead.
So, think about it for a moment, if you will. It is the
first time in FEMA's history that it had a Nation-wide
emergency disaster declaration and that I am sure changed the
matrix of things quite a bit for FEMA. I have concerns with
FEMA's readiness as well as approach to dealing with State and
local, territorial, and Tribal entities, and will highlight one
of my experiences later in my opening statement. But first, I
would like to note what I hope to hear in your testimony today,
among other things, I would like to hear your vision for the
following: How will you ensure that FEMA is adequately staffed
for future disasters due to staff burnout and massive workload
as I detailed earlier in my testimony? How will FEMA revamp the
recovery process, which is outdated, frustrating for
applicants, too bureaucratic, and simply takes too long? How
does FEMA plan to view grants moving forward? Does FEMA think
any changes should be made as we approach the 20th anniversary
of 9/11? What role can FEMA grants play in shoring up the
security of communities who have defunded law enforcement
critical to the homeland security mission? How does FEMA view
its role in future pandemics? Should FEMA be the lead or should
FEMA play a support role? How does FEMA plan to modernize the
Flood Insurance Program? What are the future plans for FEMA's
BRIC Program? How will you ensure that this program is truly
the transformational program that Congress envisioned?
I am also interested in how FEMA will do more to work with
small and rural communities. Not all of us represent large
metropolitan areas and I have seen FEMA fall flat when it comes
to working with smaller communities in central New York. I know
that my experience is not unique. As I am sure you are aware,
President Trump signed a major disaster declaration for
multiple counties in New York due to flooding along Lake
Ontario in 2017. Unfortunately, assistance for individuals was
denied under this declaration. Similar flooding occurred in
2019, and FEMA Administrator Gaynor visited the region with me
to survey the devastating damage, which amounted to hundreds of
millions of dollars of shoreline damage at a minimum.
I disagree with the decision by FEMA on how these requests
for assistance were handled. My constituents were left
frustrated by the length of time it took for a decision and the
overall lack of transparency in the process. Additionally, I
take issue with the process of FEMA's preliminary damage
assessments.
To improve this process for my constituents and others, I
introduced a bill that will improve the efficiency and
consistency of the PDA process. My bill establishes an advisory
panel of State and local emergency personnel from all 10 FEMA
regions to work with FEMA to enhance the PDA process. In 2020,
a previous version of this legislation was passed by the House
of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support. Ms.
Criswell, on behalf of my constituents, I would ask that you
look at this legislation and provide any meaningful feedback
that you think is helpful.
FEMA plays an important role in the Department of Homeland
Security. Indeed, it plays a critical role. It has a zero-fail
mission. It needs to be able to respond to disasters at any
hour of any day and across the entire United States from Puerto
Rico to Samoa. Ms. Criswell, in my 2 hearings with the
Secretary, I have told him that I want to be constructive
Member of Congress, not just throw bombs without offering
solutions. I would like to make the same offer to you and be
forward-looking. I look forward to working with you and I know,
based on my conversations with you already, we will be able to
work together. I look forward to hearing your testimony today
and your vision for FEMA. Now, I did have some criticisms, but,
of course, there are many things about FEMA that are doing
well.
The last thing I want to say is, I want to salute the men
and women of FEMA who have gone above and beyond the duty
during this pandemic and have done yeoman's work to help us get
through this pandemic. So, I salute all of them and I think on
behalf of the entire committee, they will agree with me that
they did a fantastic job. So, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I
yield back.
[The statement of Ranking Member Katko follows:]
Statement of Ranking Member John Katko
Thank you for holding his hearing today, Mr. Chairman. I want to
welcome the witness, Ms. Criswell. I appreciate the time we spent last
week together. I found it very helpful and very informative and I'm
confident we're going to have a good working relationship going
forward. Before I start my opening, I just want to acknowledge the
recent tragedy in Surfside, Florida. I know that Ms. Criswell recently
returned from there, and my thoughts and prayers go out to all those
involved in the tragedy and those working the rescue operation,
including FEMA.
I would like to congratulate Ms. Criswell on her confirmation. In a
field that has traditionally been dominated by men, Ms. Criswell is the
first woman to lead FEMA as a confirmed director or administrator. For
an agency that was formed in 1979, I would say that this is long
overdue. Ms. Criswell, I congratulate you on being a trailblazer, and
thank you for being a role model for the thousands of women that are
already in the field of emergency management, and for those that are
thinking about a career in the field. I hope that you are the first of
many.
FEMA has had its hands full for the past several years. After
having not been hit by a major hurricane in over a decade (Hurricane
Wilma in 2005), 2017 devastated the United States with three major
hurricanes--Harvey, Irma, and Maria. It doesn't seem like things have
slowed down since.
In 2018, Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Florida panhandle,
becoming the first category 5 storm to hit the United States since
Hurricane Andrew in 1992. 2019 also saw an above-average hurricane
season with 18 named storms, and 2020, although it was somewhat
overshadowed by COVID-19, was the most active and the fifth-costliest
Atlantic hurricane season on record. Not to mention record-breaking
fire seasons over the past several years--in 2020 alone, more than 4
million acres were burned in California.
And then came COVID--on March 13, 2020, President Trump declared a
Nation-wide emergency, and eventually every State, commonwealth,
territory, and the District of Columbia received a major disaster
declaration. During the pandemic, FEMA, with the help of HHS and the
private sector coordinated the delivery of more than 600 million N95
respirators, 2.5 billion surgical masks, 131 million face shields, 1.1
billion surgical gowns/coveralls, and more than 56 billion gloves to
State, local, Tribal, and territorial partners. Well done.
Additionally, FEMA has distributed more than $80 billion dollars in
COVID relief and vaccine-related expenses, helped to support 2,100
community vaccination centers and assisted in the delivery of more than
371 million vaccines.
I applaud all the work FEMA has done over the past several years
and during the pandemic. These are certainly unprecedented times.
Despite the many successes of FEMA during 2020 and before, I think
that FEMA is facing multiple challenges today, and will in the years to
come.
With the many varying undertakings that FEMA has been given,
including now a mission at the border, we must ensure that we have an
adequately staffed, well-trained, and forward-thinking FEMA that is not
only prepared for hurricane season, but for whatever challenges lie
ahead.
And yet, I have concerns with FEMA's readiness as well as approach
to dealing with State, local, territorial, and Tribal entities, and
will highlight one of my experiences later in my opening statement. But
first, I would like to note what I hope to hear in your testimony
today. Among others, I would like to hear your vision for the
following:
How will you ensure that FEMA is adequately staffed for
future disasters due to staff burnout and massive workload as I
detailed earlier in my testimony?
How will FEMA revamp the recovery process, which is
outdated, frustrating for applicants, too bureaucratic, and
simply takes too long?
How does FEMA plan to view grants moving forward--and does
FEMA think any changes should be made as we approach the 20th
anniversary of 9/11?
What role can FEMA grants play in shoring up the security of
communities who have defunded law enforcement critical to the
homeland security mission?
How does FEMA view its role in future pandemics--should FEMA
be the lead, or should FEMA play a support role?
How does FEMA plan to modernize the flood insurance program?
What are the future plans for FEMA's BRIC program, and how
will you ensure that this program is truly the transformational
program that Congress envisioned?
I am also interested in how FEMA will do more to work with small
and rural communities. Not all of us represent large metropolitan areas
and I have seen FEMA fall flat when it comes to working with smaller
communities in Central New York. I know that my experience is not
unique.
As I am sure you are aware, President Trump signed a major disaster
declaration for multiple counties in New York due to flooding along
Lake Ontario in 2017. Unfortunately, assistance for individuals was
denied under this declaration. Similar flooding occurred in 2019, and
FEMA Administrator Gaynor visited the region with me to survey the
devastating damage.
I disagree with the decision by FEMA and how these requests for
assistance were handled. My constituents were left frustrated by the
length of time it took for a decision, and the overall lack of
transparency in the process.
Additionally, I take issue with the process of FEMA's Preliminary
Damage Assessments.
To improve this process for my constituents and others, I
introduced a bill that will improve the efficiency and consistency of
the PDA process. My bill establishes an advisory panel of State and
local emergency personnel from all 10 FEMA regions to work with FEMA to
enhance the PDA process.
In 2020, a previous version of this legislation was passed by the
House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support. Ms.
Criswell, on behalf of my constituents, I would ask that you look at
this legislation and provide any meaningful feedback.
FEMA plays an important role in the Department of Homeland
Security. FEMA has a zero-fail mission, needs to be able to respond to
disasters at any hour of any day, and across the entire United States,
from Puerto Rico to American Samoa. Ms. Criswell, in my two hearings
with the Secretary, I have told him that I want to be a constructive
Member of Congress and not just throw bombs without offering solutions.
I would like to make that same offer to you and be forward-looking. I
look forward to working with you, and look forward to hearing your
testimony and vision for FEMA.
Now I did have some criticisms, but of course there's many things
about FEMA they're doing well. Last, I want to salute the men and women
of FEMA who have gone above and beyond their duties during this
pandemic and have done yeoman's work to help us get through this
pandemic. I think the entire committee will agree with me that they did
a fantastic job.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much. All the Members of
the committee are reminded that under the committee rules,
opening statements may be submitted for the record. Members are
also reminded that the committee will operate according to the
guidelines laid out by the Chairman and Ranking Member in our
February 3 colloquy regarding remote proceedings.
I welcome our witness and I am going to try to get your
first name right. Deanne, Deanne.
Ms. Criswell. Deanne.
Chairman Thompson. Deanne Criswell, the administrator for
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who is making her
first appearance before the committee today. Without objection,
the administrator's full statement will be inserted in the
record. I now ask Administrator Criswell to summarize her
statement for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF DEANNE B. CRISWELL, ADMINISTRATOR, FEDERAL
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY
Ms. Criswell. Thank you, Chair Thompson, Ranking Member
Katko, and Members of the committee. I am delighted to be
appear before you today to discuss the President's budget
request for FEMA in fiscal year 2022, and to describe how the
President's vision guides my priorities for the agency.
This past Sunday, I visited Surfside, Florida and the scene
of the Champlain Towers collapse. It is difficult to put into
words the devastation that this community is experiencing and
our hearts go out to all the families and loved ones that have
been impacted by this event.
I am very grateful for the heroic efforts of the local
first responders. Seen first-hand the around-the-clock rescue
efforts and how the community has come together in their time
of greatest need. FEMA is on the ground. We have a recovery
center that is working directly with families and loved ones
impacted by this tragic event to get them the assistance that
they need. We will continue to bring resources to support the
on-going response and recovery efforts.
FEMA's mission of supporting people before, during, and
after disasters has never been more critical. Our role
supporting incidents such as the Champlain Towers collapse, our
support of the COVID-19 pandemic response, and numerous other
active disasters attests to the vital importance and
responsibility of this agency to our Nation.
Given FEMA's unprecedented mission requirements, the
President's budget increases the FEMA budget to $28.4 billion,
which is $1.9 billion more than the fiscal year 2021 enactment.
The President's budget, if enacted, will allow FEMA to meet the
challenges ahead.
In my first months as FEMA administrator, I am focused on 3
key priorities: Supporting the FEMA workforce and our
readiness, integrating equity into everything we do, and
addressing climate change through risk reduction. I will
describe these priorities in turn.
First, we must support the FEMA workforce and our
readiness. To protect the well-being of our workforce and the
communities we serve in the COVID-19 environment, we continue
to rely on virtual operations where appropriate. We are
evaluating how to enhance our operational capacity, promote an
agile and expeditionary culture, and support the safe return to
the office. Workforce readiness begins with the right staffing
levels. The fiscal year 2022 budget supports increased hiring
and among other things, would result in a 14 percent increase
in the number of our Stafford Act employees.
Readiness also means ensuring the workforce has the
training, tools, and resources they need to do their job. I am
committed to providing that to the workforce. Next, we must
integrate equity into everything we do. The Nation deserves to
have our programs and services delivered fairly and equitably.
To meet this expectation, diversity, equity, and inclusion must
be core components of how we conduct ourselves and execute our
mission. FEMA is currently soliciting feedback from the public
and our partners to ensure we understand how our programs
impact survivors of different demographics and where needed, we
are committed to making changes. This includes changes to our
policies, procedures, and how we deploy and execute our
mission.
Internally, this means building a diverse and inclusive
workforce which resembles the communities we serve. Externally,
it means we must proactively identify and reach out to
underserved communities and populations most in need of our
help. We are analyzing our operational programs through the
lens of equity and we are doing that for a reason. We know that
disasters exasperate existing inequalities. We need to ensure
FEMA assistance reaches everyone who needs it. We must also
identify the root causes of differing recovery outcomes for
survivors and work aggressively and collectively to ensure
access for all to disaster response and recovery assistance.
FEMA's commitment to equity is evident in our efforts to
advance the accessibility of the COVID-19 vaccine. At the
President's direction, FEMA coordinated with Federal, State,
local, Tribal, and territorial partners to support the
establishment and expansion of over 2,100 community vaccination
centers. This included 39 Federally-led CVC pilot sites and the
deployment of 18 mobile vaccination units to help reach
traditionally underserved populations. Nearly 60 percent of all
doses administered at these Federally-led sites, went to
communities of color. As we execute our response to COVID-19
and other disasters, FEMA will continue to prioritize equity
across all of our operations.
Finally, we must address climate change through risk
reduction. As emergency managers, we must face the challenges
that climate change poses to our mission head-on and make
generational-level investments to reduce the impacts.
Developing resilient communities ahead of an incident reduces
both the loss of life and economic disruption. Every dollar
invested in mitigation saves the American taxpayer $6 in future
spending. To provide local partners with the financial support
for mitigation projects, FEMA is expanding resources and
technical assistance for the Building Resilient Infrastructure
and Communities Program, which establishes a reliable stream of
funding for larger mitigation projects through a Nation-wide
grant program. Recently, the President visited FEMA and
announced that he was doubling the funding available for the
BRIC Program to $1 billion for the fiscal year 2021
application.
Mitigating the increasing flood risk is particularly
important as flooding is the most common and costly natural
disaster in the United States. Among other initiatives, the
President's fiscal year 2022 budget requests more than $428
million for the Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis Program
to allow for climate change data to be incorporated into flood
risk analysis. FEMA is also working to ensure that communities
are protected financially from flooding. FEMA is updating the
National Food Insurance Program pricing methodology to fix
long-standing inequities by more closely aligning insurance
premiums to the specific flood risk of each home. The fiscal
year 2022 budget also includes a means-tested affordability
proposal to ensure that everyone who needs flood insurance can
afford it.
In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic is an important
turning point for our country and challenges us to rethink our
systems, decisions, and investments. This past year has not
been easy and I would like to recognize the professionalism and
perseverance demonstrated by the FEMA workforce. I look forward
to working with the Members of this committee as we build a
more ready and resilient Nation. I am happy to answer any
questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Criswell follows:]
Prepared Statement of Deanne B. Criswell
June 29, 2021
Chair Thompson, Ranking Member Katko, and Members of the committee.
My name is Deanne Criswell, and I am the administrator of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). I am delighted to appear before you
to discuss the President's budget request for FEMA in fiscal year 2022,
and to describe how the President's vision guides my priorities for
FEMA as the agency's new administrator.
FEMA's mission of supporting people before, during, and after
disasters has never been more critical. Our role during the response to
the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the numerous other disasters we are
actively supporting, attests to the vital importance and responsibility
of this agency to our Nation. Given FEMA's unprecedented mission
requirements, the President's budget increases the overall FEMA budget
to $28.4 billion, which is $1.9 billion more than the fiscal year 2021
enactment. I believe that the President's budget, if enacted, will put
FEMA on sound footing to meet the challenges ahead.
Climate change is making natural disasters more frequent, more
intense, and more destructive, and we must be prepared for another
challenging series of disaster events this summer and fall. Last year,
FEMA faced record-setting hurricane and wildfire seasons. Response and
recovery operations from many of these past disasters continue even as
FEMA pivots to prepare for what lies ahead. The fiscal year 2022
President's budget would increase the major disaster allocation in the
Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) from $17.1 billion to $18.8 billion to
address on-going Stafford Act disasters. This includes $9.3 billion for
COVID-19; $4.1 billion for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria; $2.2
billion for non-catastrophic disasters; $1.2 billion for catastrophic
disasters; and $2.0 billion in reserve in anticipation of additional
COVID-19 costs.
In my first months as the FEMA administrator, I am focused on three
key priorities, which are guided by the President's vision: (1)
Supporting the FEMA workforce and our readiness; (2) integrating equity
into everything we do, and (3) addressing climate change through risk
reduction. In today's testimony, I will describe these priorities in
turn.
Supporting the FEMA workforce and our readiness.--FEMA's workforce
of more than 21,700 emergency managers does exceptional work every day
to deliver our mission and as FEMA's administrator, their readiness and
well-being is my first priority.
Prioritizing the health and safety of FEMA's workforce enables us
to best ensure that our personnel are ready to deploy or re-deploy to
any disaster at a moment's notice. FEMA will continue to take all
necessary measures to prioritize workforce health and safety within the
COVID-19 environment. FEMA's workforce became eligible for the COVID-19
vaccine through the Department of Homeland Security's Operation
Vaccinate our Workforce, which was launched in late January. Where
appropriate, we continue to rely on virtual operations and inspections,
as well as no-contact service methods, to protect both our workforce
and the communities they serve. As we prepare for a post-COVID-19
environment, we are evaluating how to enhance operational capacity, and
promote an agile and expeditionary culture, while we support remote
work where appropriate and return to the workplace safely.
Workforce readiness means that our people are ready to respond.
This starts with having the right staffing levels. The fiscal year 2022
budget supports increased hiring, and among other things would result
in a 14 percent increase in the number of FEMA's Stafford Act
employees.
Readiness also means the workforce has the training, tools, and
resources they need to do their job, and I am committed to providing
them. For instance, FEMA's Incident Management (IM) workforce is
currently comprised of nearly 11,000 personnel. The fiscal year 2022
budget includes $32.3 million to not only recruit additional staff for
the Incident Management Workforce, but to also train and equip them.
As we enter the 2021 hurricane and wildfire seasons and continue to
prepare for no-notice events, our workforce has never been more
experienced or tested. However, I recognize that many of our staff have
been activated in support of COVID-19 response operations and numerous
other disaster declarations for over a year, and we will ensure that
our deployed workforce gets the rest and training to be ready for what
comes next.
Longer term, we also need to continue to professionalize the field
of emergency management by better defining what it means to be an
emergency manager and building career paths for the Nation's emergency
management workforce.
Integrating equity into everything we do.--The Nation deserves to
have our programs and services delivered fairly and equitably. To meet
this expectation, diversity, equity, and inclusion are not optional and
must be core components of how we conduct ourselves and execute our
mission. They are not empty buzzwords. FEMA is actively working to meet
this expectation and reduce unnecessary barriers to program
participation for disaster survivors, grant recipients, and other key
stakeholders. That includes low-income households and other
traditionally vulnerable populations. We know we have work to do and we
are committed to doing it. FEMA is currently soliciting feedback from
the public and our partners to ensure we understand how our programs
impact survivors of different demographics, and we are committed to
making changes where needed. This includes changes to our policies,
procedures, or how we deploy and execute our mission.
Internally, this means understanding that to help individuals we
must create safe and welcoming environments and that we do this by
building a diverse and inclusive workforce which resembles the
communities we serve. Externally, it means we cannot be satisfied only
with assisting those who seek us out--we must also proactively identify
and reach out to underserved communities and populations most in need
of our help. We are analyzing our operational programs through the lens
of equity for a reason. We know that disasters exacerbate existing
inequalities, and we need to ensure that FEMA assistance reaches
everyone who needs it. We must also come together across all disaster
recovery stakeholders to identify the root causes of differing recovery
outcomes for survivors and work aggressively and collectively to ensure
equity in disaster response and recovery.
FEMA's commitment to equity is further evident in our efforts to
advance the accessibility of COVID-19 vaccines. At the President's
direction, FEMA coordinated with Federal and State, local, Tribal, and
territorial (SLTT) partners to support the establishment and expansion
of over 2,100 Community Vaccination Centers (CVCs) to achieve the
administration's goal of administering 200 million shots in 100 days.
This included 39 Federally-led CVC pilot sites and the deployment of 18
mobile vaccination units to help reach traditionally underserved and
more remote communities. As part of these efforts, FEMA established a
Civil Rights Advisory Group (CRAG) in January with our Federal partners
to support the administration's priority of making equity a cornerstone
of the COVID-19 response. The CRAG supported the development of the
methodology used to determine Federally-led CVC pilot site selections
and has worked in all 10 FEMA regions to collect and analyze
demographic data, identify underserved communities, and collaborate
with community-based organizations. Nearly 60 percent of all doses
administered at Federally-led pilot CVCs went to communities of color,
and interpretation services have been provided to non-English speakers
in over 180 languages.
As we execute our response to COVID-19 and other disasters, FEMA
will continue to prioritize equity across all operations, both
internally and externally. In support of this priority, the fiscal year
2022 President's budget includes an additional 54 employees at
Headquarters and in the Regions, who will focus on equity issues. Among
other things, these staff will analyze the extent to which FEMA is
delivering programs and services fairly and equitably, as well as make
data-informed recommendations for how FEMA can improve the delivery of
its programs and services Nation-wide.
Addressing climate change through risk reduction.--As emergency
managers, we must face the challenges that climate change poses to our
mission head-on and make generational-level investments to reduce the
impacts we are experiencing as a result. Disasters are more frequent
and more costly. While we will always be ready to respond when
disasters occur, we recognize that true success rests in mitigating the
worst impacts of disasters before they occur. As a former firefighter
in Colorado, I understand the impact mitigation has. Developing
resilient communities ahead of an incident reduces both the loss of
life and economic disruption, and, according to an independent study by
the National Institute of Building Sciences in 2019, every dollar in
Federal hazard mitigation grants invested in mitigation is estimated to
save the American taxpayer $6 in future spending.
To provide local partners with financial support for mitigation
projects, FEMA will expand the Building Resilient Infrastructure and
Communities (BRIC) program. I would like to thank Congress for
providing the legislative tools to create BRIC, per Section 1234 of the
Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (DRRA). By establishing a reliable
stream of funding for larger mitigation projects through a Nation-wide
grant program, the BRIC program provides a critical opportunity for
governments to invest in a more resilient Nation, reduce disaster
suffering, and avoid future disaster costs. Recently, the President
visited FEMA to announce that he was increasing the funding available
for the BRIC program to $1 billion for the fiscal year 2021 Notice of
Funding Opportunity (NOFO) application period. FEMA will set funding
levels for the fiscal year 2022 BRIC program consistent with the
President's priorities.
Mitigating the increasing risk of flooding will be an important
component of FEMA's efforts to increase our Nation's resilience to
climate change. As millions of American families have unfortunately
experienced first-hand, flooding is the most common and costly natural
disaster in the United States. Furthermore, direct average annual flood
losses have quadrupled from approximately $4 billion per year in the
1980's to roughly $17 billion per year between 2010 and 2018. Over the
past decade, flooding and coastal storms have accounted for roughly 70
percent of all Presidential Disaster Declarations.
We must drive the kind of system-based mitigation this Nation needs
to make our communities more resilient to flooding. The President's
fiscal year 2022 budget requests more than $428 million for the Flood
Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis Program (Risk MAP) to allow for
climate change data to be incorporated into flood risk analysis. The
fiscal year 2022 budget also requests $5 million to help other Federal
agencies put flood resilience measures into effect. A further $5
million is requested in fiscal year 2022 for climate research and
nature-based solutions, to provide funding for actionable climate
research that can be used by SLTT partners to design and build
innovative mitigation projects which address the impacts of climate
change. By investing in mitigation, our Federal and SLTT partners will
be better prepared for future extreme weather events and be able to
recover faster at the individual and community level.
FEMA is also working to ensure that communities are protected
financially as well as physically from flooding. Flood insurance
policies through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) can help
households fill a financial void when a disaster occurs and better
rebuild their lives in its aftermath. For the first time in nearly 50
years, FEMA will update the NFIP pricing methodology to communicate
flood risk more clearly so households can make more informed decisions
on risk, insurance, and mitigation actions to protect against the
perils of flooding and climate change. These changes will also fix
long-standing inequities in flood insurance pricing by more closely
aligning insurance premiums to the specific flood risk of each home.
The fiscal year 2022 budget also proposes a means-tested affordability
proposal.
conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic has represented an important turning point
for our country, and challenges us to rethink our systems, decisions,
and investments. This past year has not been easy, and I would like to
recognize the professionalism, resilience, and perseverance
demonstrated by the FEMA workforce and our partners. As we look to the
challenges ahead, I look forward to working with the Members of this
committee as we build a more ready and resilient Nation. Thank you for
this opportunity to testify. I am happy to answer any questions.
Chairman Thompson. I thank the administrator for her
testimony. I will remind each Member that he or she will have 5
minutes to question the witness. I will now recognize myself
for questions.
Madam Administrator, you talked about the workforce and
what you are looking to do to enhance it. Obviously, you have a
number of working disasters on-going right now. Can you just
explain to the committee what things you are doing to address
worker exhaustion and other things that come with being
overtaxed in disasters?
Ms. Criswell. Chair Thompson, our FEMA workforce are some
of the best public servants that I believe the U.S. Government
has and they have been working tirelessly over the last several
years in supporting multiple events going back to the
hurricanes of Harvey, Irma, and Maria in 2017. What we are
seeing is that we no longer have a cycle of--normal seasonal
cycle. Our ops tempo, our operational tempo is really
consistent around the year. So, the things that we are doing to
address that right now is we are encouraging everybody to make
sure that they are taking time for themselves right now,
demobilizing staff from some of the current operations
supporting COVID-19 and other long-standing recovery disasters
so we can make sure that they are ready for the peak of
hurricane season and what is expected to also be a very busy
wildfire season.
This rotation of readiness to make sure that our staff have
the time to take for themselves and reset is a critical part of
how we make sure that they are prepared and that we have a
workforce that is ready to respond when needed.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much. The Ranking Member
alluded to some experiences he had in his area, and I talked
about one I am currently undergoing in my district in
Mississippi. That part of my district, primarily rural, low- to
medium-income individuals. Have you looked at FEMA's structure
for declaring and approving natural disasters and weighed it
based on the population and income of the area? What happens is
if a high-income area gets hit, the disaster is covered. But a
sparsely-populated rural working-class community that is
devastated, somehow doesn't meet the criteria, the dollar
amount. Have you looked at that as to what we can do to make
sure that those people are not being left out because of their
current economic conditions?
Ms. Criswell. You know, I have seen first-hand the
disproportionate impact that our communities experience and our
underserved communities across this country where they struggle
day to day struggle even more exponentially when a disaster
does strike. You know, one of the things that we did during
COVID-19 for the first time was take social vulnerability
index, social vulnerability data into our decision making for
how we are going to anticipate or provide assistance. I have
directed my team to continue this process in how do we now take
this equity data that is out there into the decision-making
process that we use for future disasters? That is something
that we are working right now to figure out how we can
institutionalize that so we can really understand the needs of
the community as we are making our assessments.
Chairman Thompson. I appreciate it. As soon as you can push
that information down to State and local so that they
understand it too, because they are still operating on the
current thinking and not the new way of thinking for addressing
disasters. I think it would be very helpful.
Ms. Criswell. Yes, sir. Again, our team and our regional
administrators work very closely with our State directors. As
we continue to mature this process of including this equity
data into our analysis, we will make sure that we are getting
that information out to our stakeholders and our customers.
Chairman Thompson. All right. I have a couple of other
questions I will follow up after the hearing with you. The
Chair recognizes the Ranking Member for questions.
Mr. Katko. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for asking that
question. I just want to follow up with that and illustrate a
few examples to help you understand the gravity of the problem.
I have a small town called Moravia, New York in my district,
and it is at the bottom. It is kind-of surrounded by hills.
They had a horrendous rain over a long period of time, 8 or 9
inches in a relatively brief period of time, and literally
destroyed a good section of the town and destroyed their sewer
systems and there are dikes on the roads and everything. It
didn't qualify for disaster relief despite the fact that to
repair everything it would cost many times more than the town's
annual budget. So, that is what I think Mr. Thompson's talking
about.
Another example, Lake Ontario. They have had 2 catastrophic
floods in the last 4 years. I think you know this because you
were a regional administrator up there. Those catastrophic
floods caused hundreds of millions of damage to lakefront
properties and lakefront communities, yet, it didn't qualify
for a disaster declaration. So, I would very much like to spend
more time on this perhaps in another setting with the Chairman,
and maybe you can sit down with us because this is a very
serious problem. You know, obviously the big communities,
expensive communities, the beachfront communities, when a
hurricane hits, obviously that is a disaster. But when it
happens to these small towns from an economic standpoint, the
disasters are stunning and they can't recover from them. So, I
really would like to talk some more about that going forward
because I think FEMA should have some flexibility with respect
to that.
Ms. Criswell. Ranking Member Katko, we really have an
opportunity right now, you know, as we have learned so much in
our response to COVID-19 and seeing the impacts that our
underserved communities have. We do have an opportunity right
now to reflect on that see what we can do to incorporate better
assessment methodologies into the way we determine disasters
going forward. So, I would appreciate the opportunity to
continue to have that discussion. I recognize that from my time
in Colorado as well where these rural communities have a harder
time meeting thresholds. So, I am happy to continue that
conversation and learn from what we have experienced over the
last few years.
Mr. Katko. Yeah, let's do that and let us know if it is
something that can be done through your internal rulemaking or
just internal procedures or whether it is something that needs
a legislative fix. Because if it is a legislative fix, I am
sure Mr. Thompson and I can craft something together. So, thank
you.
I am going to switch gears for a bit and talk about, you
know, this Nation-wide disaster declaration. Because now that
it has happened, I think it is going to happen again, right, at
some point. You know, when they start using FEMA for stuff like
this, they may use it again more. So, I think it is really
important that the initial assessment report that was done in
September 2020 about COVID, has it been updated? If it hasn't,
I think it is really important that it should be. So, can you
tell me if the initial assessment report from September 2020
about COVID-19 has been updated at all or do you plan to update
it?
Ms. Criswell. So, FEMA did an initial assessment report
prior to me getting here that really started to capture what I
would call, you know, the initial lessons learned from our
response. We are undergoing a more thorough assessment of the
overall response as far as FEMA's role is concerned. So, we
will be releasing something when that is completed.
Mr. Katko. Do you have an idea what a time line is for
that?
Ms. Criswell. I do not have a time line for that, but I am
happy to get back to you with where we are at in the progress.
Mr. Katko. I think it is going to be important because it
was a sea change in how FEMA was implemented Nation-wide and I
want to make sure that we are giving you the resources and the
tools you need. We can't have that unless we see a candid
internal assessment and I hope that is what we see.
So, last in a hearing with this committee on the COVID-19
pandemic in February, one of the witnesses was from my county,
Onondaga County Executive Brian McMahon. He testified to the
struggles that many officials faced. He specifically testified
to the challenge that he faced given the fact that resource
allocations pursuant to the disaster declaration in many cases
are dictated by the State. New York State was kind-of like the
Governor's office called all the shots. I think a
disproportionate share went to some communities. Again, to
reinforce Mr. Thompson's point, rural communities and up-State
communities that were less affluent really struggled to get a
proportionate share of the FEMA resources, the vaccinations,
the personal protective equipment, and what have you. So, I
don't know if you experience that elsewhere, but can FEMA
engage more with local officials? How can FEMA engage more with
local officials on the front lines for future crises? I would
ask you maybe take that into consideration when you are doing
your assessment report because some States did a very good job
of proportionally handing out things. Other States were just
left to their devices and Governors and politics. The
distribution was not proportional. So, if you could maybe
comment on that if you comment. If not, take a look at that in
your initial assessment report follow-up?
Ms. Criswell. Yes. I have been a local emergency manager in
New York City as well as in a Aurora, Colorado. You know, I
understand the struggles of working through the State to obtain
FEMA assistance. So, I appreciate your comment and understand
your concerns. As we continue our process of evaluating how we
deliver programs we will certainly take that into
consideration.
Mr. Katko. I would appreciate that. Thank you very much. I
yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you. The Chair now recognizes
other Members for questions they may wish to ask the witness. I
will recognize Members in order of seniority, alternating
between Majority and Minority. Members are reminded to unmute
themselves when recognized for questioning and to then mute
themselves once they have finished speaking, and to leave their
cameras on so they are visible to the Chair. The Chair
recognizes for 5 minutes the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms.
Jackson Lee.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Good
morning to our new administrator and congratulations for the
historic moment that we find ourselves in with you as leading
one of the most outstanding emergency disaster organizations in
the world. I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with
you having served on the Homeland Security Committee since 9/11
and having a great respect for the men and women of FEMA.
Before I start, let me offer my deepest sympathy and
concern to our friends and neighbors in Surfside, Florida in
the Miami-Dade area. Thank you for being present in that area.
Obviously, the Members of Congress from that area will also be
raising areas of concern. But we certainly hope FEMA is at its
maximum in helping that community.
FEMA's responsibility is to prepare for, prevent, respond,
and recover from disasters with a vision of a Nation prepared.
As you well know, I live in the Gulf, and I have experienced my
neighbors with Katrina taking a quarter of a million people
from Louisiana into Texas, and as well, Hurricane Harvey. My
first question would be about how much would the fiscal year
2022 budget's 14 percent increase in the number of FEMA's
Stafford Act employees close the gap between the agency's
workforce and the employees the Agency needs in order to
competently meet the challenges ahead?
Ms. Criswell. Thank you for that question. You know, the 14
percent increase is going to begin to close the gap. What we
are doing right now is really assessing what is the FEMA that
the Nation needs and deserves? Then trying to determine, you
know, what would that structure look like to support that? You
know, as I mentioned earlier, we are seeing a year-round cycle
of disasters and the tempo that we are deploying to is much
more consistent. So, I have directed my team to conduct this
assessment so we can evaluate, you know, what is the
appropriate level of staffing to make sure that we can meet
these incidents that are now happening much more frequently?
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you for that. Let me acknowledge the
region that I am in, Region 6, and the leadership that is
there. I appreciate Tony. I appreciate your leadership in
headquarters and Jason Nelson who have been consistent and a
very wonderful liaison to all of us.
I want to ask the question. Will State and local
governments that have a history of dealing with climate
emergencies and are projected to continue to experience the
brunt of climate change impact be prioritized for competitive
grants? As we lost 151 people in the freeze, I would be
interested in that.
I just want to give my last two questions. I would like you
to comment on the work that FEMA is doing with the
unaccompanied children that are at the border since I know that
we were engaged with them and some of the issues of site
selection. Then I would like to have the response, a 2019
University of Colorado report found that in wake of Hurricane
Harvey, homeowners who lived on blocks with the greatest share
of non-White residents as well as lower incomes and credit
scores had a lower chance of getting approved for FEMA grants.
Many of those are my constituents. They still are desperate
with blue tarps. I just recently visited Louisiana in their
storms. So, I would be interested in the answers to those
questions as quickly as possible. I look forward to following
up with you.
Ms. Criswell. Yes, ma'am. In response to the competitive
nature of the grants. We have such an opportunity right now to
invest in the reduction of risks that we are starting to see
from climate change. One of the parts of our grant process is
to be able to discuss the risks that communities face. So, that
is part of the consideration for the competitive grant process.
But incredibly important that we work with our communities to
help them understand what their risks are so they can
communicate that when they do apply for assistance or for the
grants. I mean, we are doing targeted technical assistance to
help with that and make sure communities can think bigger about
how they can improve and reduce the impacts that they are
facing.
On the unaccompanied children, FEMA's role is to
coordinate. Our specialty and our expertise is to coordinate
across the Federal Government and bring appropriate
stakeholders together and that is what we were asked to do in
support of that mission for HHS. We currently have less than 7
people on the ground supporting that mission. Our role was
really designed to give additional assistance to HHS as they
were standing up their operation. We have scaled back
appropriately as they were able to take on some of that
responsibility.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Then what about not getting fair
distribution for poor neighborhoods?
Ms. Criswell. Oh, yes, ma'am. Again, as I talked about
earlier, you know, our underserved communities across the
country when they get hit by a disaster it is even more
devastating for them. One of the things that I have realized
through my time both at the local level and then coming back to
FEMA is that I believe one of the problems is ensuring people
have equal access to our programs as well. That they understand
how to get the assistance that they need. So, I have directed
my team here to look at some of the barriers to the access so
we can make sure that individuals that are eligible for
assistance get all of the assistance that they are eligible
for. The fact that it takes them longer or they don't
understand the process is not OK. We need to make sure that we
are bringing our services to the communities and helping them
get the assistance that they need.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you. I want to specifically work
with you on that. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you. The Chair recognizes the
gentleman from Louisiana for 5 minutes, Mr. Higgins.
Mr. Higgins. I thank the Chairman and the Ranking Member
for holding this hearing, and to Administrator Criswell for
being here today. After a year of devastating natural
disasters, southwest Louisiana, I am honored to represent,
continues to face dire recovery needs. Almost a year after
Hurricane Laura's landfall, my constituents are still deep in
the rebuilding process and facing new uncertainty as another
hurricane season has already begun.
The Federal Government is largely responsible for that
uncertainty. Let me explain. Louisiana's Governor issued a
formal request to the Biden administration in January for
supplemental disaster relief. My office has pushed this request
in every way through every channel. However, President Biden
and Speaker Pelosi respectfully have been somewhat of an
obstacle to the swift approval of supplemental disaster funding
for Louisiana. The Speaker's office took some responsibility
for this delay recently in a media interview stating that the
Democratic Congress and the Biden administration are going to
``consider the need for supplemental disaster funding for
Louisiana.''
May I say that we are beyond the time for consideration. It
has been 10 months. President Biden visited Lake Charles and we
thank him for that. He was not there to survey damages, but it
would have been impossible to miss those damages. We have
repeatedly communicated Louisiana's extreme needs to the Biden
White House and to Madam Speaker Pelosi. Yet, no effort from
Democratic leadership has been made to move forward with the
supplemental disaster bill. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous
consent to submit for the record, several letters from
stakeholders in southwest Louisiana and the Lake Charles area,
the city of Lake Charles, McNeese State University, New Orleans
International Airport, West Calcasieu Airport, and others. I
ask unanimous consent.
Chairman Thompson. Without objection, so ordered.
[The information follows:]
Letters Submitted by Honorable Clay Higgins
letter from southland field--west calcasieu airport
June 17, 2021.
Rep. Clay Higgins,
LA-03, Lake Charles, LA 70601.
RE: West Calcasieu Parish Airport (Southland Field Airport), Tim
LaFleur, Manager, 7000 Southland Field Rd. Sulphur, LA 70665.
Dear Representative Higgins: As you well know, we along with others
in the southwest Louisiana area were devastated by Hurricane Laura in
2020. Our damages were so severe we had to ask FEMA to assist us in
rebuilding our airport. To date we have worked tirelessly to get and
keep our airport running. The FEMA process is so taxing we hired a
consultant company (CSRS) to assist with the process. They too have
worked tirelessly to submit the necessary and required paperwork to our
FEMA representative, Timothy Bolt. This process has been futile. We
have not received any funding because none of the required forms filed
have been forwarded to the appropriate offices. Our last conference
call on Tuesday, 06/15/2021, was so bad. Timothy Bolt was rude and
talked very bad about the paperwork we submitted and was very
disrespectful to one of the CSRS representatives. Finally, Ms. Darla
Dickerson (FEMA) joined the conference call and explained some of the
process to us. We are very disappointed in the FEMA representatives and
are disappointed in the process. We have several project numbers that
FEMA has assigned, and I will list them below.
These are the project numbers and a description of what they
entail.
Project 158828--Debris Removal.--We have had debris removed from
the airport and the 3 large hangars that were destroyed removed.
Project 158830--Generator Costs.--We worked on generators for
approximately 2 months and personnel had to be paid to fuel and service
the generators.
Project 158887--Temporary Facility No. 1 & Generator.--Our main
terminal office building was destroyed, and we had a temporary building
brought in for us to operate out of. We had no power and had to operate
from generator till Entergy could run permanent power. We will be using
the temporary building till the new terminal is built.
Project 184707--Temporary Facility No. 2.--Our terminal was
approximately 6,000 square feet. The first building we leased is
approximately 600 square feet. We need additional room to operate out
of.
Project 185529--Airport Lights Generator.--The storm destroyed the
lighting power grid. The airport has a back-up generator for the runway
lighting. The generator ran till the main power grid came back on-line.
Project 182668--Airport Road.--Flying debris hit the road and
damaged it.
Project 158833--Hangar A.--This hangar was a 12,000-square-foot
hangar that was destroyed.
Project 170055--Hangar B.--This hangar was approximately 6,500-
square-foot hangar and was destroyed.
Project 170056--Hangar C.--This hangar was a 12,000-square-foot
hangar that was destroyed.
Project 158836--Electrical Vault Building.--The roof was ripped off
this building and it houses numerous electrical components that power
the runway lighting. We had this repaired as an emergency.
Project 158835--T-Hangars E, F, H, I, and maintenance barn.--All
the T-hangars sustained damage and are currently occupied by tenants.
The rent has been reduced to the damaged hangars, which is costing the
airport income.
Project 158837--Contents and Equipment.--Due to the severity of the
damage, the airport lost almost all the contents of the terminal
building and main hangars.
Project 158832-Terminal.--This is the main building that the main
offices of the airport operate from. We are currently using small
temporary trailers.
Project 158838--Runway Lighting.--We lost numerous lighting
equipment from flying debris. This has all been replaced or repaired.
Project 158862--Airport Fencing.--Over 8,000 feet of fencing has
been destroyed because of the hurricane. This posses a security issue
and a wildlife management problem. Our main entry gate was an
electronic pass gate, since the storm, we had to remove the chain and
it is not locked. The person entering the airport must open the gate
then latch it back in place each time. Other areas of the airport have
no fencing at all, we had to stack items in the way to keep people from
just driving onto the airfield.
Thank you for your concern and if you need any additional
information, please feel free to contact me.
Tim LaFleur,
Airport Manager, Southland Field Airport.
______
letter from chennault international airport
April 16, 2021.
[email protected], State of Louisiana, Governor's Office of Homeland
Security and Emergency Preparedness.
RE: Late Entry for Public Assistance
To whom it may concern: Chennault International Airport Authority
has just been informed that our insurance carrier is separating damages
from Hurricane Laura over to Hurricane Delta. We originally thought
additional drying in after Hurricane Delta would be charged to
Hurricane Laura.
Chennault is requesting permission to submit a late entry for
Public Assistance for Hurricane Delta due to the changes with our
insurance carrier. Your assistance with this matter will be greatly
appreciated.
Respectfully,
W. Kevin Melton,
Executive Director.
cc: Jeanne Savoy, Applicant Liaison.
Loretta Hanks, CIAA.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
______
letter from the city of lake charles
June 17, 2021.
Director Criswell: The city of Lake Charles asks for your
consideration of the following:
1. 90 days (instead of 30 days) at 100 percent.--Category A
(Debris) and B (Emergency Protective Measures) for the city of
Lake Charles
Southwest Louisiana has experienced four disasters in 9 months,
five in 12 months if you include COVID-19. The unusual series
of events has had an extraordinary financial impact that would
be lessened by a decision to extend the 100 percent
reimbursement period to a full 90 days. The city will incur
over $140 million in Category A & B costs and is faced with at
least $12 million in local match costs. The current approval
periods are as follows for the State:
Category B: continuous 30-day period of Aug 28, 2020-Sept
26, 2020.
Category A: continuous 30-day period of Oct 14, 2020-Nov
12, 2020.
Lake Charles respectfully requests Aug 28, 2020-Nov 26, 2020 for
both A & B, considering at a minimum the impact of multiple
disasters, and localized impacts (see 44 CFR 206.48).
2. Request for dedicated support.--The City has built a productive
working relationship with our PDMG (Lisa McDonald), but she
currently is assigned to multiple applicants. The size and
complexity of the Lake Charles disasters warrants a full time
dedicated PDMG, and we respectfully request Ms. McDonald.
3. Private Property Debris Program.--Need assistance with
eligibility interpretations.
Lake Charles has received authorization from FEMA for the program
to reimburse eligible demolition of residential and commercial
structures (May 27, 2021). Lake Charles, as a routine action,
uses its authority to condemn and demolish unsafe residential
and commercial property. This program averages at most 25
properties a year. The city has identified over 750 properties
as a result of Laura damage, and more are expected from the
recent May floods. The initial opinion of FEMA was that only
properties with `` . . . imminent threat of collapse'' are
allowed for reimbursement. The city disagrees with this policy
interpretation and needs assistance as this `` . . . disaster
is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is
beyond the capabilities of United for Progress and Prosperity
[the city of Lake Charles] and that Federal assistance is
necessary.'' Furthermore, although properties identified may
not be in a state of ``imminent danger of collapse,'' the
identified structures are in need of demolition for the
``public interest.'' These properties have been determined as a
threat to public health and safety, and, at a minimum, are
predominately located in historically disadvantaged
neighborhoods and these damaged structures threaten the
economic recovery of the community at large. They will fester
and affect property values and morale within the community.
4. Eligibility and Urgent Drainage Repairs.--Request senior
guidance and policy positions for efficient consideration of
eligibility for drainage cleaning and repair.
A significant contributing factor of the recent May 2021 flooding
and anticipated flooding from summer rains and future storms
this year is the capacity impacts caused by debris and
sedimentation to our drainage system arising from the multiple
disasters. The recent flooding is a warning sign and has caused
the city and the Parish to take immediate action including a
bond issuance to fund the work. Over the coming weeks we are
working out the eligibility of certain work with FEMA but
expect many disputes over which storm caused which debris, the
imminent threat posed by each element when a more appropriate
consideration should be the combined impact of multiple
occurrences collectively disrupting the capacity and
effectiveness of our drainage.
5. Public Buildings damaged over 50 percent.--Recommendation to re-
evaluate and streamline policy and guidance that causes
inordinate delay.
The city has many buildings that were destroyed by Laura that have
yet to obtain final approval from FEMA for demolition (see
attached photos as examples). Despite the very cooperative and
strong FEMA team working with the city, the steps required to
obtain approval from FEMA to demolish buildings has taken an
inordinately long time to complete. We would not suggest that
our current plan be disrupted by change at this point but we
find this process unnecessarily cumbersome and worthy of
revision.
6. FEMA should open an appeals center in Lake Charles, LA.--And
help any/all registrants appeal their awards where appropriate.
Recent reporting in the NYT show LA survivors are receiving less
assistance than they should.
a. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/climate/FEMA-race-
climate.htm.--SBP has helped 29 families submit appeals, 11
have been approved and 18 are still in process. None have
been denied. We think this is due to the interim/phone call
inspection method. FEMA phone-call inspections were a
natural response to COVID-19, but the policy is driving
worse outcomes/less assistance for survivors vs their
actual needs.
b. We are not asking for anything outside FEMA's authority. We
simply ask FEMA to help more survivors receive all the
assistance they are eligible for by openly endorsing the
appeals process and assisting survivors in a more dedicated
way for the city/region.
c. CDBG-DR funds won't come for a long time, and people need help
immediately. We are heading into the depths of Hurricane
Season and accessing proper assistance from FEMA is the
only option for many of the most vulnerable survivors.
Respectfully,
Nicholas E. Hunter,
Mayor, City of Lake Charles.
MC NEESE STATE UNIVERSITY DECLARATION NO. DR-4559
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Complete Project
Damaged Facility Project No. Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------
President's Residence......... 164666--(DI No. $774,664.00
418292).
University Police............. 165730--(DI No. $903,774.00
418317).
Miller Building............... 164666--(DI No.-- $1,084,990.00
418289).
Student Union Annex Pavillion. 164666--(DI No.-- $80,894.00
444071).
Observatory................... 164666--(DI No.-- $240,680.00
418217).
Baseball Fieldhouse........... 170837--(DI No.-- $679,566.00
418220).
Holbrook Student Union........ 164666--(DI No.-- $3,546,991.00
418277).
Farrar Hall................... 164189--(DI No.-- $17,917,754.00
418257).
Bookstore..................... 164666--(DI No.-- $1,107,670.00
418223).
Memorial Gym.................. 164666--(DI No.-- $2,703,424.00
418288).
Post Office................... 164666--(DI No.-- $455,481.00
418318).
Sale St. Apartments No. 1..... 164666--(DI No.-- $1,196,024.00
418297).
Sale St. Apartments No. 2..... 164666--(DI No.-- $868,959.00
418298).
Student Services.............. 164666--(DI No.-- $959,286.00
418312).
Baseball Canopy............... 175030--(DI No.-- $383,477.00
418238).
-----------------------------------------
TOTAL................... $32,903,634.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. These letters are
regarding major concerns with FEMA following last year's
natural disasters, as well as I have several letters sent to
Congressional leadership out of my office and the White House
on the issue. I ask unanimous consent to submit those letters
for the record, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. Without objection so ordered.
[The information follows:]
Letters Submitted by Hon. Clay Higgins
May 18, 2021.
The Honorable Joseph Biden,
President of the United States, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20500.
President Biden: Nearly 9 months have passed since Hurricanes Laura
and Delta devastated Southwest Louisiana. Two major hurricanes hitting
the same parishes a month apart presented significant challenges and
requires an extended, large-scale recovery effort. On May 17, 2021, the
area again experienced torrential rainfall that resulted in significant
flooding for homes and businesses. These new floods present new
challenges to families that have still not recovered or been made whole
from the 2020 hurricanes. As these communities continue to rebuild and
recover, they will need continued assistance from the Federal
Government.
Congress and the Federal Government have worked together to provide
resources to support housing and rental assistance, utility repairs,
debris removal, hazard mitigation, and many other disaster response
costs. You delivered increased Federal assistance in the form of a 100
percent Federal cost-share for 30 days and a 90 percent Federal cost-
share for remaining Hurricane Laura public assistance program expenses.
These Federal commitments have greatly eased the financial burden for
local governments.
While these efforts help address Southwest Louisiana's immediate
needs, there is a need for long-term recovery resources for the region,
especially in light of this major rain flooding event. Louisiana
Governor John Bel Edwards wrote to you in January 2021 with a request
for additional funding for hurricane recovery and mitigation efforts,
which my office supports.
For 9 months, the Louisiana delegation has been working to build
support in Congress for supplemental disaster relief. As you know,
supplemental disaster relief programs greatly streamline direct access
to recovery monies for local governments, small businesses, and
individuals. I respectfully urge you to expedite a request to Congress
for a disaster supplemental to provide the region with specific funding
for the CDBG Disaster Recovery Grants, as well as additional funds for
mitigation efforts.
I respectfully urge you to swiftly implement a supplemental
disaster relief plan that provides for the many thousands of severely
impacted Americans in Southwest Louisiana.
Respectfully,
Clay Higgins,
Member of Congress.
______
August 28, 2020.
President Donald J. Trump,
The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500.
President Trump: We write to you today in support of a major
disaster declaration for the State of Louisiana in the wake of
Hurricanes Laura and Marco. The damage caused by these storms will have
long-lasting effects on the people of Louisiana and its economy.
As you know, during the early morning hours of August 27, 2020,
Hurricane Laura made landfall in Cameron Parish, Louisiana near the
Louisiana-Texas State line. The storm continued moving north bringing
over 100 mph winds into populated areas, which caused devastating
property losses. State and local capabilities are overwhelmed not only
by the current emergency, which occurred against the backdrop of the
COVID-19 pandemic, but from existing damage from Tropical Storm
Cristobal and Hurricane Marco that impacted the same region this
hurricane season. These events have placed tremendous stress on
precious emergency response resources, and we ask that you consider
these extenuating circumstances when allocating Public and Individual
Assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The Governor of the State of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, has made
a formal request for a declaration to include the Louisiana Parishes of
Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis, Acadia,
Vermilion, Catahoula, Grant, La Salle, Natchitoches, Rapides, Sabine,
Vernon, Winn, Bienville, Claiborne, Red River, Caldwell, Jackson,
Lincoln, Ouachita, and Union. With the issuance of a major disaster
declaration, and the authorization of public and individual assistance,
the full weight of the Federal Government can be deployed into the
affected areas to assist those in need and begin rebuilding.
Again, we respectfully request that the Federal Government issue a
major disaster declaration for the State of Louisiana. As elected
officials, we must do all we can to assist affected Americans in their
time of need. These resources must be quickly made available to equip
our State and local governments to respond rapidly and effectively to
Hurricanes Laura and Marco.
Sincerely,
Bill Cassidy, M.D.,
U.S. Senate.
John Kennedy,
U.S. Senate.
Clay Higgins,
United States Congressman.
Steve Scalise,
United States Congressman.
Garret Graves,
United States Congressman.
Ralph Abraham,
United States Congressman.
Cedric Richmond,
United States Congressman.
Mike Johnson,
United States Congressman.
______
September 08, 2020.
President Donald J. Trump,
The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500.
President Trump: Thank you for your recent visit to Louisiana to
view the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Laura and for your
quick issuance and subsequent amendments to the Major Disaster
Declaration for the State of Louisiana (FEMA-4559-DR-LA.) I am writing
today to ask that you use your authority to proactively grant a cost
share adjustment for the Public Assistance portion of the Declaration
to help communities already experiencing a significant decrease in
revenue due to COVID-19.
As you know, during the early morning hours of August 27, 2020,
Hurricane Laura made landfall in Cameron Parish, Louisiana near the
Louisiana-Texas State line. The storm continued moving north bringing
over 100 mph winds into populated areas well into northern portions of
the State, which caused devastating property losses. State and local
capabilities were already stretched to the limits by the extreme
economic impact triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 impact has
placed tremendous stress on precious emergency response resources and
have diminished local and State revenue sources, issues that have been
exacerbated by Hurricane Laura.
I have complete faith that our Governor will navigate Louisiana
through the recovery effort and ultimately he deserves our full support
in that daunting task. This request reflects my personal support for
our local and State government entities as we struggle through recovery
from unprecedented storm damage. Granting a cost share adjustment for
Public Assistance funds recognizes that the scale of the current
declared disaster, added to the extreme negative economic effects of
COVID-19, leave our State and local governments unable to absorb 25
percent of the recovery costs. Therefore, I ask that you take into
account the devastating impact of hurricane Laura, in conjunction with
the economic damage caused by COVID-19 shutdowns and consider a cost
share adjustment to 90 percent Federal share.
Thank you again your commitment to making Louisiana whole. I look
forward to continuing to work with you and your Administration to
ensure that Louisiana has the resources it needs to recover from the
devastation caused by Hurricane Laura.
Respectfully,
Clay Higgins,
Member of Congress.
______
April 15, 2021.
Honorable Nancy Pelosi,
Speaker of the House of Representatives, U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC
20515.
Speaker Pelosi: Nearly 8 months have passed since Hurricanes Laura
and Delta devastated Southwest Louisiana. Two major hurricanes hitting
the same parishes a month apart presented significant challenges and
requires an extended, large-scale recovery effort. As these communities
continue to rebuild and recover, they will need continued assistance
from the Federal Government.
Congress and the Federal Government have worked together to provide
resources to support housing and rental assistance, utility repairs,
debris removal, hazard mitigation, and other disaster response costs.
Both President Trump and President Biden delivered increased Federal
assistance in the form of 100 percent Federal cost-share for 30 days
and 90 percent Federal cost-share for remaining Hurricane Laura public
assistance program expenses. These Federal commitments have greatly
eased the financial burden for local governments.
While the above efforts help Southwest Louisiana's immediate needs,
we also recognize the importance of long-term recovery resources for
the region. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and Louisiana local
officials have asked Congress to appropriate additional funding for
hurricane recovery and mitigation efforts. We support this recent
request, and Louisiana's congressional delegation continues to stand
united behind Southwest Louisiana's long-term recovery needs.
For months, the Louisiana delegation has been working to build
support in Congress for supplemental disaster relief. Though our
disaster recovery amendments to the most recent COVID-19 spending bill
were blocked, I remain hopeful that we can advance additional support
through Congress in a bipartisan manner. This is needed to provide
relief for Southwest Louisiana and other communities hit by major
disasters in 2020, including those damaged in the California wildfires.
As a community, we will continue working with all our local, State,
and Federal partners to prioritize the needs of Southwest Louisiana. I
respectfully urge you to swiftly implement a supplemental disaster
relief plan that provides for the thousands of severely impacted
Americans in Southwest Louisiana.
Respectfully,
Clay Higgins,
Member of Congress.
______
October 9, 2020.
President Donald J. Trump,
The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500.
President Trump: Thank you for your visit to Louisiana to view the
devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Laura and for your quick
issuance of the Major Disaster Declaration for the State of Louisiana
(FEMA-4559-DR-LA) and its subsequent amendments. We are writing today
to ask that you use your authority under Section 1232 of the Disaster
Recovery Reform Act to adjust the Public Assistance cost share portion
of the Declaration. This will ensure that communities already
experiencing a decrease in revenue due to COVID-19 and the compounding
impact of a particularly harsh storm season along the Gulf Coast will
have the resources to participate in FEMA's disaster recovery programs.
As you know, during the early morning hours of August 27, 2020,
Hurricane Laura made landfall in Cameron Parish, Louisiana near the
Louisiana-Texas State line. As the storm moved inland, it brought
greater than 100 mph winds into populated areas well into the northern
parishes of Louisiana, which resulted in devastating property losses.
Current estimates on the cost of the damage from Hurricane Laura range
from $8 billion to $12 billion and will undoubtedly continue to grow
over the next several years. Further complicating the rebuilding
efforts is Hurricane Delta, which is projected to follow a similar path
to Hurricane Laura. Hurricane Delta is the sixth tropical storm to
affect Louisiana this year and threatens to bring additional turmoil to
an already devastated region.
Even prior to Hurricane Laura's landfall, State and local emergency
response capabilities were stretched to the limits by the COVID-19
pandemic, Tropical Storm Cristobal, and Hurricane Marco. Section 1232
of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, which you signed into law in 2018,
instructed FEMA to consider the severe local impact created by multiple
disasters or emergencies occurring in close geographical and
chronological proximity when making recommendations regarding a major
disaster declaration. These events have placed tremendous stress on
precious emergency response resources and have diminished local and
State revenue sources, exacerbating the physical destruction left in
the wake of Hurricane Laura.
Granting a cost share adjustment for Public Assistance funds
recognizes that the scale of current declared disaster, the negative
economic effects of COVID-19, and the damage done by previous storms
may be too great for State and local governments to absorb 25 percent
of the recovery costs. Therefore, we ask that your administration not
consider each impact in a vacuum but instead take into account the
cumulative impacts of these storms, in conjunction with the economic
damage caused by COVID-19 and grant the State of Louisiana a larger
share of Federal funding.
Thank you again your commitment to getting Louisiana back on its
feet. We look forward to continuing to work with you and your
Administration to ensure that Louisiana has the resources it needs to
recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Laura.
Respectfully,
Bill Cassidy, M.D.
United States Senator.
John Kennedy,
United States Senator.
Clay Higgins,
United States Congressman.
Steve Scalise,
United States Congressman.
Ralph Abraham, M.D.,
United States Congressman.
Garret Graves,
United States Congressman.
Mike Johnson,
United States Congressman.
Cedric Richmond,
United States Congressman.
______
October 14, 2020.
President Donald J. Trump,
The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500.
President Trump: I write to you today in support of a major
disaster declaration for the State of Louisiana in the wake of
Hurricane Delta. The damage caused by this storm, as well as the
already existing devastation in the region caused by Hurricane Laura,
will have long-lasting effects on the people of Louisiana and its
economy.
As you know, on October 9, 2020, Hurricane Delta made landfall at
Creole, Louisiana, just east of where Hurricane Laura first touched the
State. The storm continued moving north bringing high winds and heavy
rains into populated areas, which caused devastating property losses.
State and local capabilities are overwhelmed not only by the current
emergency, which occurred against the backdrop of the COVID-19
pandemic, but also from existing damage from Tropical Storm Cristobal
and Hurricanes Marco and Laura that impacted the same region this
hurricane season. These events have placed tremendous stress on
precious emergency response resources, and we ask that you consider
these extenuating circumstances when allocating Public and Individual
Assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The Governor of the State of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, has made
a formal request for an expedited declaration to include Individual
Assistance; and debris removal and emergency protective measures,
including direct Federal assistance under the Public Assistance program
for Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis, and Vermilion
Parishes; and Hazard Mitigation Statewide. With the Governor's prompt
request, the issuance of a major disaster declaration and the
authorization of public and individual assistance, the full weight of
the Federal Government can be deployed into the impacted areas to
assist those in need and begin rebuilding.
Again, I respectfully request that the Federal Government issue a
major disaster declaration for the State of Louisiana. As elected
officials, we must do all we can to assist affected Americans in their
time of need. These resources must be quickly made available to equip
our State and local governments to respond rapidly and effectively to
Hurricanes Laura and Delta.
Respectfully,
Clay Higgins,
United States Congressman.
Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Criswell, you are
familiar with Madison. In Federalist 62, he wrote that it will
be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men
of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous and that they
cannot be read or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.
That is largely reflective of these letters that I just
submitted. The people that I represent are begging for help
from FEMA to navigate through FEMA's own complexities to access
existing funds through existing programs for recovery relief. I
ask for your commitment to work with the people of southwest
Louisiana to help them navigate through these complexities and
to ease their pain. Can I have your commitment from you and
agency, Madam, on that?
Ms. Criswell. Representative Higgins, absolutely you have
my commitment. I recently visited Louisiana and met with the
political leadership in southwest Louisiana that were impacted
by those storms. We have recently opened up a recovery center
that is providing not just assistance to the current storm that
was experienced in recent weeks, but also to help them navigate
the process for the previous storms as well. So, you have my--
--
Mr. Higgins. I ask--yes, ma'am, and I ask for your
commitment there. In the interest of time, in closing I would
like to ask for your commitment and assistance to accomplish
two things. First, Louisiana delegation has been pushing for
the supplemental disaster funding for some time now, many
months. I respectfully ask that you amplify that request to
President Biden. Second, again, I ask for your assistance with
helping local government in my district fully understand the
pre-disaster mitigation grant process and other resources that
are available to them. I thank you, ma'am, for being here
today. I have several questions that I will submit in writing
and I very much look forward to working with you. Thank you,
Mr. Chair, and I yield.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much. The Chair yields
back. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Rhode Island, Mr.
Langevin, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Langevin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning,
Administrator. I want to thank you for being here today and for
making integrated equity into everything FEMA does one of your
first priorities. Before, during, and after disasters, people
with disabilities as well as older adults, have unique needs,
many of which differ substantially from those of the general
public. How do you view the incorporation of these vulnerable
populations in disaster management of making them a forethought
not an afterthought, particularly in terms of your commitment
to equity?
Ms. Criswell. Representative Langevin, I really appreciate
and thank you for your continued advocacy for people with
disabilities. As I have stated, equity is one of my priorities
and that includes people with disabilities. And have seen
first-hand in the disasters that I have responded to the
struggles that this community faces when trying to respond to
or recover themselves from disasters.
FEMA has made a lot of strides in that area. In 2009, FEMA
established the Office of Disability Integration and
Coordination. Through that office, they have done a lot of work
to increase our own agency's understanding of how to make sure
our programs are accessible and that we are meeting the needs
of the people that have specific needs. We continue to deploy
disability integration specialists to all of our disasters,
specifically to make sure that we are understanding the needs
of the community and addressing them. So, you have my
commitment to continue forward with that process and I would be
happy to work with you and your staff if there are areas where
you think we can improve in that effort.
Mr. Langevin. Very good. Thank you, Administrator. I am
glad that you recognize the importance of considering the needs
of older adults and people with disabilities. I take you up on
that offer. I look forward to working with you on that and many
other issues.
I do want to call your attention to one other thing,
though. There was a 2019 GAO report entitled, and I quote, the
title of it was, ``FEMA Action Needed to Better Support
Individuals Who Are Older or Have Disabilities.'' It revealed
that FEMA partners, including States, territories, localities,
and non-profits have experienced challenges assisting these
populations. So, are you aware that FEMA has historically
struggled to support older adults and people with disabilities
during and after disasters in part due to the lack of planning
for these populations?
Ms. Criswell. Again, Representative, I think that FEMA has
done a lot since the development of that program in 2009 in
bringing on the disability, Office of Disability Integration
and Coordination. I will go back and look at that report more
specifically so I better understand some of the challenges that
were identified in that report. I apologize, I am not familiar
with it. But I think that we all have work that we can do to
improve our approach in how we deliver services to make sure
that we are planning appropriately for everybody.
Mr. Langevin. Very good. Thank you for your commitment to
that and to looking at the report. I appreciate it and I know
that FEMA will be doing a much better job under your leadership
and I thank you for that.
So, you know, I am currently working with Senator Casey to
introduce what we call the READI for Disasters Act. So, this
bill will support the development of disaster preparedness,
response, recovery, and mitigation plans that are inclusive of
older adults and people with disabilities by creating a network
of centers to provide relevant trainings and technical
assistance to State and local governments. It would also expand
the National Advisory Committee on Individuals with
Disabilities and Disasters so that its membership accurately
reflects the diverse characteristics of the disability
communities and direct the Department of Justice to review the
extent to which civil rights of people with disabilities and
older adults are upheld during and after disasters. Do you
believe that our bill would help ensure that older adults and
people with disabilities are supported in disaster management?
Do you think it would be helpful?
Ms. Criswell. I don't have the specifics of the bill, but I
know that our staff are working together on the development of
this. We are happy to continue to provide technical drafting
assistance to help this bill through the legislative process.
Mr. Langevin. Thank you. I would welcome your help on that.
I guess last, I wanted to get into, does FEMA have any
consideration of cyber-based disasters that would require an
IT-focused assistance?
Ms. Criswell. FEMA coordinates really closely with CISA at
DHS and other members of the emergency management community to
increase our preparedness and our understanding of the cyber-
related threats. We do also have available $4 million in fiscal
year 2021 grants to support increasing the preparedness for
cybersecurity. I know that the fiscal year 2022 budget is going
to add 10 additional employees to the FEMA staff to
specifically address and strengthen our own cybersecurity
posture.
Mr. Langevin. Very good. I know my time has expired but
thank you for those answers. I think, you know, if fire and
police databases were hijacked by ransomware in some State or
region, you know, this would allow FEMA to be able to help
supplement IT functions such as communications, planning, and
operations until they were back on their feet. So, I think that
is important to look at. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield
back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman yields back. The Chair
recognizes North Carolina for 5 minutes, Mr. Bishop.
Mr. Bishop. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you
Administrator Criswell for being with us. You may be aware that
North Carolina has been hit repeatedly by damaging hurricanes
in recent years, Matthew in 2016, Florence in 2018, Dorian in
2019. FEMA's timely assistance is critical for the recovery
efforts from these disasters. However, we continue to see very
long wait times in delivery of benefits in the public
assistance program. I represent--one of my counties in my
district in Robeson County in North Carolina, one of the most
economically challenged in North Carolina. It is home, by the
way, to most of the members of the Lumbee Indian Tribe, which
perhaps coincidentally remains unjustly without fully Federal
recognition despite commitments of many to supporting that.
An elementary school and other buildings owned by the
Robeson County Public School System there were destroyed in
late September 2016 in the first of these 3 storms, Matthew.
The school system's public assistance claim remains unresolved
and in about 90 days it will be more than--it will be 5 years
spanning 3 administrations without even final decision about
the amount of public assistance to be provided. FEMA persists
in attempting, at least from my perspective, to apply its rule
concerning repair versus replacement in a manner contrary to
the plain language of that rule.
Like the stature in this saga appeared, I guess, under this
administration in just the last several weeks, the Chairman and
Ranking Member referred to the disaster declaration processes
for rural Americans, but the reference also was made to the
public assistance backlog. The public has sort-of become, I
guess, even numb maybe to these stories by now. But this one
seems to be an egregious example of this problem. Your
testimony, ma'am, said that FEMA intends to integrate equity
into everything we do, but that seems to be an empty promise if
FEMA is diverting resources, for example, to facilitating the
entry of illegal migrants at the Southwest Border despite
leaving unaddressed the replacement of a destroyed elementary
school and the challenge of an American county for 5 years.
What is FEMA's most current assessment of the aging of
unresolved public assistance claims from past disasters? How
are those being addressed?
Ms. Criswell. Thank you, Representative Bishop. It is a
really timely conversation. There are, you know, several
disasters that are currently open across the country dating
back many years. The recovery process as we continue to see
more frequent and more severe disasters becomes even more
complicated in bringing in multiple different recovery sources
to assist with that process. One of the things that we are
focused on is trying to make sure that we are helping to
increase the capacity of our State and local jurisdictions so
they can better manage their recovery processes well, and we
can work together to facilitate getting these projects through.
I don't have the specific numbers in front of me to address
your question specifically. We can certainly get that to you.
But I understand that it is a challenge and under my
leadership, we are going to work on how we can start to improve
and expedite that process and streamline it so it does not take
as long.
Mr. Bishop. Thank you, ma'am. As long as I am on the
subject about your commitment to integrating equity into
everything we do, you made reference to FEMA's internal
diversity equity and inclusion programming and using the length
of equity. Does FEMA use critical race theory concepts and
doctrine in internal training of its workforce?
Ms. Criswell. Diversity, equity, and inclusion is such an
important part of our internal workforce. Being able to have
people in leadership positions that they can relate to and they
can understand just seeing myself in this position really
allows women across the country to see what is possible for
them. We will continue to provide anti-harassment training to
support our leadership team and also work on ways that we can
increase the diversity pool of applicants so we can get more
diversity within our leadership.
Mr. Bishop. Do you know whether you are using critical race
theory concepts in that training?
Ms. Criswell. We are not using critical race theory
concepts. We are using established anti-harassment-type
training that has been around for decades.
Mr. Bishop. Thank you, ma'am. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman yields back. The Chair
recognizes the gentlelady from Michigan for 5 minutes, Ms.
Slotkin.
Ms. Slotkin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Administrator, you
are welcome here. Congratulations on your confirmation and
thanks for taking on this really critical job. I am from
Michigan and we have just experienced really extreme flooding
and it is still raining there. By some measures, we got 6
months' worth of rain in a day. We got 6 inches of rain in less
than 5 hours, and places like Detroit and Dearborn are
literally under water. Flooded highways, cars floating down the
highways, flooded basements across the country. Can you just
confirm for me if Governor Whitmer submits a proposal to FEMA
to declare a National emergency, that you all will move swiftly
to confirm it?
Ms. Criswell. Representative, I am familiar with the
flooding that is currently on-going in Michigan, and Michigan
is my home State. It is where I grew up. So, I have a lot of
attachment there and all my family still lives there. As they
are going through the assessment process right now and they
submit a request, I will commit to swiftly assessing that and
determining if it meets eligibility.
Ms. Slotkin. Great. Well, it makes me feel much better that
you are a Michigander. You won't leave us hanging. The second
thing is, you know, a lot of the residents who have been
hardest hit, a lot of them are seniors. A lot of them do not
have access to the internet. I am concerned the claims that
they are going to file that you are requiring people to file
are going to require facility with the internet. Can you also
help us understand your plan if we do have a declaration of an
emergency to get boots on the ground, people who can help us go
door to door. Time is of the essence. Can you talk to us about
that given that not everyone is, you know, fluent in the
internet?
Ms. Criswell. Absolutely. You know, again, the one thing
that we have learned from COVID-19 is that we need to meet
people where they are at. We have seen that in other disasters
as well. FEMA does have a process here, a team of our workforce
that is the Disaster Survivor Assistance teams that, you know,
if the disaster is declared, they can go out and help with that
in-person approach. You know, I think as we have discussed
already, access to the assistance that is available is one of
the big barriers that we face and we have to make sure that we
are leaning forward into that to eliminate the barrier access
and help meet people where they are at to get them the
assistance that they are eligible for.
Ms. Slotkin. Thank you for that. Then on just the bigger
picture, you know, I think everyone who has already asked a
question has had to deal with some sort of disaster in their
home State, in their home community. We have all experienced
them over the past, you know, 5, 10 years. My question, just as
someone who used to work at the Pentagon, is really about how
FEMA plans. I mean, we know that we are likely to see just
separate from politics, an increase in the number of storms, an
increase in severity of those storms. We are going to have more
historic droughts like we are seeing in the West Coast. So, if
we just take that as a National security and homeland security
issue, tell me how FEMA is changing your plans for budgets, for
staffing. What more can we be helping you with since all of us
need FEMA from time to time and that need is going to go up and
not down over the next decade.
Ms. Criswell. I think the first piece to that question is
the fact that we are seeing more severe, more frequent storms
that are impacting communities across this country. We have an
opportunity right now to make generational-level investments in
trying to reduce that risk, reduce the impact that they are
feeling from these disasters. That is one of the first steps
that I think we need to do as far as the planning piece of this
is making sure that we are working with our communities to help
them apply for the mitigation programs that we have to reduce
their own impacts so there is not going to be a need to
respond.
But as we do respond and until we can get mitigation
projects in place, we do want to make sure that we have the
appropriate staffing. As I mentioned earlier on this year-round
cycle of response now instead of the more traditional peak in
the summer, while it still peaks in the summer, our teams are
deploying out around the clock now, year-round. So, we are
assessing what that looks like for us so we can make a
determination on what the right posture is for our workforce,
and I am happy to be able to come back to you once we
understand better what our needs are and seeking your
assistance in helping us get to that level of staffing and
support.
Ms. Slotkin. Yeah, I think this committee would welcome a
really sort-of forward-looking, bold, interesting concept that
is appropriate for the disasters that are ahead of us. So,
thanks very much. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
New Jersey, Mr. Van Drew, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Van Drew. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Ranking Member
for holding this hearing today. Administrator Criswell, thank
you for being here testifying before the committee. As we all
know, FEMA is a critical agency to the Department of Homeland
Security. I am grateful for the work that you do and the work
that the agency does.
New Jersey, as I am sure you know, is in consistent,
constant peril from natural disasters. Superstorm Sandy, for
example, caused nearly $30 billion in economic damages to the
State. Obviously, that number does not account for the impact
of the storm and the impact the storm had on families who lost
loved ones and the countless other tragic implications the
storm imposed. Governor Christie stated that at the time, that
the damages were going to be almost incalculable. That the
devastation on the Jersey Shore is probably going to be the
worst we have ever seen. Unfortunately, he was correct.
Natural disasters have life-altering consequences, which is
why Members of this committee must ensure that FEMA has the
tools and is prepared as it possibly can be to respond.
Administrator Criswell, I understand that FEMA--and this is
very important to me--is updating the National Flood Insurance
Program risk rating methodology through its latest system
called Risk Rating 2.0. While the program states that one of
its goals is to deliver sound and accurate rates, I am
concerned that for many of my constituents they will be forced
to either pay much higher rates or move as a result of not
being able to pay. Neither of these are viable options,
especially because the cost of living in New Jersey, as I think
you all know, is just about the highest in the Nation.
Is there a strategy in place to assist residents who will
not be able to afford flood insurance as a result of the
updated risk rating methodology? As part of this methodology,
are we going to try to control the cost as much as we possibly
can because flood insurance is so important to so many, yet so
very expensive?
Ms. Criswell. Representative Van Drew, thank you for that
question. You know, under the current pricing system, NFIP
policy holders share the burden to the cost of the insurance
premium. Under Risk Rating 2.0, that burden now is going to be
shifted to those and based on an individual homeowner's risk.
So, under the current system, all policy holders would see an
increase in their insurance premiums going forward. Under the
new system, those that don't have as high of risk will actually
see a decrease in their policies. But there will be some that
will have an increase. On your point of are we going to control
the cost and make sure that we have an affordable way to do
this, this is a new methodology and we are committed to an
affordability framework and we have put that in our fiscal year
2022 budget to help homeowners who can't afford this new
increase do that.
But we are also doing this in a phased approach. Homeowners
that are going to have an increase in their flood insurance
rates will not experience an increase until next year, until
April of next year, and it is capped at 18 percent per year.
Then there is also going to be a maximum cap once they reach
the maximum amount of the insurance policy, it will not go up
any further after that. But would welcome the opportunity to
continue to work with Congress on the affordability framework
so we can make sure that everybody can afford the insurance.
Mr. Van Drew. Well, 18 percent is a whole lot still to me,
and I imagine that you would think it is too. You know,
concerns me a great deal. It is easy for all of us, you know,
to have these conversations here, but obviously, when you get
back in your district and you tell people something is going to
go up 18 percent at a regular level until a certain point, they
are not going to be happy folks. I also know that you know that
it is going to be a real interesting conversation because we
have been through this before who is really more at-risk or
not, and what methodology is used and what parameters are used.
This is an area of continual agitation and concern and, you
know, it is important because the economic growth of certain
areas of this country and it is not only oceanfront like I have
and bayfront, but it is also rivers and other areas as you
know. If these folks with everything else that is happening get
hit too hard by FEMA and these costs, it is going to be tragic.
So, it is a really, really big issue. I really appreciate
your work. I would love you to come to New Jersey some time. I
am sure you have been there. Everybody's been in New Jersey at
least once. But just see some of the challenges we have and I
would be certainly glad to take you around and really show you
what is going on. But if there is a concern level from a 0 to
100 on this issue, I am at 100, just to let you know, and so
are other people. You don't hear a lot about it now. Wait until
those 18 percent increases come forward. You are going to get
so much noise it will be unbelievable. New Jersey people are so
loud, believe me. I think I have----
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Van Drew. I yield back my time. It is a pleasure to
talk to you.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Missouri, Mr. Cleaver, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Cleaver. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Madam
Administrator, for being with us today. The Chairman and Mr.
Katko raised an issue that I am also very much concerned about,
so, I won't go through it. I think you are certainly aware, you
know, the Missouri River is the longest river system in the
country only by a little short 100 miles from the Mississippi
River. It is longer than the Mississippi River. So, we are
going to have problems every single year. That $8.9 million
damage threshold is a problem. I represent a farming community
all along the Missouri River and it is just devastating. You
got a town like, you know, probably Aurora with 800 people, and
if you would wipe out all of the downtown area, you may not go
to $8.9 million and yet that is how it is devastated. You have
already heard that I am not going to bring that up again.
I do need to say, you know, I am not sure what--I am going
to try to find out today. I said I was going to do it earlier,
whatever this racial theory is, which I have never heard of. I
have a master's but I guess, you know, I will try to find out
what it is. It is kind-of confusing to me. I heard of it I
think about a month ago. I am not sure if FEMA is in charge of
racial stuff. I don't know. I don't know if they changed your
job description.
But anyway, what I want to talk about though is the
vaccination effort in rural communities. As I said, I represent
a large rural community in Missouri and they, you know, my
rural area is a hot spot, one of the hottest spots in the
Nation for COVID-19, particularly as it relates to this new
Delta variant. I am hoping that with this dangerous increase in
rural America and in my district in particular where I am
talking about, can you give us any kind of update on how FEMA
is being involved in the local communities with the vaccine
distribution?
Ms. Criswell. Yes, sir. FEMA has had a strong role in the
rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine and really played a significant
part in getting America vaccinated. We did this by supporting
over 2,100 community vaccination centers across the country
with either resources, funding, or personnel. We also
established 39 Federally-run community vaccination centers. The
Federally-run centers that we established, we worked really
hard and close with the State and local officials to identify
where they needed them, where they wanted them placed so we
could reach those underserved communities. It is really a
success story. Of all of the vaccines that we delivered to
these, nearly 60 percent of our vaccines were administered to
underserved populations.
All of those centers currently, the Federally-run centers,
have been closed. But we are still supporting local
jurisdictions through their established centers, as well as
mobile vaccination units that we have in different areas and
available to deploy. As we see the changes with the Delta
variant, if the need arises, FEMA is ready to reestablish any
assistance that we need in case we need to continue to get the
vaccinations out there.
Mr. Cleaver. OK. I think my time is probably running down.
So, thank you very much. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much. The Chair
recognizes the gentlelady from Iowa, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, for 5
minutes.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you, Mr. Chair, also thank you,
Ranking Member Katko and Administrator Criswell for being here
today. FEMA uses the phrase, locally-executed, State-managed,
and Federally-supported. This concept requires all of us to
have actual capability and depth at every single level. In the
past, I have asked FEMA as they set up vaccination clinics, the
level of their health personnel and emergency personnel. Given
that FEMA is not, you know, does not have expertise or
scientists or health personnel as part of your personnel, can
you explain to me or discuss with me how the chain of command
and how the delegation of responsibilities works? Did you work
with the Assistant Secretary of Pandemic Response, the CDC,
HHS, local public health? Who should be the head agency when we
are dealing with a pandemic? Do we need to rethink how, you
know, how to score true readiness at the State, local, Tribal,
and territorial levels?
Ms. Criswell. The phrase that you mentioned, Federally-
supported, State-managed, locally-executed, I think is an
important concept for us to bring up. All disasters, I have
been a local emergency manager, they start and end with the
local jurisdiction. That is the locally-executed part. The
State and the Federal Government need to be part of that
process to make sure that they are successful. The Federal
Government does that in a number of ways by making sure that we
are increasing their capacity to be able to perform their
mission. When it came to supporting the vaccination effort or
supporting the COVID-19 response in general, coming from my own
experience in New York City, it truly was a collaborative
approach of making sure that the Federal Government, while they
are supporting, they understood the needs of the local
jurisdiction and letting the local jurisdictions set the
planning assumptions for them for the assistance that they were
going to provide. I think that is a really critical piece of
making sure that, again, that the Federal Government is
supporting the actual needs on the ground of what the local
communities say that they have.
When it comes to the Federal coordination, that is where
FEMA is an expert, right? We can bring in all of the Federal
partners. We are very good at coordinating the stakeholders and
bringing the appropriate people together to support a response.
That is what FEMA did during the response to COVID-19. I think
we have an opportunity to see where we need to build capacity
across the Federal Government for certain disasters when they
don't squarely fall into the disaster response role that FEMA
typically does, and I would be happy to work with you as we
continue to have that conversation.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Then given the scientific and medical
nature of this particular National emergency, who was
responsible for the messaging? So, as a physician and a former
director of the Iowa State Department of Public Health, there
was confusion in the messaging, so, was that responsibility of
CDC? Was that the responsibility of ASPR?
Ms. Criswell. The messaging was critically important
through all this. As you know very well, you know, the stuff we
learned about the COVID-19 virus changed on a regular basis. As
part of the leadership role that FEMA ended up playing, we had
HHS experts and medical experts embedded with us as part of
that operation because as you stated, we don't have that level
of expertise. So, it was truly a coordinated approach. I would
always defer to the message to be those that are the experts in
that message, and then FEMA can help amplify that message.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you. Then during disasters, FEMA
moves resources from unaffected areas to affected areas.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the entire Nation
almost simultaneously, which led to significant supply
shortages of personal protective equipment and other necessary
supplies. A report published by FEMA in January found that in
order to mitigate further supply shortages, FEMA should
establish a long-term strategy for engaging with the private
sector. How has FEMA engaged with the private sector to address
resource and supply shortfalls?
Ms. Criswell. We learned so much through the COVID-19
pandemic and the critical and often fragile nature of our
supply chain and where we depend on things. We were able to put
in some new methodologies working really closely with the
private sector to make sure that we were meeting the needs of
first responders. But it is the first time, as you stated with
disasters across the country, that we really faced a resource
shortage at this level. We are working closely with the private
sector to establish better relationships and understand how we
can bring them in better.
We can never replace the resources that the private sector
brings to bear to support disaster response. So, we need to
understand better what their capabilities are. We are having
on-going conversations with different sectors across the
private sector to make sure that we understand how to get them
back up on-line faster, but also how they can support us in our
response. Those conversations are on-going.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you so much. Mr. Chair, I yield
back my time.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much. The Chair
recognizes the gentlelady from New York for 5 minutes, Ms.
Clarke.
Ms. Clarke. Thank you, Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member
Katko for holding this critical hearing on the state of our
emergency management preparedness. Thank you as well to
Administrator Criswell for joining us today offering testimony
and let me also congratulate you on your recent confirmation. I
know first-hand the excellent hard work and diligence that you
have exhibited as our emergency manager commissioner in New
York City. I have full confidence that you will lead FEMA with
the same steadfast dedication.
As you are aware, the climate crisis is not only an
existential threat to our planet, it also presents a major and
immediate danger to our communities. Like so many Americans, I
watched in horror last year as wildfires and storms ravaged our
Nation. Unfortunately, the weather predictions for this year
are equally as alarming. Back home in my Congressional district
in Brooklyn, New York, many of my constituents are still
struggling to recover from the devastating impacts of
Superstorm Sandy that flooded people's homes and inflicted
permanent damage to our critical infrastructure.
The plain and simple truth is that climate change has
fueled a troubling rise in extreme weather disasters and events
over recent decades making FEMA's job of protecting Americans
more critical, yet more challenging than ever before. That is
why I am astonished that when the Trump administration in 2018
took unprecedented steps to ignore science and remove the term
climate change entirely from FEMA's strategic plan. Not even
the term sea-level rise made it into the final document. To me,
this isn't just a matter of words. Omitting climate change from
the strategic plan represents a broader attempt by the previous
administration to play with people's lives in the name of
partisan politics. Administrator Criswell, under your
leadership, what steps is FEMA taking currently to
reincorporate climate change into its strategic plan and
throughout the agency more broadly?
Ms. Criswell. Thank you for that question. We are seeing an
incredible rise in the number of disasters, the severity of
disasters, and how rapidly they are intensifying like we have
never seen before. This is a direct result of our changing
climate. We have to be deliberate and brave about our
approaches to reducing the impacts that we are seeing from
climate change. As I have mentioned, we have a number of
mitigation grant programs that are a first step in helping
communities reduce future threats and future impacts from
climate change. But we are also taking a look at where do we
need to be more proactive in our own efforts here? FEMA has
established a Climate Enterprise Steering Group composed of
components or members from across our agency to take a look at
all of our programs to see where we need to be more deliberate
and aggressive in our approach to climate change. This group is
also part of the DHS Secretary's climate action group, so we
can coordinate our efforts. FEMA has a strong role to play in
fighting the climate crisis. This is the first step in us being
able to accomplish that.
Ms. Clarke. Thank you. The previous administration's
failure to act on climate change is exactly why it is so
important that Congress takes bold action now to tackle
greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the American public
from future climate impacts. That is why I recently introduced
legislation with Senator Markey, H.R. 744, the FEMA Climate
Change Preparedness Act, which would help FEMA address the
natural disaster implications of climate change. Among other
provisions, my legislation would direct FEMA to perform an
assessment on the natural disaster risks that climate change
poses on our Nation, as well as on our capacity to prepare for
and mitigate climate impacts. Administrator, is there something
that your agency is currently looking into and is this
something that your agency is currently looking into and do you
think that such a National assessment could be a useful
undertaking?
Ms. Criswell. I believe that we have an obligation right
now to be looking at the future risks that we are going to
face. A lot of our efforts, not just at FEMA, but across the
emergency management community have often focused on historical
risk. But we really have an opportunity and an obligation,
frankly, to look at the future risks that we are facing and
make sure we understand them and are investing in mitigation to
reduce the impacts from those risks. So, I do believe that it
is important for all of us to have that mindset as we go
forward.
Ms. Clarke. Well, Administrator, I look forward to speaking
to you in depth about this legislation and look forward to
supporting your work in this endeavor. With that, Mr. Chairman,
I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady yields back. The Chair
recognizes the gentlelady from Tennessee, Mrs. Harshbarger, for
5 minutes. The gentlelady needs to unmute herself. Still not
quite hearing you. It says you are unmuted now, maybe you can.
We are having some technical difficulties. We will go to Mr.
Clyde for 5 minutes.
Mr. Clyde. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this
important hearing and thank you, Administrator Criswell. I
appreciate you being here and providing the information that
you have.
In March of this year, FEMA was deployed to help address
the surge in illegal migrants at our Southwestern Border.
Secretary Mayorkas has routinely stated that he would not say
we have a crisis at the Southern Border, yet he deployed our
Nation's emergency response agency, FEMA. So, ma'am, how would
you describe the situation at the Southwest Border?
Ms. Criswell. FEMA's role in the Southwest Border is,
again, part of what we are really good at. We are good at
coordinating across Federal agencies. In this case, we came in
to help HHS and CBP with the execution of their mission. We
only had a very small number of people that deployed in support
of this mission and it was from a coordinating standpoint.
Mr. Clyde. OK. So, but FEMA is only engaged when you have
emergencies or crises. Is that not right? So, they would not
have been engaged if we didn't have an emergency at the
Southwestern Border?
Ms. Criswell. Again, FEMA, they are good at coordinating
Federal agencies for any type of an event or an incident. We
often do this for planned events, as well as disasters or
emergency responses. So, it is that coordinating capacity that
FEMA brings in to support agencies in helping them establish
their operational capability.
Mr. Clyde. OK. So, would you or would you not call it an
emergency at the Southwest Border?
Ms. Criswell. Again, FEMA's role was really just to
coordinate the Federal Government and the----
Mr. Clyde. You are not going to answer my question. All
right. So, FEMA's budget is already pretty thin, would you
agree that the situation at the border has taken away resources
from FEMA that could be better utilized elsewhere?
Ms. Criswell. The role that FEMA played in that mission was
very limited and we never had more than 100 staff deployed at
any given time. Currently, we have less than 7 people, or
approximately 7 people that are still supporting the
coordination. That is a small number of people compared to what
we have available.
Mr. Clyde. OK. So, would your office be willing to provide
us a written statement concerning the extent of your agency's
mission at the border so that we in the committee can review
how the border crisis has impacted your operations?
Ms. Criswell. Yes, I will have my staff get that to your
team.
Mr. Clyde. OK, great. So, what funding from FEMA has been
allocated to date to address the housing or the processing of
illegal migrants? Has any?
Ms. Criswell. FEMA is actually getting reimbursed from HHS
for our support. There has been no funding allocated from the
disaster recovery fund in support of that mission.
Mr. Clyde. OK. How much has FEMA spent already though?
Ms. Criswell. I don't have those numbers. We certainly can
add that to the report that we give you.
Mr. Clyde. OK. There have been articles in the news that
the $86.9 million non-compete DHS contract to Family Endeavors
is under a microscope now to see whether or not it was proper.
Is FEMA helping ICE, HHS, or any other Government agency with
contracts?
Ms. Criswell. Sir, I am not familiar with that contract and
our role, again, in supporting that mission is to help
coordinate the Federal family that is involved.
Mr. Clyde. OK. All right, with that, that is all the
questions I have. I thank you for your support of the crisis at
the Southern Border. We need to get that fixed. With that I
yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman yields back. The Chair
recognizes the gentlelady from Las Vegas, Ms. Titus, for 5
minutes.
Ms. Titus. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is nice to see the
administrator again. We just visited with her in the
subcommittee that oversees FEMA. So, thank you for being with
us once more. I just want to ask you about something I raised
with the Secretary so I won't belabor it, but it is about UASI
funding. The President's budget proposed a $15.3 million
decrease in UASI funding. I know that the criteria has been
changed to focus on domestic terrorism and that makes this
program even more important for communities like I represent,
Las Vegas. So, I appreciate a commitment to try to work with me
to be sure that we get the full funding or it remains a good
resource and an effective one as we move into kind-of a new
emphasis or a new direction.
Ms. Criswell. UASI and the Homeland Security grant funding
has done such an amazing job at building the capability and
preparedness of our State and local jurisdictions. As we saw in
the early days of the program, it was really about building a
lot of capability and what we have seen over the past several
years is that much of the requests that are coming in are for
sustainment. So, the adjustments to the program themselves are
minor and we do not feel will impact the ability to sustain the
capabilities that have been built.
But as you stated, the Secretary has also asked us to take
a look at how we are evaluating risk in jurisdictions. Our team
is doing that now so we can make sure that we are addressing
the emerging threats that we are facing.
Ms. Titus. Well, thank you. I appreciate that because it is
really important to us in a place like Las Vegas where we have
to keep our residents protected, but also 40 million visitors
who come very year. They are coming back at a rapid pace.
I would also ask you that whenever the President grants a
Governor's request for FEMA's individual and household programs
following a disaster, it currently provides very little
assistance in the disaster area for people who were without
homes before the disaster hit. Now, their situation is even
worse. In Las Vegas, we have a rate of 228.6 per 100,000 people
who are in this situation. So, you see it a lot across the
Southwest. People go where it is warm where they can survive.
Our non-profits do a lot of good work. Our local governments
try to. But I wonder if there is some way FEMA in its new
emphasis on equity and resilience could have a plan for these
folks as well.
Ms. Criswell. FEMA's programs and individual households
program, you know, is designed to help people that have been
impacted by disasters. The programs themselves aren't designed
to make them whole. They do provide assistance to help with the
temporary repairs. If they are not homeowners and they are
renters, with some temporary lodging as they find new
assistance. I think if I am understanding your question
specifically may be more about the homeless population and
these programs are not designed to support that.
However, we do have the Emergency Food and Sheltering
Program, which is one that is run by FEMA that can assist local
communities. That grant funding is available to help them with
the homeless situation. I am happy to get your constituents in
touch with the people that run that program to see if there is
a way that that can help.
Ms. Titus. That would great. If we can reach out and get
more information to help these folks in Las Vegas, I would
really appreciate it. Thank you, Administrator. Mr. Chairman, I
yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady yields back. The Chair
recognizes the gentleman from Florida for 5 minutes, Mr.
Gimenez.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I also want to
thank the Ranking Member Katko. Ms. Criswell, it is good to
talk to a fellow former firefighter and fellow emergency
manager. I served as a firefighter with the city of Miami and
also the emergency management for the city of Miami. So, it is
really good to talk to you.
You stated that storms are getting more frequent and more
severe. Do you have--could you submit some data to my office on
the number of landfalling hurricanes since the year 1900 and
their severity so that I can look at that data and see if, in
fact, that is true?
Ms. Criswell. Yes, representative. We can certainly get you
that information.
Mr. Gimenez. OK. Flood insurance, you know, remains a big
issue in my district. What--you talk about certain caps for the
Flood Insurance Program, what are those caps going to be? Is
that by region or is there a hard cap Nation-wide for the Flood
Insurance Program? And cost, cost to the homeowner.
Ms. Criswell. Yeah, so, the new Risk Rating 2.0 Program is
based--their insurance rates are based on their individual risk
and with an increase that is not to exceed 18 percent per year.
Again, based on the individual homeowner's risk, there is a
certain amount of premium that they will pay as a cap. Again,
based on their individual risk. That is once they reach that--
under the current program, there is no limit, but under the new
program, there is.
Mr. Gimenez. I mean, so there is not a hard cap Nation-
wide. It is based on the individual property? Or how--you said,
yeah, there is a cap. So, what is that? Describe that for me.
Really quick because I only have 5 minutes.
Ms. Criswell. Yeah, absolutely. So, maybe two sides of
this. There is a 18 percent cap per year that their rates can't
go up more than 18 percent, which is set by Congress.
Mr. Gimenez. Got it.
Ms. Criswell. Then there is a maximum amount of what their
insurance policy will be and when they reach that, it won't go
any higher.
Mr. Gimenez. I know, but that--again, the question is, is
that on an individual property or is it a Nation-wide cap that
no insurance policy can be say more than $5,000?
Ms. Criswell. No, it is based on their individual risk for
their home.
Mr. Gimenez. So, it could be theoretically that can be
$50,000, $100,000, $200,000. It all depends on the home itself.
Ms. Criswell. It does depend on the home itself. But we
certainly can get you more specifics on that.
Mr. Gimenez. OK. All right. By the way, I want to thank
FEMA for their response to the Surfside incident. That is a
town that I used to be the mayor of that county. So, thank you.
How many US&R teams does FEMA have in support right now?
Ms. Criswell. Currently, the 2 teams that are located in
Miami and Miami-Dade are part of the National system, and they
were the first teams that were involved. Again, it is a real
good example of how important these teams are to be embedded
within the first responder community so they can respond
quickly. So, those 2 teams are already activated. We have
additional teams that we are working right now with the local
incident commander to determine what they would----
Mr. Gimenez. Ma'am, I know all that. Ma'am, I know all
that. I mean, I actually created the second team, OK? I want to
know how many teams you have in the system? That is the
question.
Ms. Criswell. Oh, in the system.
Mr. Gimenez. How many are there in the US&R system, yeah?
Ms. Criswell. How many--I believe--I don't have the exact
number right in front of me, sir. I am sorry. I can get that to
you.
Mr. Gimenez. That is fine. OK, that is fine. All right.
Now, when it comes to hurricane mitigation, we have more
communities, more people living on the coast now than we did
say in the year 1900. When you say that there are more, you
know, their severity of storms and their frequency, are you
talking about the actual number or are you talking about the
dollar amount of the damage that they cause?
Ms. Criswell. Sir, I think it is both, right? I think that
we are seeing more billion-dollar disasters than we have seen
in the past. We are seeing more storms brew. More hurricanes in
the Atlantic. We are seeing an increasing number of wildfires
across the west. So, I think it is a combination of both.
Mr. Gimenez. Well, I mean, your being a firefighter, you
know that fire needs 3 things. It needs oxygen. It needs an
ignition source. It needs fuel. So, how does climate change
factor into those 3 things?
Ms. Criswell. For the wildfire season, the increase in the
number of wildfires that we are seeing is the fact that the
vegetation is more dried out than it has been in the past,
which increases its ability to have the ignition source more
quickly.
Mr. Gimenez. But it could also be that there are--there is
lax management of those forests in that they are not being
cleared the way they should be. Because you and I both know as
firefighters that if you take away the fuel, you won't have
these kinds of fires, right?
Ms. Criswell. Exactly. The mitigation that we talk about in
trying to reduce the impact, right? So, the more that you can
mitigate the potential impacts that you are going to see, the
less that you are going to have to respond.
Mr. Gimenez. Right, we can't take away the oxygen and we
can't take away the ignition source. You know, that is
problematic. I mean, we try to. At the end, it is always about
the fuel. The fuel is the vegetation. If we start clearing that
out, we may actually start to see lessening of these
devastating forest fires. Could you agree with that?
Ms. Criswell. I could agree with that.
Mr. Gimenez. OK. What if we----
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Gimenez. My time? Thank you very much and I yield the
rest of my time, which is zero. Thank you.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from
Florida for 5 minutes, Mrs. Demings.
Mrs. Demings. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
Administrator, it is great to see you again. As a native
Floridian and former first responder, I am no stranger to
responding to and living through disasters. But as you know,
Administrator, we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory with
the tragedy in Surfside, Florida. Certainly, our thoughts are
with the victims, the families, our first responders. I would
like to thank you and your workforce for immediately deploying
to south Florida being there on the ground. I also want to
commend you on the strong partnership that FEMA has and has had
with State and local emergency responders. We know that it is
essential to preserving, protecting a life and it is
appreciated, I believe, by all here today.
Administrator, the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was the
most active and the fifth-costliest Atlantic hurricane season
on record. The season was so active in fact that we ran out of
names and had to use the Greek alphabet. This year, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted
another active season, as you well know. In fact, we have
already seen up to 3 hurricanes from the Atlantic. With
hurricane season in full swing, and I know we talked somewhat
about this today, but, you know, COVID-19 was also a curveball
with all that you have to juggle as well. So, with the season
in full swing, how are you balancing these many times
unpredictable National disasters along with still being pretty
much involved in the response to COVID-19?
Ms. Criswell. It is a great question and our hearts do go
out to those that are still suffering in Miami right now. As we
see, you know, the threats that we are facing continue to
change. Our normal cycle of disaster response isn't just in the
summer anymore. It is really year-round. So, as we prepare for
this season, for this peak that we will see over the
summertime, we have done a very deliberate effort to reduce the
number of staff that we have deployed to some of our on-going
operations and make sure that they have the opportunity to rest
and get reset so we have the appropriate levels to respond to
what we might see over the coming months.
But we are right now taking a big look at what is it going
to be for us in the future and how do we want to start to
posture ourselves for this more year-round response. We are
doing an assessment to see what it would take for us to build a
true readiness cycle that can support a continuous rotation of
personnel so they have the adequate rest and recovery they need
and we always have a number of sufficient personnel to support
these emerging threats that we continue to face.
Mrs. Demings. Thank you so much, Administrator. FEMA has
historically had challenges with this disaster contracting
workforce levels. In its 2017 after-action report, FEMA
indicated that its disaster contracting workforce was strained
due to the unprecedented number of contracting actions it had
to process during the 2017 hurricane season. This is
understandable considering FEMA obligated $4.5 billion for the
2017 disasters. Whereas, in the 3 fiscal years before then, you
only had to obligate about $1.3 billion. To date, as you know,
FEMA has obligated nearly $48 billion in response to COVID-19
alone. This is astronomical compared, of course, to previous
years. Where do FEMA's contracting workforce levels stand now?
Does FEMA have the workforce it needs during the 2021 disaster
season?
Ms. Criswell. The contracting workforce is such a critical
part of what we do because we need to make sure that we have
the right tools and the people to execute those tools to
support disaster response. I don't have the specific numbers of
our contracting workforce. I am happy to have my team get back
to you. But we are looking across all of our cadres where we
have seen a reduction in the number of personnel and doing some
concerted efforts to make sure we are recruiting quality people
to come in and serve what I think is the best agency the
Government has.
Mrs. Demings. Finally, Administrator, with the limited time
I have, I do realize that human beings are the most precious
resource. Sometimes you may not always feel like it, but human
beings are the most precious resource that we have. We know
that FEMA ranked 322 out of 420 agencies in terms of employee
morale. I know the Chairman talked a little bit about the
workforce, but could you very quickly explain some of the steps
you are planning to take to address specifically, employee
morale?
Ms. Criswell. The workforce is my No. 1 priority. We have
such an important mission that we can't fail at. The way to do
that is to make sure that we have a qualified, trained, and
supported workforce so they can execute their mission. We have
done a number of things to reach out to our employees and I
think one of the biggest things that we have done is created
these employee resource groups where we get input from our
employees and what their needs are and how we can better
support them in accomplishing their mission. We are also going
to continue to make sure that we have enough personnel and we
provide the right training and resources and support that
employees need to conduct their jobs effectively and
efficiently. The other piece to add to that is making sure that
our workforce is diverse and inclusive and so we can represent
the people that we serve.
Mrs. Demings. Imagine that. Thank you so much,
Administrator. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady yields back. The Chair
recognizes Mrs. Harshbarger from Tennessee for 5 minutes. We
can't hear you still. No. We are going to come back to you
again. The Chair recognizes Mr. LaTurner from Kansas for 5
minutes. Can you unmute yourself, Mr. LaTurner? I see you going
on and off. Well, we will go back to Florida, Mrs. Cammack, for
5 minutes.
Mrs. Cammack. Can you all hear me?
Chairman Thompson. Gotcha.
Mrs. Cammack. Woo. Val's laughing. Oh, man. Well, I
appreciate it, Mr. Chairman. Thank you so much. Good to see you
again, Administrator Criswell. I am going to jump right in on
questions because I have got a lot and I don't think I will be
able to make it through them all.
So, I am going to start with the first question being your
FEMA all hands on deck, meaning you identified employee burnout
as one of the major issues. We talked about that last week. You
had mentioned the importance of workforce readiness in your
testimony and then again when we were chatting on Friday.
Now, I had asked this question to Secretary Mayorkas a
couple weeks ago and again several months ago. I am just kind-
of looking for some clarity on this. When I had asked if FEMA
had the resources that it needs to effectively respond to the
pandemic, the border crisis, and upcoming storm season at that
point, he had stated that FEMA had every resource that it
needed in order to do that. Do you agree with the Secretary's
assessment that FEMA is not in need of any additional
resources?
Ms. Criswell. So, as we prepare for this season, we have
the resources that we need to support the on-going responses
that we are currently running, as well as what we expect. I
think as we discussed and we are seeing this year-round
response to disasters and new emerging threats, we are doing an
assessment to see how we can better prepare and have a stronger
readiness cycle that gives our employees more opportunities for
rest and reset so they are not deployed so much continuously.
Mrs. Cammack. OK. So, just to summarize. Yes, FEMA has all
the resources that it needs to do the job, the workforce,
everything, personnel, border presence, pandemic, incoming
Delta variant, tornados, hurricanes, wildfire season,
everything.
Ms. Criswell. I believe that we are well-postured to
support that. We do have a request for additional resources in
our fiscal year 2022 budget as well to help increase that
readiness capability.
Mrs. Cammack. OK. Now, you guys are seeing the distribution
of $2 billion in COVID-19-related funeral assistance. This is
the largest Funeral Assistance Program that FEMA has ever
handled. As of June 28, approximately $447 million has already
been distributed to 66,000, almost 67,000 people. Now, what are
doing to make sure that the aid gets to those that are truly in
need in this very tough situation and that there aren't bad
actors that are working to exploit the system?
Ms. Criswell. The Funeral Assistance Program is truly
unprecedented. It is on a scale like nothing that we have done
before. As we were putting our plan in place for how we were
going roll this program out, we knew that there was going to be
a lot of opportunities for fraud. So, we did put measures in
place to help reduce the potential for fraud and we are seeing
very low incidents right now of fraudulent claims. I would say
one of the things that we are doing to make sure that everybody
gets assistance as well is we are doing--they are registering
through the 1-800 number directly. That also helps to reduce
fraud by not going on-line. But then we have personnel that are
talking to individuals and helping them work through the
paperwork requirements to provide the documentation needed to
get that assistance.
Mrs. Cammack. Is there any follow-up from FEMA once the
applicants go through the process to just kind-of a trust but
verify?
Ms. Criswell. Yeah, I mean, that is part of the process,
right? So, as an individual calls the 1-800 number to get
assistance, we work with them to get the appropriate paperwork.
We verify that paperwork to make sure that it's authentic and
then work with them to get any additional resources or any
additional paperwork they need until they finally get their
claim settled.
Mrs. Cammack. OK, excellent. Thank you. Something else that
I had asked Secretary Mayorkas a couple weeks ago that he was
going to, I think, ask you about was the Emergency Food and
Shelter Program that FEMA has. So, I have been to the border a
couple of times this year and I have actually been on a plane
where I recognized the migrants that we had picked up with
Border Patrol in the days leading up to my flight. Now, it is
my understanding that the Emergency Food and Shelter Program
that FEMA has, has been supporting the travel costs for these
migrants. How much of this program has been expended on migrant
travel?
Ms. Criswell. As you stated, the Emergency Food and Shelter
Program is a grant program available through FEMA for non-
disaster-related expenses. I don't have the specific
information. I am aware of the flight that you mentioned. I
don't have the specific information about the costs that were
spent, but it is something that is eligible through this
program as its administered by the local volunteer agencies.
Mrs. Cammack. Could you follow up? Because I know my time
has expired. Could you follow up with me on the total number of
dollars that have been expended on migrant travel this year?
Ms. Criswell. We will certainly follow up on that. I would
just add that Congress did appropriate $110 million for this
program to assist.
Mrs. Cammack. All right, thank you.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's time has expired.
Mrs. Cammack. With that, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
California for 5 minutes, Mr. Swalwell.
Mr. Swalwell. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you,
Administrator. Before I get to my questions, I want to thank
FEMA for standing up its Oakland Coliseum vaccination site
where thousands of Bay Area residents were vaccinated. It was a
real success. I was able to meet with your team on the ground
there early on after having the vaccine. I would say it is the
second best thing that has happened at the Oakland Coliseum
this year other than the third best team in baseball, the
Oakland A's. So, thank you to FEMA for that.
But, Administrator, my district in California has suffered
from wildfires in the past year as well as yesterday we had a
4.1 earthquake in the city of Castro Valley. So, we face a
range of natural hazards and we found that climate change is
exasperating many of these disasters and the effects.
I know you understand as a former firefighter the
importance of resiliency and pre-disaster mitigation.
Congressional action over the past few years has emphasized
pre-disaster mitigation. FEMA has put a greater emphasis on
pre-disaster mitigation through the Building Resilient
Infrastructure and Communities Program, the BRIC program. A
total of $500 million was available in 2020, and President
Biden has approved for FEMA to provide $1 billion for this
fiscal year. Now, it has been an effective way to support pre-
disaster mitigation, but we were only able to fund $500 million
of the approximately $3.6 billion requested. So, what do you
think is the best way to address the demand for pre-disaster
mitigation funding?
Ms. Criswell. I am sorry, did you hear what I started there
with? OK.
Mr. Swalwell. I didn't. Go ahead.
Ms. Criswell. I think we weren't unmuted. I apologize. Pre-
disaster mitigation funding is a critical component to our
ability to reduce the impacts that we are seeing from climate
change. We were very excited by the authorities that were given
to us in the Disaster Recovery Reform Act to be able to
implement and execute the BRIC program, the Building Resilient
Infrastructure and Communities Program. As we saw with the
first year, it was amazing what the amount of need was that was
out there as you stated with $3.6 billion in applications. I
think where we are going is now that we have additional funding
that was available this year, double what we had last year, $1
billion. We are going to continue to be able to address these
projects to do the system-wide mitigation instead of a more
incremental approach that we have done in the past. But BRIC is
just one of the programs that we have and so, if there are
applications that were not selected during this program, we
also have our Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, post-disaster
grant, that individual or State and local jurisdictions can
apply for as well. That comes after every disaster.
We have recently also created hazard mitigation funding
eligibility for fire management assistance grants, which
specifically goes to those communities that were impacted by
the fires to increase their ability to reduce risk.
Mr. Swalwell. Now, Administrator, to qualify for BRIC
funding, a State must have issued a major disaster declaration
in the past 7 years, but as you know, because of the COVID-19
pandemic, every State has been under a major disaster
declaration. So, has the anomaly of simultaneous major disaster
declarations across all 50 States because of the pandemic
affected FEMA's administration of the BRIC funding?
Ms. Criswell. No, it hasn't. I think it just gives us
greater opportunity now to be able to invest in communities
across the country to help them reduce the impacts from these
threats that we are facing.
Mr. Swalwell. Great. Well, we are going into, sadly,
another fire season. On top of that a drought. As I said, a
reminder yesterday that we are at risk of a, you know, a major
earthquake in the Bay Area. So, we need you all more than ever.
Welcome aboard on the job. Again, your team on the ground in
San Francisco really did an excellent job in getting our
community vaccinated. We have over 80 percent of Alameda County
has received at least one vaccine and that is a leader in the
country, in part because of FEMA's work. So, thank you very
much.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman yields back?
Mr. Swalwell. Yes.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes Mrs. Harshbarger,
again. I think we still have a----
Mrs. Harshbarger. OK. I have got you on a phone line now.
Chairman Thompson. OK.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Are you good?
Chairman Thompson. Mrs. Harshbarger, I apologize. The
gremlins are still with us.
Mrs. Harshbarger. OK. Can you hear me on the phone line?
Chairman Thompson. We can hear you on the phone line.
Mrs. Harshbarger. OK. Let's just do it that way. Who knows
what is going on. Hey, if it was as easy to fix, I should call
FEMA, maybe they can fix that. So, anyway, thank you, Chairman
and Ranking Member and Madam Administrator.
I just wanted to talk a little bit about something some of
my colleagues have already talked about and that is the
disaster relief, the disaster declaration, for some of these
smaller counties. I have a small county in Unicoi, Tennessee
and they had a flood event in March 2020 and they just received
money as of last month due to that flood that damaged some of
the roadways. You know, they weren't able to meet your
threshold and they finally did the paperwork.
My concern, even after they were approved, it took 8 months
to receive their money and, you know, in a small county when
you have maybe 2 employees, it takes one doing this full-time
in order to do the paperwork to get the money from those
disasters. Its all the documentation, things like that. So, I
just want you to be aware of that, Madam Administrator, that
sometimes with these smaller counties, it took over a year to
get that money to them. They had to figure out how they are
going to budget that in order to make those road repairs. So,
that is a concern.
I kind-of want to switch gears and talk about our National
stockpile problems. COVID-19 made those very, very apparent,
you know, as far as supply chains are concerned and these
problems with the supply chains severely impacted the ability
of the country to respond to the pandemic and it put our
economic and National security in jeopardy. I can tell you this
as being a pharmacy owner, in 3 weeks I could not get
medications. I couldn't get hydroxychloroquine. I couldn't get
the powder to make it. I couldn't get supplements, vitamins.
That is just in a 3-week period. That is critical. I consider
that critical infrastructure as far as the medicine goes. It is
imperative that we have those.
As a Nation we left a clear understanding of the supply
chain outside of the Department of Defense environment. The
public safety industrial supply chain must be comparable to how
the DOD manages the defense industrial base. That includes
things like procurement, acquisition, long-term contracting,
asset viability, material distribution, and tracking of
emergency threats that proactively support the supply chain
assurance. I guess my question is, core capabilities like
supply chain security and supply chain risk management have
habitually been underinvested in and how should our Nation
determine in detail and understand the interdependencies of the
public safety industrial supply chain and the impacts it will
have on operations if interrupted?
Ms. Criswell. What we learned through COVID-19 is truly
how, as you stated, critical our supply chain is. It is a piece
of our critical infrastructure, but really just how fragile it
can be as well. You know, as we were working through our
ability to maximize and support the supply chain to make sure
that we could keep resources moving, we learned a lot of
lessons about our role and how we can interact with the private
sector.
I think that we have two roles. One is, you know, how do we
during disasters make sure we get the supply chain up and
running quickly so they can continue to bring supplies in?
Because FEMA can never replace what the private sector brings
to the table. But also, how can then we integrate the private
sector into our operations to better support the initial
response needs? FEMA has started a lot of conversations across
the private sector in different sectors, health care, housing,
and so forth, to see how we can work better together to improve
the resiliency of the supply chain to make sure that we don't
have--or we are reducing any potential impacts to disrupting
the supply chain.
Mrs. Harshbarger. OK. Thank you for that. Well, after I
have had such microphone troubles, I will just yield back,
Chairman. Thank you.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady is very kind. Thank you
much. The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from California for 5
minutes, Ms. Barragan.
Ms. Barragan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for
holding this hearing. Thank you, Administrator, for being with
us today and all your work.
The Trump administration took unprecedented steps to
criticize natural disaster survivors and continuously
threatened to deny or withdraw aid to jurisdictions such as
Puerto Rico and California, while praising and announcing more
money for areas that had a large number of Trump supporters.
Their actions threatened the recovery process for disaster
survivors. While it is the Executive branch that carries out
various response and recovery programs to help communities
rebuild after a disaster, it is Congress' responsibility to
conduct oversight to ensure the American people are receiving a
fair, effective response from the Federal Government.
It is not only important for the disaster survivors
currently putting their lives back together, but for the future
survivors who will benefit from a response improved by lessons
learned. The Trump administration's politicization of disaster
assistance stands against everything we, as public servants,
stand for. Administrator, what effects does the politicization
of disaster relief have on affected communities?
Chairman Thompson. Start your answer again. We kind-of had
a delay.
Ms. Criswell. Understood. Disasters that impact
communities, they do not discriminate whether you are
Republican or Democrat. FEMA's assistance is not restricted in
any way based on that. We provide assistance to communities
based on their need and one of the things that we have learned
through COVID-19 is our ability to really better understand and
identify our underserved populations to make sure that we are
getting them the assistance they need, but also making sure
that they understand how to access that assistance. That is
FEMA's role. We are going to help people before, during, and
after disasters making sure that they get what they need to
recover from whatever that event was.
Ms. Barragan. Do you agree it would dangerous if we started
to politicize who gets disaster relief?
Ms. Criswell. It would absolutely be dangerous. We should
be basing disaster need--disaster assistance on the needs of
the community and the impacts that they experienced.
Ms. Barragan. OK, well, thank you. How can we assure that
never happens again that we aren't politicizing the need,
disaster need?
Ms. Criswell. You know, the policies that FEMA has and the
Stafford Act that guides our ability to provide assistance
clearly sets out how we provide assistance and as long as we
are following the guidance set forth in there, we will be able
to continue to provide assistance to all communities that are
impacted.
Ms. Barragan. Well, thank you. Administrator, I also want
to thank you for the work that you have done in working across
agencies to help at the Southern Border. I have been there
first-hand. I have seen what the difference has been in getting
children out of, you know, Border Patrol custody and into HHS
and the role that you all played and how it has been very
helpful. So, I want to thank you for that.
My next question is about, you know, reports that the
sites, the FEMA-assisted sites of the mass vaccination centers
are winding down. They are coming to a close. What is FEMA's
role moving forward in assisting in the vaccination effort? Is
there any consideration being given on reopening these mass
vaccination centers when maybe say boosters are going to be
necessary for, you know, the population?
Ms. Criswell. FEMA has supported the vaccination effort in
a variety of different ways. We are supporting approximately
2,100 community vaccination centers across the country, 39 of
which were Federally-run community vaccination sites. Our on-
going support for the 2,100 continues by providing financial
assistance, personnel, resources as needed based on what the
community needs and how they are doing with their outreach to
their populations to get them vaccinated. We have wound down
our 39 sites and primarily that was based on the fact that we
saw limited numbers of people coming and more of the population
that were going to pharmacies, their doctor's office, and other
places to get the vaccine.
You know, as we look to the future, we will be ready to
stand up additional sites if needed. If there is a booster that
is required, we remain flexible to be able to support this on-
going effort to get America vaccinated and whatever that might
look like in the coming months.
Ms. Barragan. Well, thank you, Administrator. FEMA has
literally helped save lives by undertaking this logistical
challenge of getting the vaccine out and we have seen the
difference that you and this administration have made. So,
thank you. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady yields back. The Chair
recognizes the gentleman from Kansas, Mr. LaTurner, for 5
minutes.
Mr. LaTurner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Apologize for the
technical difficulties we had earlier. Thank you to you and
Ranking Member Katko for holding this hearing. Administrator, I
am very pleased that you are with us today. We like to say in
Kansas that you can experience all four seasons in the same
day. Along with that weather comes disasters with tornados,
flooding in the wet season, wildfires in the dry season. We
need FEMA to be ready and able to support those communities in
Kansas and across our country that are affected by disasters of
all sizes. I also recognize the role FEMA has played in
providing resources and relief across the country during the
COVID-19 pandemic, which we all hope we are nearing the end of.
I have a couple of questions for you. The first is in the
President's fiscal year 2022 budget, he includes just over $100
million to support, sustain, and develop new IT initiatives.
Given the past issues FEMA has had with safeguarding personal
information, could you give us the specifics on the IT
initiatives that FEMA will be focusing on?
Ms. Criswell. I will certainly have my team get back with
some specifics for you. But what I will say generally is that
some of the IT initiatives we are focusing on is modernizing
our IT infrastructure as well as our grant system so we can
make it easier for State and local communities to apply for
assistance through that. Those are some very general big
picture pieces of our IT infrastructure that we are requesting
funding for. But I will certainly have my team get back to you
with some specifics.
Mr. LaTurner. I appreciate that, Administrator. Since the
Nation-wide emergency was declared on March 13, 2020, there was
a lot of confusion initially as to who was leading the
response, FEMA or HHS. As FEMA took the lead, questions
remained as to who should be charged with leading and managing
Federal effort during a prolonged pandemic. While FEMA
certainly has the capability to coordinate resources and
manpower, what should FEMA's and HHS's respective roles be for
future similar events?
Ms. Criswell. It is a very good question. You know, FEMA is
very good. What we excel at is being able to collaborate across
the Federal Government to bring the right stakeholders together
to solve some of the toughest problems that we have been facing
in recent years. I think that we have some work to do to make
sure that we are working with our partners across the Federal
Government to better understand what the capabilities are and
where the roles and responsibilities need to be delineated. So,
I commit to being able to work across the Government helping to
better understand capacity and where the roles and
responsibilities need to be defined.
Mr. LaTurner. Administrator, could you get a little more
detailed on that? Do you think that that needs to take shape in
the form of legislation? Are those conversations that you are
currently having now or ones that you plan on having in the
future?
Ms. Criswell. They are conversations that we are having now
as we work with HHS in our continued response to COVID-19. If
there is a point in time where I think it needs legislation, I
am certainly happy to get back with you on how we would make
that happen.
Mr. LaTurner. As you know, a number of State Governors are
moving to end their State's incident period for COVID-19 major
disaster declaration. Does FEMA currently have a projected time
line for when the COVID-19 major disaster declarations might
end?
Ms. Criswell. We are reviewing that currently on when that
might happen. It is not going to happen in the very near
future. We will make sure that we are providing ample notice
for jurisdictions so they understand what the impacts of that
might be.
Mr. LaTurner. I appreciate that. You touched on this a
little bit earlier, but if you could go into a little more
depth. Ending the States' COVID-19 major disaster declarations
affect the resources available to States and what resources
will still be available to States under the Nation-wide
emergency declaration. After this is over, it would be nice for
States to have some idea of what is going to be available to
them.
Ms. Criswell. Right. We are seeing States end their
incident periods or end their emergency declaration. We are
having conversations with them through our regional
administrators on what that means as it relates to the National
disaster, the major disaster declaration in our on-going
incident period. So, we will continue to have those
conversations. Our regional administrators have been reaching
out to our States continuously to help understand some of the
guidance and what the future impacts might be as we continue to
refine the future of the disaster declaration.
Mr. LaTurner. Are you doing personal outreach to any of the
States or comprehensive calls that Governors and their teams
are able to participate in, or is it done region by region
primarily?
Ms. Criswell. So, we like to have our regional
administrators do the majority of that outreach, but I have
been communicating with the National organizations that bring
together the leadership from across the country to answer some
of these same questions.
Mr. LaTurner. OK. Administrator, I appreciate your time and
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman yields back. The Chair
recognizes the gentleman from New York for 5 minutes, Mr.
Torres.
Mr. Torres. Good morning, Administrator. You were the New
York City commissioner for emergency management for the
cataclysmic challenges confronting Health and Hospitals during
COVID-19. As you know, they may be no health system in the
United States that came under greater strain during COVID than
Health and Hospitals. New York State was the epicenter of the
first coronavirus wave and Health and Hospitals as a safety net
health system was the hardest hit not only by the rapid influx,
but also by the sheer intensity and complexity of coronavirus
cases.
FEMA provides reimbursements to ``expanded medical
facilities.'' As you know, the Health and Hospitals had to
expand their medical facilities and contract out surge staff in
order to keep pace with what the New York Times infamously
described as a ``apocalyptic'' coronavirus surge. Yet,
inexplicably, FEMA refuses to reimburse Health and Hospitals
for that capacity expansion. Can you explain to me the
inexplicable decision to deny or delay reimbursement for Health
and Hospitals?
Ms. Criswell. Representative Torres, yes, I was there. It
was the most challenging year that I have gone through and I
worked closely hand-in-hand with my colleagues at Health and
Hospitals as we were expanding that capacity. It was not just
in Health and Hospitals, but the alternate care sites that we
set up across the city to support the numbers that we were
projecting. I don't have the specifics of the denial that you
are talking about, but those types of costs are eligible costs
under the disaster declaration. So, let me get more information
about the specifics of what you are talking about and I will be
happy to get back to you with any information.
Mr. Torres. Absolutely. I just want to read for you a
letter from the CEO of Health and Hospitals, Mitchell Katz, to
your agency, to you directly. ``FEMA Region 2 asserts that
Health and Hospital facilities were not expanded in their
entirety and that Health and Hospitals must prove which
portions of our systems were expanded versus unexpanded and
then the contracted surge staff to only expanded areas in order
to be eligible for FEMA funding. As Health and Hospitals has
explained previously in writing, and at multiple working
sessions with FEMA Region 2, this is neither required by FEMA
guidance nor feasible. Moreover, it does not reflect the
operation or clinical realities experienced by Health and
Hospitals during the height of the pandemic. Given the terrible
volume and intensity of the first wave of COVID, all Health and
Hospital facilities were expanded in their entirety to battle
the virus.''
[The information follows:]
Letter From NYC Health + Hospitals
June 11, 2021.
Deanne Criswell,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500 C Street S.W.,
Washington, DC 20024.
Re: NYC COVID-19 Emergency Response (DR-4480-NY): H+H Contracted Surge
Staff Eligibility
Dear Administrator Criswell: On behalf of New York City (NYC)
Health + Hospitals (H+H), I am respectfully submitting information to
support the existing H+H request for FEMA reimbursement of necessary
COVID-19-related expenditures (DR-4480-NY). Specifically, H+H is
seeking reimbursement for the temporary staff needed to battle the
virus in the first and hardest hit part of the Nation, from March to
August 2020. This request is in keeping with FEMA policy as well as
general principles of equity.
This letter will summarize the documentation that H+H has already
provided to FEMA to demonstrate that contracted surge staff
necessitated by COVID-19 is eligible under current policy,\1\ which
states:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ FEMA Policy No. 104-21-0004, Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic:
Medical Care Eligible for Public Assistance, Section C.2.
``FEMA may approve work and costs associated with temporary medical
facilities or expanded medical facilities when necessary in response to
the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. These facilities may be used to
treat COVID-19 patients, non-COVID-19 patients, or both, as
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
necessary.''
H+H provided FEMA with justifications showing that its hospitals
constituted ``expanded medical facilities'' from March to August 2020
due to its system being overwhelmed by COVID-19. Unfortunately, FEMA
Region II asserts that H+H facilities were not expanded in their
entirety and that H+H must prove which portions of our system were
expanded versus unexpanded, and then tie contracted surge staff to only
expanded areas in order to be eligible for FEMA funding. As H+H has
explained previously in writing and at multiple working sessions with
FEMA Region II, this is neither required by FEMA guidance nor feasible.
Moreover, it does not reflect the operational or clinical realities
experienced by H+H during the height of the pandemic. Given the
terrible volume and intensity of the first wave of COVID, all H+H
facilities were expanded in their entirety to battle the virus. As the
President and CEO of H+H and one of the leaders in NYC's response to
COVID-19, I attest to the immutable fact that it is not practically or
operationally possible to identify discrete expanded and unexpanded
facility parts due to the lack of available, rapid testing and the risk
of transmission during the first wave of COVID-19 in NYC.
We request an opportunity to meet and discuss concerns with HQ
Office of Response and Recovery (ORR) leadership on this critical
matter as it relates to disaster-specific policy created to support
COVID-19 emergency work. NYC believes that the applicable policy covers
the surge staffing H+H was forced to contract out for due to our
facilities being overwhelmed by the pandemic.
H+H has incurred approximately $2 billion in expenses on our
response to COVID-19, and we ask that immediate action be taken to
provide critically-needed cashflow to our safety net system. Even as we
work with you to pursue the reimbursement to which we are entitled, we
request that FEMA obligates the $1.19 billion version request that H+H
has submitted and allow a drawdown of $354 million based on the $621
million financial documentation provided. Here is a brief chronology:
October 2020.--H+H submits for preliminary FEMA review $864M of
contract costs for clinical surge staff required to meet the
need at overwhelmed H+H facilities from March to August 2020.
December 15, 2020.--H+H submits a formal amendment to Project
134894 to FEMA for $864M of this temp staffing contract work,
of which $621M was fully reconciled with contracts and
invoices.
January 15 and 29, 2021.--H+H met with FEMA Region II and NYS to
discuss why this work is eligible since all facilities were
expanded and staffing was necessitated by COVID-19.
February 24, 2021.--H+H submits two justifications to FEMA
supporting its surge staff claim:
Justification that H+H facilities were expanded in their
entirety; and
Projected needs analysis to support why expansions were
required due to patient load.
March 11, 2021.--FEMA responds saying that only certain parts of
H+H facilities were expanded, and surge staff are only eligible
if tied to those parts of H+H facilities.
April 6, 2021.--H+H provides another letter to FEMA with additional
justification explaining why H+H facilities were considered by
its clinical leadership to be expanded in their entirety.
April 13, 2021.--Region II tells H+H that it will not accept the
argument that H+H facilities were expanded in their entirety.
April 30, 2021.--Region II meets with H+H to ask additional
questions about how it believes H+H might parse its facilities
into expanded versus unexpanded parts. H+H reiterates that this
is an artificial way to evaluate its facilities March to August
2020.
NYC was the first epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United
States (US), and our H+H facilities soon served as the epicenter of the
epicenter, treating all patients without regard to their ability to
pay. Recall that NYC was the first American city to experience the
rapid and devastating COVID-19 spread, so there was no rulebook or
script to follow: We in NYC and at H+H in particular were setting the
standards for the Nation. Practically, H+H--as NYC's safety net public
health care provider that accepts anyone that seeks treatment--faced an
outbreak of a virus about which there was no existing knowledge, no
existing protocols specific to the implications of the COVID-19, wholly
insufficient testing capacity, no proven treatments or vaccine for the
virus, and limited availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
due to the global supply chain collapse.
In the earliest stages of the pandemic, despite requests from NYC
to the CDC to deploy COVID-19 testing kits to public health
laboratories across the country, all testing capacity existed solely
within CDC headquarters. This required shipping all test samples to
Atlanta for analysis. When CDC test kits arrived at the NYC Public
Health Laboratory on February 8, defective testing reagents rendered
the test kits unusable. Weeks passed without any functional testing
capacity available outside of the CDC. By early March, both the NYC
Public Health Laboratory and the State Department of Public Health
Wadsworth Center received FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for
their own COVID tests. However, National shortages of testing supplies,
including swabs and reagents, continued to significantly limit testing
capacity within the first wave of the pandemic in NYC.
During the period of performance in question, due to the lack of
available rapid testing for patients, the high risk of transmission,
the shortage of PPE, the number of medical personnel falling ill, and
the effort to stem the rapid spread of the virus, H+H facilities worked
on the presumption that virtually every individual entering H+H
hospitals seeking treatment carried and had the potential to spread
COVID-19. This was not just based on theory: A State-wide Executive
Order directed the suspension of non-essential elective surgeries and
non-urgent procedures State-wide, which resulted in nearly all patients
presenting with COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19 symptoms. Indeed, most
patients who sought care for non-COVID complaints were found to have
COVID-19 via X-rays and CT scans of their lungs, or positive test
results if testing was available. Patients who came into the Emergency
Department for all chief complaints including trauma ended up being
positive for COVID. There were even multiple instances of patients who
tested negative for COVID-19 originally and were asymptomatic when they
were admitted for a completely unrelated reason who were then found to
be COVID-19 positive a few days into their admission because they were
incubating COVID-19 upon arrival. In addition, the outbreak was
occurring in the most highly-populated city in the United States with a
population density of 27,000 people per mile, and with a demographic
and socioeconomic make up that made its population particularly
vulnerable to the virus. For all of these reasons and to minimize risk
to our staff and other patients, H+H operated under the assumption that
every patient was a PUI (person under investigation) and took COVID
precautions in treating them.
During the summer months of 2020, as the first wave of the pandemic
began to subside, H+H adjusted the level of temporary staff, as
necessary and consistent with FEMA policy, to align with on-going and
projected needs of expanded operations. However, total patient numbers
in H+H facilities remained high, due to the long length of stay of
high-acuity COVID patients from earlier periods and new COVID
admissions. Therefore, H+H facilities remained as Expanded Medical
Facilities throughout the entire period in question to provide critical
care to both COVID and non-COVID patients when the system remained
strained compared to a pre-COVID level.
To contend with this staggering reality, H+H was required to bring
in thousands of temporary staff members from March 21 through August
31, 2020, the relevant time period for the reimbursement request.
During these horrible months, H+H expanded its system-wide Med/Surg
capacity by 84 percent and ICU bed capacity by 360 percent and staffed
these expanded spaces accordingly, all to keep New Yorkers safe and
alive.
These actions were taken in compliance with FEMA's Coronavirus
(COVID-19) Pandemic: Medical Care Eligible for Public Assistance
(Interim) (Version 2) FEMA Policy No. 104-21-0004 (Medical Care
Policy). According to FEMA' s Medical Care Policy, contracted staff at
Temporary and Expanded Medical Facilities ``may be used to treat COVID-
19 patients, non-COVID-19 patients, or both, as necessary.'' In this
articulation, FEMA policy recognizes that once the aggregate clinical
capacity needs are overwhelmed by COVID-19, applicants must expand
staffing, facilities, equipment and supplies as emergency protective
measures. Such necessary actions are eligible for FEMA Public
Assistance provided the applicant can show projected or actual need,
which H+H did in its February 24, 2021 submission. H+H used operational
discretion to utilize contracted surge staff as necessary to meet needs
created by COVID-19 that evolved daily, weekly and monthly.
H+H expanded capacity by mobilizing additional beds, conversion of
non-medical areas to Med/Surg and ICU's space to treat the rapid influx
of patients; no facility operated in isolated parts during this
expansion. During these initial, overwhelming months, diagnostic and
treatment areas, inpatient wards, registration and reception areas, and
in many cases administrative, pediatrics areas, and ambulatory surgical
units were co-opted for the purposes of patient treatment areas.
Further, H+H had to mobilize tents at the entrances of Emergency
Departments to expand facility capacity for safe patient screening and
triaging upon entry, which demonstrates that hospitals were expanded
both inside and outside the building envelope, as necessary.
Given the extensive nature of the capacity expansion efforts, there
was no way to separate or isolate the expansion from the operation of
the larger facility. Capacity expansion of the acute hospitals was
embedded and integrated physically into the larger operations of the
facilities, often on the same floors and side by side the existing
units. For the months in question, expansions did not occur in
physically distinct areas (e.g. offsite or on separate wings or floors)
and were not managed separately. Every facility converted rooms that
were not originally set up as negative pressure, isolation, or oxygen
capable rooms to ones suitable to safely care for COVID-19 patients
with necessary infection control precautions. These rooms were
disbursed throughout the hospitals. One of the benefits of expanding
within the existing footprint of a facility was to avoid redundancy, to
allow for flexibility in staffing, and for rapid response teams, such
as cardiac arrest or airway teams, to respond wherever needed
throughout the hospital. The distinction being assumed by FEMA between
COVID and non-COVID areas is an artificial one not reflective of the
real world operational and clinical circumstances and needs faced by
H+H hospitals.
For all of these reasons and in accordance with FEMA's own written
policies, the 11 hospitals in the H+H system should be deemed eligible
Expanded Medical Facilities in their entirety during the eligible time
period. I encourage FEMA to re-assess its opinion and authorize
reimbursement.
Sincerely,
Mitchell Katz, M.D.,
President and CEO.
Mr. Torres. Everything the CEO said is entirely true. As
you know, during the wave, during the early wave of the
pandemic, the whole Health and Hospital system became a COVID
emergency center. There was virtually no testing. So, everyone
entering the system was presumed to have COVID-19. It was a
severe shortage of testing, a severe shortage of PPE. There
were medical personnel with minimal PPE falling ill to the
virus, hence the need for surge staffing. In my view if the 11
hospitals in Health and Hospitals, do not qualify as expanded
medical facilities, then no hospitals in America qualify as
expanded medical facilities because no health system was as
overwhelmed as Health and Hospitals.
Ms. Criswell. Thank you for reading me that letter. I have
not seen that letter yet. But I will look into this and see
what the specifics are and we will get back to your staff.
Mr. Torres. Quick questions about Puerto Rico. I have
concerns about Puerto Rico's electric grid, which was ravaged
by Hurricane Maria in recent weeks. Tens of thousands of
residents on the island have been left without power. What is
the status of the $10 billion allocated for Puerto Rico's power
grid?
Ms. Criswell. Again, I don't have the specifics on the
status of that. We have a strong extensive team on the ground
that is working with the Puerto Rican government to help them
as they are going through the recovery process as well as some
of the mitigation efforts that they are undergoing. We will
certainly get back to you with the status of where we are at
with those projects.
Mr. Torres. And are you aware that Luma Energy, a private
firm has taken over the power grid?
Ms. Criswell. Yes.
Mr. Torres. Does FEMA have confidence in Luma?
Ms. Criswell. We are working closely with the resiliency
group out of the government of Puerto Rico. They took over
early in June, they responded to their first event. It seems
like that went well. But we are working closely with them and
the government to ensure that they have the capacity and
capability to support.
Mr. Torres. What oversight mechanisms are in place to
ensure that Luma is held accountable for its spending the
billions that they will receive properly and efficiently? That
will be my final question.
Ms. Criswell. Yeah, again, we have an extensive team that
is on the island supporting this on-going process. I recently
visited Puerto Rico in my first few weeks here on the job to
get a better understanding of where they were at with their
recovery. Our team is working hand-in-hand with them to make
sure that things are moving and progressing, but also being
spent in accordance to the way they are supposed to be.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time has expired. The
Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan for 5 minutes, Mr.
Meijer.
Mr. Meijer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you,
Administrator Criswell, for appearing here today. You know, I
think during the COVID-19 pandemic, we obviously saw first-hand
the importance of emergency preparedness and also having a
well-supplied strategic National stockpile for personal
protective equipment and other supplies that we need to deal
with public health crises. I just want to make sure that we are
learning all the lessons that we can from this pandemic and
that we put those toward preparing for the crises that may come
down the road.
Typically, FEMA can move resources from unaffected areas to
affected areas during disasters. You know, when you have one
region that is impacted, or one State, we can surge supplies
from others. When we have something that impacts us Nationally,
as COVID did, during a pandemic, you know, some of the
significant supply shortages that arose when we had more of
that regional impulse rather than that assumption that we would
be having to act on a National level, you know, along with this
strategic National stockpile at the Federal level, Michigan
maintains its own Michigan strategic National stockpile, which
is managed directly by our Department of Community Health.
I just want to drill down on how FEMA works with State
programs and if there are any important lessons to be learned
from the pandemic or other steps that Congress can take to help
facilitate coordination in the future and a flexible rotating
stockpile approach. So, I guess, Administrator, to put it
directly, how can the Strategic National Stockpile Program and
State strategic stockpile programs work most effectively
together across the range of disaster scenarios?
Ms. Criswell. As you stated, the COVID-19 pandemic was the
first time that our resources have been needed across all 50
States and our Tribes and territories. It really stretched our
ability to move resources from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. I
know that State and local jurisdictions have been building
their own stockpiles for many years. Some of the things that
our role is is helping them understand what their needs are,
where their gaps exist, and help them fill those gaps through
whether it is applying for grant funding that we have or
through other resources.
Our focus is really to work with the State and local
jurisdictions to better understand where their capabilities are
and help them to close those gaps as needed through whatever
Federal resource might be part of that.
Mr. Meijer. You mentioned those Federal resources. Do you
believe that FEMA or that Congress or some play between the two
should be incentivizing States that don't already have their
own stockpiles to create them?
Ms. Criswell. I think that having your own capability, that
is the first stop, right? Where disasters all start and end at
the local level. So, the more capacity that we can build at the
local level, the better they are going to be able to respond
and not need support from the Federal Government. That level of
capacity building is the first step in creating a prepared and
resilient Nation. Whatever we can do to help generate that
level of capacity building I think is a step in the right
direction.
Mr. Meijer. You know, and I know on the household level, I
mean, one of the recommendations that FEMA gives is, you know,
to have sufficient food on hand. I think it is a weeks' worth
of food is usually that recommendation. But that whole approach
of in your pantry, you know, you have the canned goods. You put
the newest one in back and then take from the front so that you
have that depth, right? You know, we are dealing with a lot of
products in our strategic stockpile, whether they are masks or
ventilators or, you know, a range of additional equipment that
has an expiration date. Does FEMA work with the States to
manage that optimal balance where items that may have an
expiration date of 5 years' time, you know, or you have a 5-
year window of supplies that get drawn down and replenished
consecutively, if that makes sense. I mean, do we have that
mechanism in place to be able to best optimize the efficiency
of those stockpiles?
Ms. Criswell. I think where our role comes in with that,
again, is working with our States to help them understand where
their capacity is at and how they can best maintain that
capacity. We provide technical assistance to States that
request it to help them work through those level of details. We
will be able to continue to provide that assistance through our
National Preparedness Division.
Mr. Meijer. Thank you. Just a final quick question, do you
feel in your experience that States without their own
stockpiles are at a disadvantage when it comes to Federal
assistance?
Ms. Criswell. I wouldn't say that they are at a
disadvantage when it comes to Federal assistance. I think that,
again, we are trying to build capacity at the Federal, State,
and local level. If there is--through our process of trying to
understand that capacity through some of our established
practices, the threat hazard risk assessment process, we have
an idea where those gaps may exist. So, we can better prepare
as we are seeing storms or other disasters happen so we know
where those gaps might be so we can be prepared to respond
appropriately.
Mr. Meijer. Thank you, Administrator. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman. I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much. The Chair
recognizes the gentleman from Texas for 5 minutes, Mr. Green.
Mr. Green. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I have
intelligence indicating that a 2020 Rand survey commissioned by
FEMA found serious cultural issues at the agency for people of
color and minorities. The survey assessed gender bias, sexual
harassment, and gender discrimination. This survey found that
29 percent of the employees expressed the views that their
civil rights were being violated. Twenty percent reported
having experienced civil rights violations based on sex.
Eighteen percent reported having experienced civil rights
violations based on race or ethnicity. So, this begs the
question, what is FEMA doing to address these allegations?
So, Madam Administrator, thank you for being with us today.
Sorry, to rush right into this. I have been busy with some
other committee assignments as well and if this has already
broached--this issue has been brought to your attention, I beg
that you would forgive me for asking it twice. But these are
things of concern to me.
Ms. Criswell. It is a very important issue, absolutely. I
am very familiar with the Rand study that the previous
administration commissioned as a result of some of the actions
that we found were happening across the agency. Harassment at
every level, at any level, is not tolerated and I have worked
with my team to better understand where we were at in
addressing the findings within that Rand report. Prior to my
arrival, they had created a Culture Improvement Action Plan to
begin that process. We have recently reviewed that plan, added
some more metrics to measure our approach to addressing that
and have reissued it out to the workforce so they understand
that this is a commitment of mine to make sure that we hear our
employees, understand what their concerns are, and we are
measuring our progress against addressing those concerns.
The Rand study also suggested that we do a follow-on
survey, which we have done and we are right now compiling the
results from that survey. But we are going to continue to
tackle this head-on because this is an incredibly important
issue. Our workforce is our No. 1 priority and that level of
harassment and discrimination is not going to be tolerated.
Mr. Green. I greatly appreciate your answer, but let me
just add one additional commentary. The survey reported that 40
percent were told to drop the gender claims, and 42 percent
were told to drop their racial claims. I know that you are
doing what you can and you are moving into this area as
expeditiously as possible. But that does create some concern
that people are encouraged to drop their claims. Any comments
that you would like to give on the claims that are being
dropped?
Ms. Criswell. No, it is a very concerning claim. I would
say one of the things that we did to address that directly, was
we established an Office of Professional Responsibility. So,
this is something that we did not have in the past and now it
provides a mechanism for employees to reach out and report
misconduct and we have an actual investigative unit that can
address those and research them and identify the validity of
that claim and then take action as appropriate.
Mr. Green. Well, I do thank you very much for looking into
this. I am eager to hear what the results are. If at all
possible, could you please keep me informed as to how we
proceed with it?
Ms. Criswell. Yes, sir.
Mr. Green. I also can sort-of track it, if I may. By the
way, I am going to salute you for a great job that is being
done. So, it is just important that I stay on top of this.
Ms. Criswell. Yes, sir, absolutely.
Mr. Green. I yield back the balance of my time.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman yields back. The Chair
recognizes the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Pfluger, for 5
minutes.
Mr. Pfluger. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you,
Administrator, for your time today. I would like to just ask
you a couple questions to start with and thanks for your
service as a firefighter. I understand that there is a lot of
good lessons learned there as somebody who served in the
military, you know, I think those types of jobs can really
teach us about preparedness. Would you say that COVID-19 is a
concern to FEMA?
Ms. Criswell. I think COVID-19 is a concern across the
country. As we continue to see new variants develop, we want to
make sure that we are staying on top of a situation and putting
measures in place to protect our workforce.
Mr. Pfluger. Yeah, and I appreciate your statement saying
that FEMA continue to take all necessary measures to prioritize
your workforce health and safety within the COVID-19
environment. Also, would you say that FEMA is committed to
taking every step toward mitigating any disaster? I mean, you
kind-of--you kind-of say that as a firefighter you understand
the impact that mitigation has. So, are you committed to taking
every single step you can if you know about disasters that FEMA
is working on? Are you committed to taking every step possible
to mitigating them?
Ms. Criswell. Yeah, I think that we have a responsibility
and a tremendous opportunity right now to increase our approach
to mitigation in reducing impacts from future disasters. So, it
is one of my top priorities is to make sure that we are being
very proactive and deliberate in our efforts in that.
Mr. Pfluger. Well, that is good to know. For months, we
have seen an unparalleled immigration and humanitarian crisis
unfolding at our Southern Border. Each month, U.S. Customs and
Border Protection is encountering a record number of migrants
that are crossing the border illegally. They are completely
overwhelmed. The impact that this crisis has trickled to every
corner of the United States. When you look at the vaccination
rates in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, the infection
rate in Honduras is 3 times per capita that to the United
States, yet, their vaccination rate is 5 percent. Vaccination
rate in Guatemala is less than 1 percent, yet, 2\1/2\ times
infection per capita compared to the United States.
So, Administrator, talk to me about Title 42. You are going
to mitigate to the best of your ability. I assume you are in
favor of continuing Title 42 for our protection of our own
country with regards to COVID-19.
Ms. Criswell. Representative, I can't speak specifically on
Title 42. What I can tell you is that we are taking the steps
and the actions that we need to continue to rollout COVID-19
vaccines to anybody who is eligible as per CDC guidelines. We
will continue to support our Federal agencies in coordinating
as needed.
Mr. Pfluger. Administrator, I understand. You are the
administrator responsible for being a voice for the emergency
and disaster relief and the things that hit our country. So,
wouldn't you be a voice to mitigate something and to say if we
can prevent further infection, you have just told me in this
very short 5 minutes, that you are going to do everything you
can to prevent the spread of future variants of COVID-19. So,
doesn't that include Title 42 expulsions?
Ms. Criswell. Sir, again, I can't speak to the Title 42
aspect of this. FEMA's role is to make sure that we are
supporting the COVID-19 vaccine mission, as well as
coordinating with our Federal partners to help them establish
or to continue their operations.
Mr. Pfluger. OK. So, FEMA basically has no role in being a
voice for mitigating other outside infections and sources of
infection to this country.
Ms. Criswell. FEMA's role is to support the mitigation of
impacts to natural disasters. That is our primary role.
Mr. Pfluger. Well, I would say an impact to natural
disaster that we have is using something like Title 42 to make
sure that we don't continue to have increases in a pandemic
that are impacting our country, impacting our own population.
So, I would expect that with your professional experience as a
firefighter and now in your professional role, that you would
be a voice for that.
Midland, Texas is the heart of my district. In March, with
no--almost no warning from DHS, or zero warning from DHS or
HHS, the administration established an emergency intake site to
house unaccompanied children. Thankfully, this facility was
closed after 3 months this week. In a letter I received from
DHS, it said that it was determined by FEMA and referred to HHS
Office of Refugee Resettlement that the site was basically to
be selected and the criteria was met. Can you please tell me
what that selection criteria was from FEMA's perspective?
Ms. Criswell. So, our role in supporting this operation was
to, No. 1, provide a coordinating mechanism for HHS and CBP and
a second role was to help them in the establishment of these
emergency intake sites. I can't speak specifically onto the
selection criteria. But our role was, again, to support HHS and
CBP as they were standing up those operations.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time from Texas has
expired. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey,
Mr. Malinowski, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Malinowski. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and thank
you, Administrator. I want to actually start by thanking you
and FEMA for the extraordinary efforts that you have made in
New Jersey, which I know are representative of what you did
elsewhere in the country to support our vaccination efforts. We
have one site in Newark, New Jersey, a FEMA-run site where more
than 220,000 people were vaccinated. It is one reason why we
are doing very, very well as a State in beating back this
terrible disease.
For my questions, I want to turn to the climate risks that
you mentioned several times including your testimony. I
appreciate that in your testimony you noted in that context
that FEMA will, as you said, always be ready to respond when a
disaster occurs, but the true success rests in mitigating the
worst impacts of disasters before they occur. So, in that
spirit, I want to ask you--I want to talk about one word, and
that word is resilience. We have in the bipartisan
infrastructure deal $40 billion in this category of resiliency.
Don't get me wrong, I support it. This is money we have to
spend and I support what FEMA does on resiliency.
But I am concerned that sometimes some of my colleagues
treat that resiliency money as if that is our response to
climate. As if that is somehow green. I would note one story
that I am sure you recently saw that the city of Miami asked
the Army Corps recently, what are we going to do about rising
sea levels? How are we going to protect ourselves? The Army
Corps came back and said, well, here is what you do. You build
a 6-mile long, 20-foot-high seawall. It is going to cost you $6
billion. Obviously, no one in Miami was happy to hear that
news. I have seen estimates from organizations like the Center
for Climate Integrity that to protect every community in the
United States just by building a seawall against the climate
change that is already happening would cost around $300 billion
for storm protection. The Army Corps doesn't have that kind of
money--amount to appropriate. So, obviously, with the sea
cities the wealthier protecting themselves. The communities
that are less wealthy probably won't probably do anything.
So, I want to ask just your thoughts on this. I presume
obviously FEMA will do what is necessary to protect our
communities, and we all agree that it would be better if we
made these investments to prevent the catastrophic events of
climate change rather than simply investing in the resiliency.
Ms. Criswell. Yes, sir. We are really at a pivotal time,
right? We are seeing more impacts from disasters, more frequent
disasters, and we have an opportunity to really make a
generational-level difference in the investments that we make
to protect not only our children, but our grandchildren from
the impacts from these future threats. FEMA has a small role in
that. We do have several mitigation grant funds available, but
they don't come to the level of the types of projects that you
are talking about. But what we do have is within the programs
and in particularly the BRIC program, the Building Resilient
Infrastructure and Communities Program, you know, we have
increased the amount of the Federal share so we can start to do
more community-wide and system-wide projects within the
communities. We also as part of that process, really encourage
them to partner with other types of mitigation efforts that are
on-going to reduce the impact. So, I think it is through this
type of a partnership across many different agencies, whether
it is Federal agencies, private sector, and the communities
themselves that we really work together to better understand
what they think their future risks are going to be and we do
some long-term visionary planning for how we can reduce the
impacts from those risks.
Mr. Malinowski. I think it would be helpful just going
forward that the more you can help us estimate the long-term
policies because obviously your budget is not nearly what it
needs to be. Again, just dealing with the level of climate
change we currently are experiencing, Army Corps' budget is not
nearly what it needs to be. I mean, honestly, there is nothing
to prevent the effects of climate change, within 10 or 20
years, like the entire Federal budget will be resiliency. I
just I want to make the point that while I am for doing what is
necessary, resiliency is not climate policy. Resiliency is
resignation. This is why we got to do some of the bold and
ambitious, yes, costly things that President Biden has
proposed, but much cheaper than the alternative. Thank you, and
I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much. The gentleman
yields back. Let me thank the administrator for her testimony
and the Members for their questions. Madam Administrator, you
have been an excellent witness. You are an excellent example of
FEMA and its role here in responding to disasters. Let me
assure you that our committee stands ready and willing to
continue to engage you in whatever endeavor you have. It is
important that as Americans, we do what we do in the interests
of protecting our country. But as important, I want to get your
commitment to reassess how we look at some of those underserved
communities in disaster declarations. It is unfair that one's
worth determines the disaster when we are all Americans. I
think, you know, there has to be some smart people somewhere
who can help us figure this out in a short period of time.
The other thing I would like to get, you are committed to
doing something with Puerto Rico. There is a little island
called Vieques that has been just devastated to no end. We have
been kind-of taking that as a project we want to try to help
the people on that island and you might have seen
correspondence down through the time raising that issue about
how they failed to respond as well as the on-going challenges
that that island has. So, I will be talking to you a little
more about that.
The Members of the committee as I have already indicated,
may have additional questions for you. We ask that you respond
expeditiously in writing to those questions. The Chair reminds
Members of the committee the record will remain open for 10
business days. Without objection, the committee stands
adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:10 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
----------
Questions From Chairman Bennie G. Thompson for Deanne B. Criswell
Question 1. Disasters do not affect everyone the same way--they
exacerbate the struggles of already-vulnerable populations. Adding to
the challenge, the current system for disaster aid sends more money to
high-income areas over low-income, often minority, communities. One of
FEMA's key priorities this year is integrating equity into everything
the agency does. Can you please describe or explain which policies or
procedures FEMA will implement to ensure more equitable outcomes?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 2. Over the years, I have been concerned about the
American Red Cross (ARC) falling short in meeting its mission in mass
care operations. In June, ARC was supposed to provide clean-up kits to
help Mississippians impacted by flooding clean their damaged homes.
Several hundred people in Rosedale, MS gathered to receive these kits,
but ARC only had 25, leaving hundreds of people without the needed
materials. It concerns me that ARC did not have situational awareness
in Rosedale to understand the scope of the need, and it causes me to
question ARC's preparedness to respond to other disasters. Are you
concerned about what happened in Mississippi? Are you confident in the
Red Cross's abilities to meet its meeting the mission of administering
mass care pursuant to Emergency Support Function #6?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 3. The DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently-
issued several troubling reports about FEMA's execution and oversight
of the advance contract that provided short-term hotel lodging for
disaster survivors during the 2017 disaster season. Among the many
deficiencies cited, the OIG found that FEMA did not ensure that the
contractor properly vetted participating hotels to make sure they were
suitable for housing survivors or verify the accuracy of charges. The
OIG estimated that FEMA paid more than $55 million in unverified taxes
for unoccupied rooms. What actions is FEMA taking to address the OIG's
finding related to the execution and oversight of this contract? The
OIG's reports raise serious concerns over how well FEMA is executing
and overseeing its other 88 advanced contracts. Will you commit to
reviewing whether FEMA has encountered similar challenges with its
other contracts?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 4. In October 2019, FEMA stood up the Office of
Professional Responsibility (OPR) to ensure expeditious, fair, and
objective investigations of allegations of misconduct and harassment.
In addition to serving as the agency's central clearinghouse for intake
and processing of these allegations, OPR manages FEMA's Anti-Harassment
Program (AHP). Given its recent establishment, there is a lot of
opportunity for you, as administrator, to shape how OPR's mission is
carried out and how the office promotes better treatment of staff. What
is your plan for OPR and how to do you see that office improving FEMA's
workplace culture?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 5. A 2020 Government Accountability Office report (GAO-20-
360) found that FEMA ``did not provide reliable staffing information to
the field during disasters.'' Also, the GAO found issues with personnel
who were deemed ``qualified'' but did not have the skills to
effectively perform their jobs. This is concerning and during COVID-19
FEMA has modified its staffing and training processes. Where is FEMA
with addressing staff training deficiencies? What challenges has FEMA
faced in properly training their employees and what new practices has
FEMA implemented?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 6. In April, the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report
detailing the Trump administration's efforts to deny and delay aid to
Puerto Rico. This report confirmed what many of us had been saying for
years--President Trump denied aid to U.S. citizens at their time of
greatest need. What is your plan for reviewing the recovery missions
taking place in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to encourage a
full recovery?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 7. Disasters do not affect everyone the same way and they
exacerbate the struggles of already-vulnerable populations. Adding to
the challenge, the current system for disaster aid sends more money to
high-income areas over low-income, often minority, communities. One of
FEMA's key priorities this year is integrating equity into everything
the agency does. Can you please describe or explain which policies or
procedures FEMA will implement to ensure more equitable outcomes?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Questions From Honorable Elaine Luria for Deanne B. Criswell
Question 1. I want to commend FEMA for its efforts in establishing
community vaccination centers across the country, to include the
Military Circle Mall community vaccination center in Norfolk on the
line between my district and Congressman Bobby Scott's district. This
center administered more than 80,000 doses of vaccine, 50 percent of
which helped vaccinate the underserved and the vulnerable communities
of Hampton Roads.\1\ This was critical in helping the Nation surpass
the President's goal of 100 million vaccinations in 100 days. About a
month after FEMA closed the Military Circle Mall community vaccination
center, the cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, and
Chesapeake teamed up and reopened the clinic to continue serving the
community.\2\ As more and more Americans receive vaccine doses, how
will FEMA's COVID-19 responsibilities change? What methodology is FEMA
using to determine whether to continue or draw-down community
vaccination centers?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ FEMA Press Release May 20, 2021--https://www.fema.gov/press-
release/20210521/fema-end-its-role-military-circle-mall-community-
vaccination-center-norfolk.
\2\ News article on clinic reopening--https://www.13newsnow.com/
article/news/health/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine-clinic-at-military-
circle-mall-is-now-open-and-accepting-walk-ins/291-217b9946-bc38-4285-
8658-8490c04d2b05.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 2. Flooding is a serious issue in my district. In fact,
the First National Flood Risk Assessment, in 2020, found that 344,000
Virginia properties are at risk for flooding, and expect it to increase
to nearly 390,000 by 2050. Approximately 20 percent of property in
Virginia Beach and 27 percent in Norfolk are at risk for flooding over
the next 30 years.\3\ That is why I will be introducing legislation
soon that would help FEMA establish a database of flood history
information for properties that buyers under contract can access. And
while I am pleased to see an increase in the fiscal year 2022 budget
request for the Disaster Relief Fund, as a representative from a
district that is highly susceptible to flooding, how will FEMA help
coastal communities like mine deal with the issues of continued sea-
level rise, sunny-day flooding, and persistent high-water levels? What
kind of creative thinking is coming out of the mitigation side of FEMA
to address these issues?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ News article with link to study--https://www.wtkr.com/news/
virginia-beach-ranks-top-for-cities-at-serious-risk-of-flooding-in-
virginia. Another place to look for stats is here: https://
riskfinder.climatecentral.org/place/
virginiabeach.va.us?comparisonType=place&forecast-
Name=Basic&forecastType=NOAA2017_int_p50&impact=Housing&impactGroup=Buil
dings-
&level=5&unit=ft&zillowPlaceType=place&zillowVarType=Count&zillowYear=21
00.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 3a. How much money does FEMA estimate the National Public
Infrastructure Pre-Disaster Mitigation Fund (funds Building Resilient
Infrastructure and Communities)\4\ will receive as a result of the
COVID disaster declaration?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) will
support States, local communities, Tribes, and territories as they
undertake hazard mitigation projects, reducing the risks they face from
disasters and natural hazards. BRIC is a new FEMA pre-disaster hazard
mitigation program that replaces the existing Pre-Disaster Mitigation
(PDM) program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is FEMA planning to do with it?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 3b. Will it allocate those funds in 1 year or spread them
out over a number of years?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 3c. If not 1 year, will those funds remain set aside for
pre-disaster mitigation or used for other disaster-related expenses?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 3d. How will FEMA allow/account for variability in this
funding following small and large disaster years?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 4. FEMA personnel have been working under an exceptionally
high operational tempo, whether responding to the many natural
disasters we continue to experience or providing critical assistance in
addressing the COVID pandemic. What steps are you taking to retain and
replenish your workforce?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 5. The President's budget seeks a $15.3 million reduction
in funding for the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP)\5\ and
a $15.3 million reduction for the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI)
Grant Program.\6\ These grant programs play a critical role in helping
to keep citizens and districts like mine safe and secure from terrorist
threats. Could you discuss the rationale of the reduction in grant
funding?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ The State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) provides funds to
support the implementation of State homeland security strategies to
address identified planning, organization, equipment, training, and
exercise needs to prevent, protect against, prepare for, and respond to
acts of terrorism and other catastrophic events. In fiscal year 2021,
Virginia was allocated $8.4 million in SHSP funds.
\6\ The Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) program provides
funds to address the unique planning, organization, equipment,
training, and exercise needs of high-risk urban areas, and assists them
in building an enhanced and sustainable capacity to prevent, protect
against, prepare for and respond to acts of terrorism. In fiscal year
2021, Hampton Roads was allocated $3.8 million in UASI funds.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 6. FEMA has made several failed attempts to upgrade its
numerous legacy grant management systems into a consolidated,
modernized system. The most recent attempt started in 2016 and ran into
trouble within 2 years. Initial deployment was delayed by 6 months, but
finally achieved in March 2020. However, I understand that full
deployment has been delayed by 3 years--to fiscal year 2023--and the
system is now expected to cost more than double its original estimate.
Additionally, FEMA has yet to address two GAO recommendations related
to planning and executing tests to assess the new system's security
controls. This system is needed now more than ever since the CARES Act
created hundreds of millions of dollars of additional grant
authorizations for FEMA to manage in addition to the several billion it
disburses each year. What actions is FEMA taking to ensure the new
grant management system will be effective and secure? What can Congress
do to help expedite the deployment of this system?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
A P P E N D I X I I
----------
Letter From Everbridge
July 8, 2021.
The Honorable Bennie Thompson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. House of
Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.
Dear Chairman Thompson: Thank you for convening this important
hearing Examining FEMA's Readiness to Meet its Mission on June 29,
2021. As you are aware, the National Warning System (NAWAS) funded and
operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is a
communications system originally designed and implemented in the 1950's
as a means of notifying and preparing our nation's local emergency
managers for a nuclear attack. Fortunately, the system was never used
for its intended purpose, but has proven invaluable to our nation's
local emergency managers responding to and coping with natural
disasters.
The NAWAS supports the nonmilitary actions taken by Federal
agencies, by the private sector, and by individual citizens to meet
essential human needs; to support the military effort; to ensure
continuity of Federal authority at national and regional levels; and to
ensure survival as a free and independent nation under all emergency
conditions, including a national emergency caused by threatened or
actual attack on the United States.
The NAWAS has major terminals at each State's Emergency Operations
Center (EOC) and Emergency Management Facility. Today, the system
consists of what is effectively a 2,200+ hardwired network telephone
information lines. Obviously, the NAWAS is more than just a normal
telephone system. The phone instruments are designed to provide
protection for lightning strikes so they may be used during storms. The
interconnecting lines are provided some protection and avoid local
telephone switches. This ensures they are available even when the local
telephone system is down or overloaded.
Both the National Warning Center (NWC) and the Alternate National
Warning Center (ANWC) at Olney, MD are staffed 24 hours per day and
serve as the primary control for the NAWAS.
The NAWAS is used by local officials thousands of times a year for
emergency management coordination and response. One typical scenario is
the use of the NAWAS during tornadoes. As storms are sighted, emergency
managers in one town or county can communicate with their colleagues in
other counties who are in the path of the storm, advising them as to
direction, speed, and intensity. The drawback to this system is it
relies on human intervention. If there is no one there to receive the
communications, the warning is not received and cannot be further
disseminated to others. This has resulted in missed tornado warnings.
Today modernization and automation are planned in most
telecommunications systems, however, to date, the NAWAS has not been
included in any modernization plan. As new EOCs, dispatch centers, and
public safety building are being built across the country, they are
being hardened for availability and resiliency against significant
threats, both natural and man-made. Unfortunately, the main
communication hub, connecting the 2,200+ NAWAS end points has not seen
any major efforts to strengthen or build availability and resiliency to
the most basic response needed, communications. As our country has
progressed significantly since the 1950's, we have endured natural
disasters, man-made disasters and most recently a global pandemic that
has forced the United States to rethink not only how we work, but where
we work from. With the greater adoption of work from home, we've had to
update and change our continuity of operations plans to adapt to a more
mobile workforce.
By modernizing the NAWAS, we can automate the detection and
notifications of severe threats against the country, while ensuring the
ability to effectively and securely communicate with a more mobile,
device-independent workforce of emergency responders, 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, 365 days a year using multiple modalities. We encourage
Members to support funding to allow FEMA to proceed with this critical
infrastructure resiliency project of modernizing NAWAS.
[all]