[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE: A REVIEW OF THE
FISCAL YEAR 2023 BUDGET REQUEST FOR
THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS,
RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
JUNE 14, 2022
__________
Serial No. 117-60
__________
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
48-678 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Iowa
Yvette D. Clarke, New York Diana Harshbarger, Tennessee
Eric Swalwell, California Andrew S. Clyde, Georgia
Dina Titus, Nevada Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida
Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey Jake LaTurner, Kansas
Kathleen M. Rice, New York Peter Meijer, Michigan
Val Butler Demings, Florida Kat Cammack, Florida
Nanette Diaz Barragan, California August Pfluger, Texas
Josh Gottheimer, New Jersey Andrew R. Garbarino, New York
Elaine G. Luria, Virginia Vacancy
Tom Malinowski, New Jersey
Ritchie Torres, New York
Hope Goins, Staff Director
Daniel Kroese, Minority Staff Director
Natalie Nixon, Clerk
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY
Val Butler Demings, Florida, Chairwoman
Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Kat Cammack, Florida, Ranking
Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey Member
Al Green, Texas Clay Higgins, Louisiana
Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Iowa
Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi (ex Andrew R. Garbarino, New York
officio) John Katko, New York (ex officio)
Lauren McClain, Subcommittee Staff Director
Diana Bergwin, Minority Subcommittee Staff Director
Aaron Greene, Subcommittee Clerk
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Statements
The Honorable Val Butler Demings, a Representative in Congress
From the State of Florida, and Chairwoman, Subcommittee on
Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery:
Oral Statement................................................. 1
Prepared Statement............................................. 3
The Honorable Kat Cammack, a Representative in Congress From the
State of Florida, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Emergency
Preparedness, Response, and Recovery:
Oral Statement................................................. 4
Prepared Statement............................................. 6
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress
From the State of Mississippi, and Chairman, Committee on
Homeland Security:
Prepared Statement............................................. 7
Witness
Ms. Deanne Criswell, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management
Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 8
Prepared Statement............................................. 10
Appendix
Questions From Chairman Bennie G. Thompson for Deanne Criswell... 31
Question From Chairwoman Val Demings for Deanne Criswell......... 31
Question From Honorable Andrew Garbarino for Deanne Criswell..... 31
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE: A REVIEW OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2023 BUDGET
REQUEST FOR THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY
----------
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Homeland Security,
Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness,
Response, and Recovery,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:15 a.m., in
room 310, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Val Butler Demings
[Chairwoman of the subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Demings, Jackson Lee, Payne,
Green, Cammack, Higgins, Watson Coleman, Torres, and Garbarino.
Chairwoman Demings. The Subcommittee on Emergency
Preparedness, Response, and Recovery will be in order. Without
objection, the Chair is authorized to declare the subcommittee
in recess at any point.
I would like to say good morning to everyone. I would like
to start this hearing by thanking you, Administrator Criswell,
and the FEMA work force for all that you do to fulfill your
mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters.
We are here to discuss FEMA's budget request for fiscal year
2023, management of recent disasters, and preparedness for
future ones.
The threat of climate change continues to grow due to
increasing temperatures. It appears record-breaking weather is
our new reality. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration has predicted another above-average hurricane
season. In 2021, there were 58 major disaster declarations.
This year we have already had 20 major disaster declarations.
In 2017, Hurricane Irma caused 84 deaths in my home State
of Florida, and nearly $50 billion in damages for the United
States. In 2020, Hurricane Sally severely impacted Florida and
resulted in $7.3 billion in damages across the Florida
Panhandle and Alabama. In 2022 alone, the Florida Forest
Service has reported that 37 wildfires have destroyed over
22,000 acres in the State. This year, FEMA's preparedness
efforts could very well be impacted by supply chain shortages.
In Florida, we have real concerns about the critical labor
and supply chain shortages that are impacting Florida's
electric cooperatives and municipalities. These issues
highlight the importance of preparedness for disasters at all
levels and certainly creates additional challenges for FMEA's
work force.
This subcommittee, without a doubt, recognizes the
overwhelming responsibilities placed on FEMA and have held two
hearings this year on FEMA's work force. FEMA's work force has
experienced several challenges related to recruitment,
retention, and training, for example. I understand the FEMA is
working to address these challenges and I look forward to
hearing more today about how the agency is working to help this
incredible work force thrive.
Investing in FMEA's work force ensures that they will
continue to be prepared to tackle crises as they emerge. The
agency's fiscal year 2023 budget request contains several
initiatives to help support and strengthen FEMA's work force,
including $6.4 million for the Incident Management work force.
FEMA administers preparedness grants to States and locals,
such as the Urban Areas Security Initiative, UASI, and the
State Homeland Security Program. These funds assist States and
local jurisdictions with building and maintaining Homeland
Security capabilities to prepare for and respond to threats. As
a former law enforcement executive, I have seen the benefits of
UASI in Orlando and other jurisdictions. When I was a police
chief, I relied on the UASI program to help keep my community
safe.
Last year, I introduced H.R. 5615, the Homeland Security's
Capabilities Preservation Act, which recognizes the importance
of preserving security capabilities achieved with UASI funding
for communities. I am pleased the legislation passed the House
in March. I am confident that this subcommittee will continue
to do our part and push for this legislation to become law.
As an advocate for the UASI program, I am concerned about
the agency's budget request for fiscal year 2023, which
proposes cuts to the Urban Area Security Initiative and the
State Homeland Security Program. I look forward to our
conversation today about these vital programs.
I am pleased, though, to see that the proposed budget
request includes $360 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant
Program, which is $110 million above fiscal year 2022 funding.
The proposed funding increase is especially important in recent
years because we have seen a spate of threats against
nonprofits, specifically houses of worship and including 36
bomb threats to Historically Black Colleges and Universities
alone.
This year, we have seen the value of the Nonprofit Security
Grant Program. For example, Rabbi Cytron-Walker recalled
training funded by the program helped him and congregants
escape an armed individual, who was holding them hostage at a
Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas.
Furthermore, I am a proud sponsor of Chairman Thompson's
legislation, H.R. 7668, the Federal Emergency Management
Advancement of Equity Act, which is a tremendous step in making
certain that disaster response more adequately meets the needs
in the most vulnerable areas throughout our Nation.
I look forward to hearing from you, Administrator Criswell,
about how the proposed budget helps bolster FEMA's readiness to
tackle the ever-growing threats and how Congress can continue
to assist in supporting your mission.
[The statement of Chairwoman Demings follows:]
Statement of Chairwoman Val Demings
June 14, 2022
I would like to start the hearing by thanking you, Administrator
Criswell, and the FEMA workforce for all that you do to fulfill your
mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters. In
recent years, FEMA has faced several challenges, which will only
continue to grow due to climate change.
As the threat of climate change continues to grow due to increasing
temperatures, record-breaking weather is our new reality. The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted another above-
average hurricane season. In 2021 there were 58 major disaster
declarations. This year we have already had 20 major disaster
declarations.
In Florida, we have experienced multiple extreme weather events
over the years. In 2017, Hurricane Irma caused 84 deaths in my home
State of Florida, and nearly $50 billion in damages for the United
States. In 2020, Hurricane Sally, severely impacted Florida and
resulted in $7.3 billion in damages across the Florida Panhandle and
Alabama. In 2022 alone, the Florida Forest Service has reported that 37
wildfires have destroyed over 22,000 acres in the State. This year,
FEMA's preparedness efforts must contend with supply chain problems. In
Florida, we have real concerns about the critical labor and supply
chain shortages that are impacting affecting Florida's electric
cooperatives and municipalities. These issues highlight the importance
of preparedness for disasters at all levels. Disasters impact
communities on all fronts, but it also impacts our FEMA workforce.
However, disaster after disaster, FEMA has continuously risen to
the challenge, but a changing threat landscape will only further add to
FEMA's already burdened workload. I recognize the overwhelming
responsibilities placed on FEMA and have held two hearings this year on
FEMA's workforce. FEMA's workforce has experienced several challenges
related to recruitment, retention, training, and harassment. I
understand that FEMA is working to address these challenges and I look
forward to hearing more today about how the agency is working to help
this incredible workforce thrive. Investing in FEMA's workforce ensures
that they will continue to be prepared to tackle crises as they emerge.
The agency's fiscal year 2023 budget request contains several
initiatives to help support and strengthen FEMA's workforce, including
$6.4 million for the Incident Management workforce.
FEMA administers preparedness grants to States and locals, such as
the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) and the State Homeland
Security Program. These funds assist State and local jurisdictions with
building and maintaining homeland security capabilities to prepare for
and respond to threats. During my 27-year career in law enforcement and
now as a Member of Congress, I have seen the benefits of UASI
particularly in Orlando. When I was a chief of police, I relied on the
UASI program to help keep my community safe.
Last year, I introduced, H.R. 5615, the Homeland Security
Capabilities Preservation Act, which recognizes the importance of
preserving security capabilities achieved with UASI funding for
communities. I am pleased that the legislation passed the House in
March. I will continue to do my part and push for this legislation
until it becomes law. As an advocate for the UASI program, I am
concerned about the agency's budget request for fiscal year 2023, which
proposes cuts to the Urban Area Security Initiative and the State
Homeland Security Program. I look forward to our conversation today
about these vital programs.
I am grateful to see that FEMA's proposed budget, requests $360
million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which is $110 million
above the fiscal year 2022 enacted funding. The proposed funding
increase is especially important because in recent years, we have seen
a spate of threats against nonprofits, specifically houses of worship
and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. This year, we have
seen the value of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. For example,
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker recalled training funded by the program to
help himself and congregants escape an armed individual, who was
holding them hostage, at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in
Colleyville, Texas.
Additionally, in 2022 alone, there have been at least 36 bomb
threats to HBCUs. These threats demand a response, and I will continue
to advocate for resources, such as the Nonprofit Security Grant
Program, to keep houses of worship and our students safe. As we respond
to the challenges at hand, we must also recognize that disasters, and
disaster recovery, do not impact individuals the same way; some
communities are more vulnerable than others. I commend Administrator
Criswell and the Biden administration for taking steps to protect those
who are most vulnerable by integrating equity into initiatives such as
the 2022-2026 FEMA Strategic Plan, which instills equity as a
foundation for emergency management as its primary goal.
Furthermore, I am a proud cosponsor of Chairman Bennie Thompson's
legislation, H.R. 7668, the Federal Emergency Management Advancement of
Equity Act, which is a tremendous step in making disaster response
efforts fairer and more effective. I look forward to hearing from
Administrator Criswell about how the proposed budget helps bolster FEMA
and its ability to tackle the ever-growing threats and what Congress
can do to assist.
Chairwoman Demings. The Chair now recognizes the Ranking
Member of the Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery
Subcommittee, the gentlewoman of Florida, Mrs. Cammack, for her
opening statement.
Mrs. Cammack. Well, thank you, Chairwoman Demings, for
holding this important hearing today. Thank you to
Administrator Criswell for being here before us.
As Floridians, of course, I think there is far more that we
agree on when it comes to this issue than most others. So, I am
excited for today's hearing.
As we all know, FEMA's mission is to help people before,
during, and after disasters. I put an emphasis on before
because I think collectively when we place an emphasis on
mitigation, we are better for it in the aftermath.
With the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season entering its second
week this mission cannot be understated--overstated. As
representatives from Florida, I know that the Chairwoman and I
both agree that our State certainly has seen its fair share of
natural disasters. During my time as the Ranking Member of this
subcommittee I have gained a deeper appreciation for the vital
work that FEMA does and for the men and women that comprise
FEMA's work force. I have also seen first-hand the incredible
amount of work that we have ahead of us, but I feel confident
that we will succeed.
For example, the suite of preparedness grants administered
by FEMA provides critical support so that State, local, Tribal,
and territorial governments have the resources necessary to
keep our communities safe. Following the horrific attack
against the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville,
Texas, I was pleased to see the increase to the Nonprofit
Security Grant Program to $360 million for fiscal year 2023.
Similarly, I was very pleased to see an increase of $10
million in the fiscal year 2023 request from the fiscal year
2022 enacted levels for both the Assistance to Firefighters
Grant Program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire Emergency
Response, the SAFER Grant Programs. As the wife of a proud--as
the proud wife of a firefighter I know how important and
necessary these grants are, not only for our professional and
career departments, but for our nearly 30,000 volunteer fire
departments across the United States. Sometimes I feel like
they are a little bit of our--the redheaded stepchild and they
don't get near enough attention. So, today I am going to be
talking about their needs as well and how FEMA can better serve
our volunteer departments.
The fiscal year 2023 budget request also includes $312
million for education, training, and exercises, including $8
million for FEMA's Emergency Management Institute to expand
satellite partnerships, develop leadership programs, and
modernize virtual technology systems, among other items. It is
important that through EMI and FEMA's other educational
facilities that we ensure resources and training remain
accessible to communities across the country, including our
rural communities.
I look forward to hearing more from the administrator on
EMI's requests and additional initiatives that seek to improve
the invaluable training for our Nation's emergency responders.
Additionally, while not explicitly laid out in the budget,
I am encouraged to learn of FEMA's recently-released building
code strategy which seeks to organize and prioritize FEMA's
activities to advance the adoption and enforcement of hazard-
resistant building codes and standards for FEMA programs. As we
learned from the University of Florida professor Dr. David
Prevatt--Go Gators--who submitted written testimony for our
last subcommittee hearing, our better building construction can
narrow the width of the most catastrophic destruction, so that
homes, while possibly experiencing damage, can remain habitable
immediately following a disaster. Not only does better building
construction immensely benefit the disaster survivor, but there
is potential for significant saving costs--cost savings.
While much of FEMA's fiscal year 2023 budget seems fairly
straightforward, I still have major concerns regarding FEMA's
emergency food and shelter program. The 2023 request includes
$24 million to provide shelter and other services to families
and individuals encountered by the Department of Homeland
Security. Now, although $24 million is less than $150 million
enacted for fiscal year 2022, it is not an insignificant
number. At a time when Americans are having to make the choice
between gas or groceries and those on fixed incomes are seeing
their rents skyrocket, I have to ask why so much of American
tax dollars are going to house illegal immigrants.
I would also like at this time to mention my concerns with
FEMA's Funeral Assistance Program.
During a full committee hearing last year I asked you,
Administrator Criswell, if there were enough safeguards in
place to ensure that fraud throughout the program would not be
rampant. During that hearing you assured me that FEMA was
taking the necessary precautions. However, both the DHS Office
of Inspector General and the GAO recently released reports
detailing instances of fraud within the program. That, of
course, has led to abuse and waste of taxpayer dollars. Given
that this program has paid out over $2.5 billion with a B, I
look forward to hearing more on the program today and the steps
that you and FEMA are taking to ensure that these issues are
corrected.
Again, I want to thank you, Administrator Criswell, for
appearing before us today. I am eager to learn of FEMA's
priorities for the coming year and how this budget request
supports our goals. I know that we have sparred a bit over
these last 16 months over various issues, but I want to assure
you and my colleagues and Americans that we are here and we
have to ask the tough questions and conduct the actual
oversight if we are going to be effective in FEMA's mission.
As always, thank you to our FEMA work force, our first
responders, our emergency managers, and community partners at
every level of government. Your ability to adapt to ever-
changing threats and vulnerabilities ensures that our Nation's
continued ability to prevent, prepare, and mitigate, respond
to, and recover from the threats and hazards we face daily.
With that, Madam Chairwoman, I yield back.
[The statement of Ranking Member Cammack follows:]
Statement of the Honorable Kat Cammack
June 14, 2022
Thank you, Chairwoman Demings, for holding this important hearing,
and thank you to Administrator Criswell for appearing before us today.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) mission is to help
people before, during, and after disasters. With the 2022 Atlantic
Hurricane Season entering its second week, this mission cannot be
understated. As Representatives from Florida, I know that the
Chairwoman and I can both agree that our State has certainly seen its
fair share of natural disasters.
During my time as the Ranking Member of this subcommittee, I've
gained a deeper appreciation for the vital work that FEMA does, and for
the men and women that comprise FEMA's workforce.
For example, the suite of preparedness grants administered by FEMA
provides critical support so that State, local, Tribal, and territorial
governments have the resources necessary to keep our communities safe.
Following the horrific attack against the Congregation Beth Israel
Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, I was pleased to see the increase to
the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $360 million in the fiscal year
2023 budget request. Similarly, I was very pleased to see an increase
of $10 million in the fiscal year 2023 request from the fiscal year
2022 enacted levels for both the Assistance to Firefighters grant
program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response
(SAFER) grant program. As the proud wife of a firefighter, I know how
important and necessary these grants are.
The fiscal year 2023 budget request also includes $312.1 million
for Education, Training, and Exercises, including $8 million for FEMA's
Emergency Management Institute (EMI), to expand satellite partnerships,
develop leadership programs, and modernize virtual technology systems,
among other items. It is important that through EMI and FEMA's other
educational facilities, that we ensure resources and training remain
accessible to communities across the country, including rural
communities. I look forward to hearing more from the administrator on
EMI's request and additional initiatives that seek to improve the
invaluable training for our Nation's emergency responders.
Additionally, while not explicitly laid out in the budget, I was
pleased to learn of FEMA's recently released Building Codes Strategy,
which seeks to organize and prioritize FEMA activities to advance the
adoption and enforcement of hazard-resistant building codes and
standards for FEMA programs. As we learned from University of Florida
professor, Dr. David Prevatt, who submitted written testimony for our
last subcommittee hearing, better building construction can narrow the
width of the most catastrophic destruction, so that homes, while
possibly experiencing damage, remain habitable immediately after a
disaster. Not only does better building construction immensely benefit
the disaster survivor, there is also the potential for significant cost
savings.
While much of FEMA's fiscal year 2023 budget request seems fairly
straightforward, I still have concerns regarding FEMA's Emergency Food
and Shelter Program. The fiscal year 2023 request includes $24 million
to provide shelter and other services to families and individuals
encountered by the Department of Homeland Security. Although $24
million is less than the $150 million enacted for fiscal year 2022, it
is not an insignificant number.
I would also like to take this time to mention my concerns with
FEMA's Funeral Assistance Program. During a full committee hearing last
year, I asked you, Administrator Criswell, if there were enough
safeguards in place to ensure that fraud throughout the program was not
rampant. During that hearing, you assured me that FEMA was taking the
necessary precautions. However, both the DHS Office of Inspector
General (OIG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently
released reports detailing instances of fraud within the program, that
of course, has led to abuse and waste of taxpayer dollars. Given the
fact that this program has paid out over $2.5 billion, I look forward
to hearing more on this program today, and the steps that FEMA is
taking to ensure that these issues are corrected.
Thank you again to the administrator for appearing before us today,
I am eager to learn of FEMA's priorities for the coming year and how
the fiscal year 2023 budget request supports those goals.
As always, thank you to our FEMA workforce, first responders,
emergency managers, and community partners at every level of
government. Your ability to adapt to ever-changing threats and
vulnerabilities ensures our Nation's continued ability to prevent,
prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the threats and
hazards we face daily.
With that, I yield back.
Chairwoman Demings. I want to thank the Ranking Member for
her opening statement. You know, as I think about the safety
and security of the people that we represent, I don't believe
there are any tough questions that we are not prepared for or
laser-focused on providing the necessary services. So, thank
you for your opening statement.
Members are reminded that the committee will operate
according to the guidelines laid out by the Chairman and
Ranking Member in their February 3, 2021, colloquy regarding
remote procedures. Without objection, Members not on the
subcommittee shall be permitted to sit and question the
witnesses. Members may also submit statements for the record.
[The statement of Chairman Thompson follows:]
Statement of Chairman Bennie G. Thompson
June 14, 2022
Hurricane Season began on June 1, and we have already seen one
named storm, Alex, in the Atlantic.
This is just the beginning of what is predicted to be another
above-average hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) predicted up to 21 named Atlantic storms.
Severe weather is on the rise. We saw more category 4 and 5
hurricanes from 2017 to 2021--5 years--than in the past 50 years. The
threat of climate change is real and present.
In Mississippi, we have seen increasingly dangerous heat waves, and
scientists project increased drought in the future. In addition to
extreme heat, last June my district experienced devastating, 100-year
flooding. There is a lot we can do to mitigate the suffering caused by
these natural disasters, but it depends in significant part on having a
ready and able FEMA. Unfortunately, severe weather is not the only
challenge facing the agency.
FEMA continues to work on the COVID-19 response and has been called
on to provide Southwest Border Coordination Support. FEMA also plays an
important role in advancing public safety, which is imperative given
that our Nation has already suffered over 230 mass violence events this
year. Through its Homeland Security Grant Programs, FEMA administers
critical funding to help protect our communities from violence and
terrorism. Specifically, the administration's budget proposes $360
million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, a $110 million
increase. This critical program helps nonprofits protect against
terrorist threats.
My legislation, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program Improvement
Act of 2022 (H.R. 6825), authorizes the program at $500 million
annually through fiscal year 2028. The House passed the bill in May,
and I encourage my colleagues in the Senate to do the same.
Last, I look forward to discussing my bill, the FEMA Equity Act,
with the administrator. This legislation would integrate equity
throughout FEMA policies and programming. The bill was drafted after
the State of Mississippi failed to do its part to address devastation
caused by the June floods.
Too often those most in need are left behind when disaster strikes.
My bill aims to change that so every American, regardless of where they
live, how much money they have, or the color of their skin, gets the
assistance they need after a disaster strikes. I would also like to
thank Senator Warren and Chairwoman Demings for their partnership in
introducing this bill with me.
At today's hearing, I hope to hear a robust conversation on what it
looks like to integrate equity into FEMA's policies. On that note, I
would like to thank Administrator Criswell for coming before the
committee today. I commend you on the work FEMA is doing to advance
equity throughout its programming and prepare for future disasters. I
look forward to hearing from the administrator about the fiscal year
2023 budget and how Congress can support FEMA in meeting the challenges
ahead.
Chairwoman Demings. I welcome our witness, Deanne Criswell,
the administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Ms. Criswell is the 12th administrator of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency and is the first Senate-confirmed woman to
lead the agency. Prior to her appointment Administrator
Criswell was the commissioner for the New York Emergency
Management Department, where she coordinated emergency planning
and response for all emergencies, including COVID-19.
Previously, Administrator Criswell worked for FEMA as a
Federal coordinating officer, where she was the primary Federal
representative responsible for leading the agency's response
during declared disasters.
Without objection, the witness' full statement will be
inserted in the record.
I now ask Administrator Criswell to summarize her statement
for 5 minutes. Good morning.
STATEMENT OF DEANNE CRISWELL, ADMINISTRATOR, FEDERAL EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT AGENCY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Ms. Criswell. Good morning, Chairwoman Demings, Ranking
Member Cammack, and Members of the subcommittee. Thank you very
much for inviting me here today to talk about our fiscal year
2023 budget request.
As you have mentioned in your statements, the field of
emergency management is at a pivotal moment in its history.
While our mission itself has not changed, our operating
environment has. Ten years ago, we managed an average of 108
disasters a year. Today, as of June 10, we are managing 348.
This includes the on-going response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The changing climate is the biggest crisis facing our
Nation and makes natural disasters more frequent and more
destructive. At the same time, structural inequities in our
society are compounding the impacts of disasters for
underserved communities. Our budget request for FEMA ensures
that the agency can meet these challenges and continue to help
people before, during, and after disasters.
FEMA aligned its budget request to support the three goals
in our strategic plan. First, as an agency, we must instill
equity as a foundation of emergency management. We must
recognize that disasters affect individuals and communities
differently. Our strategic plan focuses our entire agency on
putting people first and reducing barriers to our programs.
We have already made important changes on how we provide
assistance. For instance, some homeowners had difficulty
proving that they own their homes and if their property had
been handed down through the generations. We expanded the types
of documentation that we can accept, including receipts for
major repairs or improvements, court documents, public
officials' letters, and even applicant self-certification for
mobile homes and travel trailers as a last resort.
In addition, we changed the way that we calculate the
threshold for property losses to qualify for a direct housing
program. This resulted in more than 2,700 families receiving
assistance who would not have been considered for direct
housing in the past. That means over 2,700 families with a roof
over their head, a bed to sleep in, and a stove to cook with.
We also know the more our work force resembles the Nation
we serve, the better that we will serve it. We are adapting our
recruiting efforts to reach individuals from underrepresented
communities by partnering with organizations like Historically
Black Colleges and Universities and other minority-serving
institutions.
Second, we must lead the whole community in climate
resilience. FEMA is not just a response-and-recovery agency.
One of my highest priorities is hazard mitigation. Congress'
investment in hazard mitigation has been strong. We have seen
it most recently through the appropriation of $6.8 billion in
mitigation funds to FEMA in the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act in 2021, including funding to establish revolving loan
funds under the STORM Act. The budget request includes $3.4
billion for further investments, including the Building
Resilient Infrastructure in Communities Program, our Hazard
Mitigation Grant Program, flood maps, and the Federal Flood
Risk Management Standard. We think innovatively and shift our
projects to those with community-wide impact. We must eliminate
the barriers underserved communities face in seeking hazard
mitigation assistance.
Third, we must promote and sustain a ready FEMA and a
prepared Nation. The increased frequency, severity, and
complexity of disasters has heightened demands on FEMA's work
force and on the broader emergency management community. FEMA's
request includes $19.7 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund to
address current and future disasters.
To reach this number, FEMA worked shoulder-to-shoulder with
disaster-impacted States and localities to understand their
recovery needs from on-going catastrophic disasters, in
addition to evaluating the historical cost average for non-
catastrophic disasters, the allocation of funds for BRIC, and a
reserve to ensure FEMA maintains the ability to fund initial
response operations for new significant events.
While natural disasters are at the forefront of our
discussions today, we cannot overlook our threats facing our
Nation, which FEMA has also charged--has been charged with
helping to mitigate. Like natural disasters, terrorist attacks
can occur at any time, anywhere. We saw this earlier this year
during a hostage standoff at the Congregation Beth Israel
Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. I visited the synagogue and
spoke to the rabbi following the attack, and he related to me,
as you mentioned, Chairwoman, of the importance of the
Nonprofit Security Grant Program and how it helped to save
lives. We are requesting $360 million for this program to
continue this effort.
The unrelenting pace of a year-round disaster cycle and
crises places great demands on our FEMA work force. We must
look out for the physical, the emotional, and the mental health
of our work force. Their adaptability, their dedication, and
willingness to do the hard work is extraordinary. I believe
that the President's budget request will enable them to
continue to do their incredible work.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and I look
forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Criswell follows:]
Prepared Statement of Deanne Criswell
June 14, 2022
Chair Demings, Ranking Member Cammack, and Members of the
subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today
to discuss the 2022-2026 FEMA Strategic Plan and the President's fiscal
year 2023 budget request.
The field of emergency management is at a pivotal moment in its
history. There are tremendous changes to the risk landscape facing this
Nation and to our professional roles. While our mission has not
changed, our operating environment has. Ten years ago, we managed an
average of 108 disasters a year. Today, as of June 10, we are managing
348--including the on-going response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Between
2015 and 2021 alone, FEMA experienced a 165 percent increase in the
number of staff who deployed to support disaster operations for more
than 30 days, and an unprecedented 346 percent increase in the number
of days FEMA personnel were deployed to disaster operations annually.
Weather is becoming more extreme, more intense, and more powerful.
Disasters are no longer falling within certain months of the year.
Instead, disaster season is year-long.
The changing climate is the biggest crisis facing our Nation. It
makes natural disasters more frequent and more destructive, and this
pattern will continue for the foreseeable future. We have seen this
recently with the severe winter storms, derechos, hurricanes, and the
increasing frequency and size of wildfires throughout the Nation. At
the same time, structural inequities in our society are compounding the
impacts of disasters for underserved communities. Left unaddressed,
these challenges pose unacceptable risks to our citizens. These
disaster events--and so many others--require FEMA to respond more
frequently and with greater resources than ever before in our history.
The FEMA fiscal year 2023 budget request ensures the agency can
continue to meet these challenges and be prepared for the future as it
helps people before, during, and after disasters.
FEMA aligned its budget request to support goals outlined in our
2022-2026 Strategic Plan. These goals are: (1) Instill equity as a
foundation of emergency management; (2) lead the whole of community in
climate resilience; and (3) promote and sustain a ready FEMA and a
prepared Nation. Our budget request reflects our continued intent to
execute our mission, while effectively and efficiently managing
resources. It allows us to coordinate response, recovery, mitigation,
and preparedness missions while maintaining a highly-skilled team of
employees who are ready and able to respond to on-going and future
disasters of any kind. Concurrently, it allows us to remain focused on
our on-going COVID-19 efforts as we transition to the new normal.
instill equity as a foundation of emergency management
As an agency, we must instill equity as a foundation of emergency
management. It is important we recognize disasters affect individuals
and communities differently. We must commit ourselves to eliminate
barriers to access and pledge to deliver equitable outcomes for all
survivors. FEMA meets disaster survivors who just experienced their
worst day, and we must ensure our policies and programs meet them where
they are and provide support in an accessible and user-friendly way.
Systems which create barriers and result in inequitable outcomes serve
no one, especially in times of crisis. Our Strategic Plan focuses our
entire agency on putting people first and reducing the barriers to
individuals and communities accessing our programs.
We have already made important changes to the way we provide
assistance. For instance, some homeowners had difficulty proving they
owned their homes if their property had been handed down from
generation to generation through the years. We took action by expanding
the types of ownership documentation we can accept, including documents
like receipts for major repairs or improvements, court documents,
public officials' letters, mobile home park letters, and even applicant
self-certification for mobile homes and travel trailers as a last
resort. In addition, FEMA has changed the way we calculate the
threshold for property losses to qualify for our Direct Housing program
(such as a trailer or mobile home). Our goal is to ensure equitable
damage evaluations regardless of the amount of damage to the home.
Changing the calculation of the threshold from a fixed-dollar floor of
$17,000 to a simpler $12 per square foot, resulted in more than 2,770
families receiving assistance who would not have been considered for
direct housing in the past. That means 2,770 families with a roof over
their head, beds to sleep in, and a stove to cook with. This change
especially made a difference for survivors with lower-value homes.
These are a few examples of where our people-first approach has made a
difference. But we can do more. We will do more.
We also know, the more our workforce resembles the Nation we serve,
the better we will be at serving our Nation. Which is why our Strategic
Plan focuses our recruiting efforts to reach individuals from
underrepresented communities, including through the Emergency
Management Institute and partnering with organizations like
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the American
Indian Higher Education Consortium of Tribal Colleges and Universities
and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). Our goal is to create
hiring pipelines from these institutions into the field of emergency
management, opening new opportunities for underrepresented communities
who may not see themselves reflected in today's workforce, and as a
result, may have been dissuaded from joining the emergency management
profession.
lead whole-of-community in climate resilience
FEMA is not just a response and recovery agency. One of my highest
priorities is to focus equally on hazard mitigation. What we can do to
prevent a disaster is often as important as what we do after disaster
strikes. We must recognize our climate crisis and integrate future
conditions into our planning efforts now. Historically, Congress'
investment in hazard mitigation has been strong. We have seen this
through your support of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and
Communities (BRIC) program in 2018. We've seen it through the
appropriation of $6.8 billion in funds to FEMA in the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in 2021, including funding to establish
revolving loan funds under the STORM Act. We thank you for your support
and for working with the Biden-Harris administration to pass this
legislation.
We must think innovatively as we approach disaster hazard
mitigation and shift our projects to those with community-wide impact.
We must eliminate the barriers underserved communities face when
seeking hazard mitigation assistance. These investments will only grow
in importance as climate change continues to alter the landscape of
risk facing emergency managers across the country. Which is why we made
resources available, such as new Direct Technical Assistance, for local
communities to provide support for both project and application-
specific needs, as well as community-wide resilience needs.
Our fiscal year 2023 budget request includes $3.4 billion to
support strategies to address climate change through community
partnerships. This includes further investments in BRIC, our Hazard
Mitigation Grant Program, flood maps, and the Federal Flood Risk
Management Standard. Specifically, we are setting aside another $1
billion of the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) exclusively for the BRIC
program. This set-aside will help communities build capacity by funding
hazard mitigation projects such as seismic retrofits, stormwater
management plans, construction of flood control and floodways, and many
other projects to reduce risks at the State, local, Tribal, and
territorial (SLTT) levels. The funding is in addition to the bipartisan
IIJA's $1 billion over 5 years to implement BRIC. Our fiscal year 2023
request also includes more than $500 million to update FEMA's inventory
of maps, including to show future flood risk conditions. Flood risk can
change over time due to fluctuating weather patterns, new building and
development, and other factors. FEMA will continue to work with its
SLTT governmental partners Nation-wide to identify flood risk and
promote informed planning and development practices to reduce risk.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
since 1980, total costs associated with severe storms and flooding
estimates are $345 billion and $168 billion, respectively. Climate
change projections suggest wildfires and storms will likely become more
frequent and stronger in many regions in the country. The Federal
Government is taking steps to ensure Federal investments include
standards of safety against climate hazards, floods, and sea-level rise
in order to make communities more resilient to flooding. The fiscal
year 2023 funding allows us to support the Federal Flood Risk
Management Standard and its climate-informed, science-based activities
with the purpose of preparing for future flood conditions.
Additionally, FEMA will implement a National strategy for its
programs, and provide leadership to an all-of-government initiative to
advance the adoption of disaster-resistant building codes that will
strengthen buildings, including against climate-induced disaster
impacts. This will increase FEMA's ability to provide the information,
awareness, guidance, tools, and support required at the SLTT levels to
save lives and reduce losses. A 2019 study by the National Institute of
Building Sciences found that adopting the latest building codes save
$11 dollars for every dollar invested.
promote and sustain a ready fema and a prepared nation
The increased frequency, severity, and complexity of disasters has
heightened demands on FEMA's workforce and on the first responder
community in every State, territory, Tribal nation, county, and city in
the Nation which comprise the broader emergency management community.
To rise to this challenge, FEMA must expand its approach to agency
readiness and to National preparedness.
FEMA's request includes $19.7 billion for the DRF to address
current and future disasters. To reach this number, FEMA worked
shoulder-to-shoulder with disaster-impacted States and localities to
understand their recovery needs from on-going catastrophic disasters,
in addition to evaluating the historical cost average for non-
catastrophic disasters; the previously-mentioned allocation for BRIC;
and a reserve to ensure FEMA maintains the ability to fund initial
response operations for new significant events.
Like disasters, terrorist attacks can occur at any time and at any
place. Tragically, we were reminded of this reality earlier this year
during a hostage stand-off at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in
Colleyville, Texas, demonstrating that threats to the United States no
longer exist only in major population centers. The risk of terrorism
exists everywhere in America. As the threats we face evolve, so too
must the grant programs created to prepare for those threats. Non-
profit organizations require assistance to harden their facilities and
provide other security enhancements that will mitigate and thwart
terrorist attacks. I visited the Congregation Beth Israel and spoke to
the Rabbi at the synagogue following the attack. He relayed to me of
the importance of this program and how it helped save lives. His
experience only reinforced our request to Congress for $360 million for
the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Thank you for your support of
this program.
We must also protect our Nation's networks and infrastructure from
evolving cybersecurity threats. The bipartisan IIJA law also provided
$1 billion over 4 years to improve SLTT cybersecurity and critical
infrastructure. The fiscal year 2023 President's budget includes a
request for $80 million, which will complement the IIJA funding by
establishing a competitive grant program, which will be administered by
FEMA, but leverage the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
(CISA) subject-matter expertise. Under the proposed program, funds are
competitively awarded to owners and operators of critical
infrastructure based on identified risks and vulnerabilities associated
with emerging threats or identified gaps within the systems and
networks of the assets within their control. The funding will bolster
efforts to prevent cyber attacks and to ensure critical infrastructure
providers can continue to deliver their vital services to Americans
uninterrupted.
In recent years we have seen an uptick in Nation-wide crises which
do not fall within the statutory definition of a disaster. When the
Nation faced such events, FEMA was called on to provide incident
management support for the Federal response such as Operations Allies
Welcome, the Southwest Border Coordination Center, and the Russia/
Ukraine Domestic Preparedness and Response Unified Coordination Group.
FEMA has unique expertise in the Federal Government to provide such
support, but it must be better prepared to respond to similar missions
and events in the future. We request an additional $1.8 million to
maintain the Non-Stafford Act Incident Management Assistance Team, a
program funded in the fiscal year 2022 enactment. This will provide an
enduring capability to respond to incidents requiring incident
management support.
We are also in the process of looking at the architecture of our
Stafford Act disaster workforce to better meet the challenges of the
year-long operational tempo which is our new reality. As FEMA's
incident management and incident support workforce continues to grow,
we are prioritizing the growth of the support workforce which enables
them, such as the procurement specialists needed to execute the
contracts and mission assignments, which allows us to actually mobilize
assistance; the computer specialists who facilitate data and
information sharing within FEMA's IT infrastructure; those who ensure
civil rights are protected in all activities; and the personnel
necessary to train the workforce, manage operations, and focus on
employee wellness.
The last group is so critical. Dealing with an unrelenting pace of
a year-round cycle of disasters and crisis takes its toll on the FEMA
team. To be ready for the next disaster, whenever it comes, we must
look out for the physical, emotional, and mental health of our people.
We are looking at ways to let our people rest and reset, to take care
of themselves, and make sure their families are taken care of. We
cannot do what we do without our people. Their adaptability,
dedication, and willingness to do the hard work is unquestionable and
unbelievable.
Emergency management is at a pivotal moment in history. We are
witnessing tremendous change in the landscape of risk and in our
professional roles. While our core mission has not changed, our
operating environment has. The 2022-2026 FEMA Strategic Plan and fiscal
year 2023 budget request are consistent with and support the challenges
we face. I look forward to working with you as we continue to build a
ready FEMA and more resilient Nation. Thank you for the opportunity to
testify.
Chairwoman Demings. I want to thank Administrator Deanne
Criswell for your 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.
Administrator, no one knows better than you here today that
2 weeks ago marked the beginning of hurricane season. You also
pointed out a decade ago we had roughly 108 disasters. Now we
are looking at 348 roughly. Things have definitely changed and
increased.
When we think about the challenges that we now face is the
FEMA work force prepared for what is predicted to be an above-
average hurricane season?
Ms. Criswell. Chairwoman Demings, I do believe that our
work force is prepared. We have one of the most dedicated work
forces that I think you can find anywhere in the Federal
Government and they are committed to our mission of helping
people before, during, and after disasters.
While we have seen the increase in the number of disasters,
our team continues to look at ways that we can staff these
events and not have an added strain on our members. We are
taking a look right now at taking a step back at now that we
have more of this year-long operational tempo instead of the
peak that we have traditionally seen during hurricane seasons,
what does the future staffing model need to look like? We are
doing a deep dive into that analysis so we can better plan and
appropriate our staff. For year-long responses we continue to
go forward.
Chairwoman Demings. One of the top issues that we are
dealing with certainly here in the United States, but around
the world, centers around supply chain shortages. How are you
working with local government and the private sector to employ
supply chain mitigation efforts in advance of disaster
striking?
Ms. Criswell. We are very concerned, as the rest of
Americans are, on the impacts that the supply chain is having
across the Nation. But we have built a stockpile of our
response requirements at our distribution centers across the
Nation. So, I feel confident that the stockpile of equipment
and supplies that we have will meet the needs for any disaster
response that we have going into this hurricane season.
But through our regional administrators, they are the
bellybutton that are working with our State and local
officials, State and local emergency managers to understand
what their gaps are. It is through those on-going conversations
that our regional administrators have a better understanding of
where their needs might be, and then we can be better prepared
to support them if we need to come in and help after a
disaster.
Chairwoman Demings. Have you been able to coordinate with
the private sector?
Ms. Criswell. We have a private sector office at FEMA that
works continuously across the different industries to better
understand where they are at and what their needs are going to
be. We have also initiated an analysis of what the potential
supply chain impacts will be for this hurricane season through
one of our contracts, and we expect the results of that
sometime in the next few weeks.
Chairwoman Demings. Thank you. As a former law enforcement
professional, I have already indicated the importance of grant
programs like UASI and how beneficial they are to local and
State government in terms of preparing for threats of any kind.
I was certainly disappointed to hear about the cut in funding
for this particular program knowing that law enforcement is, as
you well know, on the front line. Could you talk about, based
on your experience, how you believe local jurisdictions will be
impacted by the reduced funding?
Ms. Criswell. There is no doubt that our Homeland Security
suite of programs that we have has increased the capacity for
local jurisdictions across this country, whether it is our UASI
programs or our State Homeland Security Programs or Nonprofit
Security Grant Programs. As we have seen the capacity in
primarily our UASI program and our Homeland Security Program
increase the capabilities across the Nation, we also recognize
that there is a need to increase capacity in other areas. That
is one of the reasons that we have asked for the increase in
our Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
But to get specifically to your question, I would say one
of the biggest things that we have also been asking our local
jurisdictions to spend their UASI money on is cyber
preparedness. We have an additional grant program that will be
coming out as we partner with CISA that is focused specifically
on cyber preparedness. So now we no longer are going to require
our local jurisdictions to have a maximum or mandatory spend on
cyber because they will have this additional program. They can
use that funding for their other capacity-related needs.
Chairwoman Demings. Thank you, Administrator Criswell. I
now recognize the Ranking Member, the gentlewoman from Florida,
for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Cammack. Thank you, Chairwoman Demings. Thank you
again, Administrator Criswell.
Before we get into questions, I know you and I as well as
our respective teams have chatted at length about outstanding
project worksheets from previous storms and events. I would
like to get your commitment to responding with the status of
it.
Within 30 days?
Ms. Criswell. You have my commitment to respond within 30
days.
Mrs. Cammack. Thank you so much. So, I alluded to my
concerns in my opening statement about this administration's
prioritization of illegals at the border over American
citizens, particularly as we are facing record inflation. So,
in fiscal year 2021 there were 1.7 million illegals encountered
at the Southwest Border. FEMA actually spent $150 million in
response to this crisis, using $150 million for housing and
food.
Now, fast-forward to April of this year, 2022. There were
234,000 migrant encounters along the Southwest Border, which is
the highest number of monthly encounters in the last two
decades. Now, this year's budget request, fiscal year 2023,
includes $24 million for FEMA's Emergency Food and Shelter
Program for the purpose of providing shelter and other services
to families and individuals encountered by the DHS at the
Southwest Border.
The President's fiscal year 2023 budget request states
that, ``Communities are providing food, shelter,
transportation, COVID-19 testing, and care associated with
recommended quarantining and isolation of this population, and
incurring the cost of this relief. The use of hotels and non-
congregant space remains as a prevalent solution and will
remain for the foreseeable future even if COVID-19 concerns
decrease.''
So, I find it very troubling that in the budget request
specifically mentions increased cost associated with COVID-19
precautions, yet there are still consideration from the
administration to lift Title 42, which, of course, as we know,
is a CDC directive. Do you anticipate additional migrant
encounters along the Southwest Border? If so, will FEMA be
requesting additional funds through the Emergency Food and
Shelter Program to address the crisis at the border?
Ms. Criswell. Ranking Member Cammack, the Emergency Food
and Shelter Program has been a great tool to support the
humanitarian needs at the border. It is a program that is
funded by FEMA, but run through a board of directors of
nonprofit organizations. The things that you mentioned, such as
transportation, shelter, and food, are eligible expenses by
these nonprofit agencies to be able to fund the needs that they
are encountering.
I do not know what the potential increase in the number of
border encounters is going to be as I am not an immigrant
agency. But we will work closely with the Secretary and his
staff as we monitor what the border is needing. If we need to
make a request, we would certainly consult with the Secretary
on other options before.
Mrs. Cammack. Well, and my apologies for interrupting, but
the Secretary--DHS has been--the agency has stated that Title
42 being lifted will result in 18,000 encounters a day. Is FEMA
prepared to handle that volume with a request of $24 million?
Ms. Criswell. FEMA's role as it relates to the border is
really a coordinating role. We have staff that are assigned to
the Southern Border Coordination Center, which is located at
CBP Headquarters. Our role will continue to be a coordinating
role and will continues to provide funding to the nonprofit
agencies through the Emergency Food and Shelter Program.
Mrs. Cammack. Well, and considering that the Emergency Food
and Shelter Program has a board that administers these funds,
it is comprised of several of the charities that actually
themselves receive funds. So, how do we ensure accountability
and what oversight role is of this board that is doling out
millions and millions of dollars of taxpayer funds?
Ms. Criswell. Yes, it is a great question, Congresswoman.
We have a couple of mechanisms in place to ensure that the
funding is being spent appropriately.
First there are local boards for the charities that look at
every expenditure to make sure that it is a valid expenditure.
Our National board also looks at all of the expenditures to
make sure that they are authorized expenditures.
Then we conduct through FEMA and one of our contractors an
annual audit of the program to ensure that we are using the
funding as the way it was intended.
Mrs. Cammack. Would you agree that since FEMA is
administering a program at the border that the border is, in
fact, a crisis?
Ms. Criswell. I would say that the work that we are doing
to help coordinate the migrant crossings is in support of our
partners at CBP and ICE.
Mrs. Cammack. I am out of time, but for the record I have a
list of questions that I will submit if the Chairwoman would be
so kind. I would appreciate a timely response, Administrator
Criswell.
Chairwoman Demings. Without objection, the gentlewoman's
time has expired. At this time the Chair now recognizes the
gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Jackson Lee, for 5 minutes.
Ms. Jackson Lee, can you hear us? Ms. Jackson Lee, it looks
like you are on mute. We will come back to her.
The Chair now recognizes the gentleman from Texas, Mr.
Green, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Green. Madam Chair, did you yield to me?
Chairwoman Demings. Mr. Green?
Ms. Jackson Lee, can you hear us now?
Ms. Jackson Lee. Yes, I can.
Chairwoman Demings. OK, great. You are recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you so very much. From the signing--
thank you, Madam Chair, for this, and the Ranking Member, for
this very important hearing and your leadership.
This is an area that I have been engaged in I guess by
necessity coming from hurricane country. I have been a veteran
of any number of hurricanes of notoriety, as well-known in
America from Katrina to a storm called Storm Alicia that
literally obliterated major research in the Texas Medical
Center; to Hurricane Ike that drove us to the level of knowing
that we needed a coastal spine; and, of course, Hurricane
Harvey that magnified the disaster of what can happen to
people: Loss of life, loss of property.
So, I want to first thank the administrator for the
continued service of her team and the work in particular of
Region 6 that I have worked with over the many, many years. But
to emphasize that this organization, I think signed into law in
1979, has not gotten the importance focus. We thank President
Biden's administration for recognizing an increased budget for
FEMA.
So I want to focus on some of the issues. To the
Chairwoman, I particularly want to focus on the ailments of the
Stafford Act. This is law, but it poses a great hindrance when
the impacted areas of a State have to be totally dependent upon
a Governor's late recognition that an area should be declared a
disaster.
Administrator, what is the time frame which you can stand
up your operation from the moment of an area being called a
National disaster?
Ms. Criswell. Congresswoman Jackson Lee, thank you for the
question. Our role has really been over the last several years
to lean forward as we have these notice events. As you in
Texas, as we are seeing in the Gulf Coast States, along the
East Coast, when we know that there is a hurricane coming, we
are going to deploy resources ahead of time, so they can be
prepositioned to support the State and the local jurisdictions
as soon as it is safe to do so.
Once there is a Presidential disaster declaration that
means that they are already in place for us to be able to go in
and start providing assistance. But we will also be able to
provide assistance under our Surge Fund before we get the final
paperwork, if needed.
We have also really been working last year with our
Governors to encourage them to ask for pre-landfall disaster
declarations. So, if you see a hurricane coming, we want you to
ask for this pre-landfall emergency declaration, so that way we
can start moving those resources and then employing them ahead
of time, something that we are actually encouraging Governors
to do as we can see these events approaching them.
So, we don't have hesitation. We can support immediately.
Ms. Jackson Lee. But you have to wait upon the declaration,
is that correct?
Ms. Criswell. We can deploy resource into the area----
Ms. Jackson Lee. But you cannot----
Ms. Criswell [continuing]. Without waiting----
Ms. Jackson Lee [continuing]. Utilize them.
Ms. Criswell [continuing]. And we can use our Surge Fund to
employ some resources before a declaration.
Ms. Jackson Lee. The issue is that the process of assessing
the declaration by the Governor sometimes holds up local
communities. I just want to put that on the record. I believe
that the Stafford Act should be modified to allow local
communities that are devastated, particularly maybe large urban
and large rural areas, to be able to activate the resources
that FEMA has.
Let me move quickly to the idea of staffing. I heard you
indicate your faith in your staff, and I certainly have
confidence in them. But what are the real needs of FEMA? Is
there a move or should there be a move to ensuring more
permanent staff to be able to assist in having staff ready for
these disasters that seem to be year-round? It is not
necessarily hurricanes, but other forms of natural disasters.
Ms. Criswell. I would say that the one thing that is going
to really make a difference in our ability to staff disasters
right now is a bill that is being looked at in the Senate and
in Congress. I think Chairwoman Demings, you have been a
cosponsor of this bill as well as Congressman Katko, and that
is the CREW Act. That is going to give our reservist work
force, which is the heartbeat of what we do for disasters. It
is the majority of our staff that surge in when an incident
happens to support those local communities.
What this act will do is give them USERRA protection, so
reemployment protection, which means it will transform the way
that we can recruit our reservist work force, bring in
specialties to come in and support those jurisdictions, even
give us the opportunity to have more reservists that are right
in the local community.
Ms. Jackson Lee. I will submit my other questions for the
record. I appreciate the administrator. I do want to find out
about the decrease in the State Homeland Security Grant Program
that has been proposed and would like to help to ensure those
funds get reinstated.
But thank you, Administrator, for your service and thank
you to the FEMA team. Thank you, Madam Chair, for yielding.
Chairwoman Demings. The gentlewoman's time has expired. The
Chair now recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Higgins,
for 5 minutes.
Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I thank
Administrator Criswell for being with us today. Ensuring a
sustainable and effective FEMA budget is critical for the
Nation, so I appreciate Administrator Criswell making time
today to visit with the subcommittee.
I am also appreciative of the open lines of communication
with Administrator Criswell and her office. I am thankful for
her candor and her willingness to help. We have spoken on many
occasions and the administrator and her staff have never failed
to rise to the challenges that we face together.
Recovery after a disaster is far from a straightforward
process. As a Congressman who represents a region that is quite
accustomed to the impact of powerful hurricanes, I have
survived many in the course of my life, but 2 years ago there
was a particularly brutal, devastating storm season for South
Louisiana. I can personally attest to the frustration many of
my constituents face after a disaster. I must say for the
record, Madam Chair, that I am uplifted by the level of
commitment that my office has received, both officially and
through direct communications, from Administrator Criswell and
her office.
If we intend to ensure that recovery efforts are resilient
and America's Treasury is wisely spent, then timely
communication and simplifying the necessary documents and
procedures between FEMA and the State and local agencies is
imperative. We must streamline the process.
That is why I am thankful to see FEMA request $51.1 million
for grant management modernization practices at the agency and
$19.7 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund. These investments
could potentially better serve the communities across the
country when a disaster strikes.
Administrator Criswell, regarding the modernization
endeavor, would you share with us a little bit how that will
work? How will that better serve communities attempting to
recover from a disaster?
Ms. Criswell. Congressman Higgins, we are so reliant right
now on our IT infrastructure in order to better support
communities after a disaster. It has been an amazing resource
as we continue to work to improve the way we are delivering
services, that we can actually get funding out into the hands
of survivors so much quicker. That includes then our grant
modernization process as well. So, when we are talking about
after a disaster, we have made a lot of improvements, but we
also need to make sure that the access to the work that we do
before a disaster through our grant programs is also easier for
our customers to be able to navigate.
The funding that we are going to put in to continue to
modernize our Grant Modernization Program is building on what
we have already started with our BRIC programs, our Building
Resilient Infrastructure and Community, and some other hazard
mitigation programs; move that into even our recovery programs,
our Recovery Grant Programs, so we can better use the data that
our customers are giving us at a single instance. So we don't
continually ask them for the same information over and over.
I think as we continue this modernization it is just going
to make it, again, easier. We are moving barriers from our
customers, so they can access the resources that they are
eligible for.
Mr. Higgins. Well, that would be our shared intention,
would be to simplify and streamline the process.
I would like to thank you again for taking time last week
to discuss the issues facing a couple of my parishes, Calcasieu
and Cameron Parish School Boards, as well as the Lake Charles
Housing Authority. My office will continue to work closely with
you and your staff, ma'am.
I have received your pledge for continue attention to the
matter. I hope you can support that pledge here today with my
colleagues.
Ms. Criswell. Congressman Higgins, I really appreciated the
phone call that we had last Friday. I do continue to commit to
working with you, providing you an update next week, as we
discussed last week, on our progress toward the issues that you
identified.
Mr. Higgins. Yes, ma'am. We look forward to working very
hard together with you and your staff in order to seek final
resolution and recovery for so many scores of thousands of
South Louisiana citizens that continue to suffer from the
brutal storms of 2020.
Madam Chair, my time has expired and I yield.
Chairwoman Demings. The gentleman yields back. The Chair
now recognizes the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Green, for 5
minutes.
Mr. Green. Thank you ever so much, Madam Chair. Madam
Chair, this is an exceedingly important hearing for a
multiplicity of reasons, especially associated with Houston,
Texas, so I thank you.
I would also like to thank the staff. Ordinarily I draft my
own questions, but the staff has done an outstanding job with a
couple of questions. I want to commend them. They are capable,
competent, and qualified, and they always come through for us
when we ask them to, so thank you, staff.
Madam Chair, Houston had about a trillion gallons of water.
It was inundated as a result of Hurricane Harvey. After that we
sought help with the GLO after the Federal Government sent
funds to the GLO to disburse and help the people who were the
victims of Hurricane Harvey.
Well, as fate would have it, the GLO decided that Houston
should get zero dollars initially as well as Harris County,
which is the county Houston is located in. Then there was some
talk and the GLO decided that, well, Harris County can receive
some help, but Houston is still receiving zero dollars. The
monies that would come to Houston, the area that was most
devastated, which was the epicenter, will eventually go to
other areas where we have persons who were not harmed by Harvey
to some extent and maybe some to a very--some extent that is
much less than those in Houston.
So, my question to the Chair is--pardon me, to the--let me
make sure I have got your title right. OK, Ms. Criswell, my
question to you is how can FEMA help us to ensure that we get
equity when soliciting these funds? How can you solicit funds
and disburse funds to FEMA to--excuse me, GLO such that it
would treat cities like Houston fairly?
Ms. Criswell. Congressman Green, mitigation is one of my
top priorities, right? We need to be able to take a lot of the
efforts that FEMA is doing and work toward what we can do to
prevent or reduce the impacts that we are seeing from these
natural disasters. I am aware and appreciate the struggles that
Harris County and Houston is facing with their increased
flooding.
We do have a number of programs. The one that you are
mentioning is our Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which is a
post-disaster program and it is administered through the State.
I mean, it is a passthrough through the State and which would
mean it would go through GLO in your case.
But we also have pre-disaster mitigation funding, like our
Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program and
our flood mitigation assistance, which you can apply directly
to FEMA. I would be happy to have my regional office get in
touch with your staff to talk about ways that we can make sure
that they are taking advantage of these pre-disaster programs
as well.
Mr. Green. I would greatly appreciate it. Can that happen
rather quickly? Because there are other things that are
happening with reference to GLO and this can have an impact.
So, how will we perfect this? Will someone contact my staff
today? If so, I will give you the proper person to contact.
Ms. Criswell. Yes. My staff will follow up with your team
immediately following this hearing and will be able to make
those connections. I will just, you know, acknowledge that
hazard mitigation programs are usually complicated programs
that do take time. So these programs aren't projects that can
be put in place quickly.
Mr. Green. I understand. Well, my chief of staff is Niha
Razi and we would greatly appreciate it if you would make an
effort to contact her.
Let me quickly move on, Administrator. My apologies for my
earlier faux pas. I am sorry about that. But 18 percent of the
unhoused community in Houston said that they were homeless.
Homelessness is a real problem. I have worked with people, I am
a hands-on Congressperson, as the case was made with my
colleagues, and I have worked with homeless people. I know the
difficulty they have when we have these natural disasters.
So, my question to you is simply this, those who are
experiencing homelessness, what can we do to assure that they
will get the proper assistance that they merit when we have
these catastrophes?
Ms. Criswell. Homelessness is certainly an issue that is
increasing across our Nation and it is compounded even more for
those individuals after a natural disaster. Again, I would
offer the assistance of my regional administrator and our team
to work with communities to help them with their preparedness
plans. Individuals are always eligible to request assistance
and register for assistance through FEMA once a natural
disaster has been declared by the President. Then they are
eligible for some resources in our individual assistance
programs.
Mr. Green. Well, thank you very much. I look forward to
hearing from your team. I yield back.
Chairwoman Demings. The gentleman yields back. The Chair
now recognizes the gentleman from New York, Mr. Garbarino, for
5 minutes.
Mr. Garbarino. Thank you, Madam Chair, and to the Ranking
Member for holding this hearing. Thank you, administrator, for
being here.
Ms. Criswell, I have a few questions. This year I led the
fiscal year 2023 New York bipartisan delegation letter to the
Appropriations Committee requesting robust funding for FEMA
State and local grants to provide much-needed resilience
funding to mitigate man-made and natural risks. You have talked
a lot about these grants already today.
Last month, this subcommittee heard from the Major Cities
Chiefs Association with concerns that these preparedness grants
do not appropriately solicit law enforcement input given their
role in implementing such grants in their respective cities. As
Congress continues to provide robust funding to FEMA for these
preparedness grants, how do you plan to ensure that FEMA's
appropriately soliciting law enforcement input to ensure the
safety of New Yorkers and all Americans?
Ms. Criswell. Congressman, our preparedness grants, as I
mentioned earlier, have been such an instrumental part in
increasing our capacity across the country, and law enforcement
is a big piece of that. They are definitely a partner in our
ability to be able to increase capacity to prevent terrorist
attacks.
We do extensive outreach and engagement to include law
enforcement communities. But I would be happy to get with your
staff to find out if there is an area that we are missing, so
we can continue to work on making sure we have al the
appropriate stakeholders at the table.
I would also point out, though, this year as well in our
Urban Area Security Initiative and our Homeland Security grants
that we actually increased the amount of funding that is to be
spent on law enforcement. I don't remember the exact percentage
of the top of my head, but recognizing the importance that our
law enforcement community places or has--the role they have in
our ability to be prepared, we have increased that amount of
funding to be spent on their ability to increase their
capacity.
Mr. Garbarino. We appreciate that increase. I think that is
great. But just maybe the communication between--and that is--I
am just brining up a problem that the Major Cities Chiefs
Association brought up to us, that there doesn't seem to be
communication between FEMA and--or enough communication and law
enforcement when they are determining these grants.
So, I appreciate the increase in funding. I think that is
great. But, you know, and we can facilitate through my office,
also, if you would like to do that. But just having some more
communication I think is what they would like to see.
On a second note, and I know you talked about--a couple of
people have already asked about the State and local
Cybersecurity Grant Programs. Last we spoke to CISA they had
told us that they thought the grant program was going to be up
and running late spring or early summer. We are now in early
summer. Can you provide an update on the time line? If you
already answered this question, I apologize, but what is the
time line for the roll-out here?
Ms. Criswell. I don't have the exact time line in front of
me, Congressman, but I know that we are working closely with
CISA to develop the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The last
update I received is that that Notice of Funding Opportunity is
going to come out sometime this summer. But I will certainly
follow up with my team and their conversations with CISA, and
we will get back to your staff.
Mr. Garbarino. So, I just want to--FEMA is running--or CISA
is doing the technological part of this, right? FEMA is
overseeing it? What is FEMA's role in this, in the grant
program?
Ms. Criswell. Yes, absolutely. So, FEMA is the fiduciary
agent. We will administer the grant on behalf of CISA, but they
set all of the requirements. They are the subject-matter
experts. They will define the parameters in which individuals
or organizations can request assistance and then they will
review the grant applications to make allocation
determinations.
Mr. Garbarino. So, and this is a huge issue, it is a huge
grant program, we are very excited about it. The money needs to
get out the door because cybersecurity waits for no one.
So, is FEMA ready today to do what it needs to do? Is it
just waiting for CISA to finish setting up the program or what
is the delay? Because, like I said, last we heard it was late
spring or early summer. You know, we are in early summer.
Ms. Criswell. Yes, Congressman, I hadn't heard that time
line, so I don't know specifically what the delay will be.
Again, we are working really closely with CISA. This is a
brand-new grant program and we want to make sure that we get
the requirements right, so we can reach out to those
organizations that are going to benefit the most from this new
grant program.
Mr. Garbarino. So, but your working relationship with CISA
right now, it is good? There is no hiccups there?
Ms. Criswell. Not that I am aware of.
Mr. Garbarino. All right. Thank you, Administrator. My time
is out, I yield back. Thank you.
Chairwoman Demings. The gentleman yields back. The Chair
now recognizes the gentlewoman from New Jersey, Mrs. Watson
Coleman, for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you. I want to thank the
Chairwoman and Ranking Member for holding this hearing. Madam
Administrator, thank you for the information you are sharing.
I represent the 12th Congressional District, which includes
the capital city of that State, and that is Trenton. My
understanding is that ABC News reported that residents of
Trenton, New Jersey, are still waiting for assistance from FEMA
after Hurricane Ida. It has been a long 9 months for those in
need of assistance and they are still waiting for support.
Can you speak to why there have been delays in assistance
to residents in Trenton? Can I have your commitment that you
will work to resolve this 9-month-long waiting period for FEMA
assistance?
Ms. Criswell. Congressman Watson Coleman, I don't have the
specifics of the institutions that you are talking about. I am
certainly happy to get with my team after this and get more
detail from your staff, and then we can get you a more informed
answer.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. All right. We certainly will follow up
because this is very urgent and we all know the population that
is in greatest need. In the city of Trenton there is a
population that tends to get underserved because of its
socioeconomic status.
Madam Administrator, severe weather is becoming our new
normal in the face of climate change. Heat waves in particular
cause more death annually in the United States than any other
severe weather event. FEMA has historically devoted very few
resources to address extreme heat. Given that last year 80
percent of Americans experienced a heat wave, last week I
introduced the Stay Cool Act, H.R. 7949, to study, mitigate,
and address the impacts of extreme heat.
What actions, if any, is FEMA taking to address and
mitigate the growing threat of extreme heat?
Ms. Criswell. Congresswoman, we are very concerned about
extreme heat and the heat that we are continuing to see be
exasperated by climate change. We know that as these heat domes
continue to rise, the fatalities are going to continue to rise.
There are more fatalities every year from heat than any other
natural disaster. We also see secondary fatalities after a
disaster as a result of the heat.
We monitor the heat conditions very closely. We work very
closely with our partners at the National Weather Service and
coordinate with our regional and State partners to help with
their preparedness plans. We will continue to work with them
and to help them better understand what their risk is for heat.
We actually have a resilience analysis and planning tool
that helps communities identify their vulnerable populations
and they can use this information to put better plans in place
to support those populations if they are going to experience a
heat emergency.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. All right. Given the fact that we
kind-of agree that because of climate change we are going to be
experiencing so much more of this extreme heat, and the fact it
was just recently predicted there was going to be this heat
emergency that we are going to experience this summer, is there
anything specific in terms of resources and time frames that
FEMA could report to us that it is doing, recognizing that it
has become a real crisis situation here?
Ms. Criswell. I think if you are asking about resources in
the terms of data, we are happy to work through some analysis
and some data to better understand the increasing threat that
we are experiencing. We also can work with our local
communities to help them access information on ready.gov that
helps them, again, put some plans in place to support these
heat-related events.
I think the biggest thing that we as a Nation and an
emergency management community needs to do is understand the
threats that we are going to face in the next 5 and 10 years,
heat is certainly one of them----
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Yes.
Ms. Criswell [continuing]. And working together now to
build preparedness plans on how we are going to respond.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you. I have two quick questions.
I am going to ask them. They are totally different ends of the
spectrum.
No. 1 is I am still concerned about the ability to create
an inclusive, diverse environment in leadership as well as in
employees. I want to know what FEMA is doing with regard to
that.
Last, I want to know are nonprofit clinics that are health
care-related and that also perform--make available pregnancy
terminations, are they eligible under the programs that you
identify?
Ms. Criswell. Congresswoman, I want to make sure I heard
you correctly. Did you say pregnancy determinations?
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Terminations. Abortions.
Ms. Criswell. I am still not understanding the word.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. I want to know if the nonprofit
organizations that provide health care, in addition they
provide abortions to people, are they eligible for the grant
program for safety and security that you mentioned earlier?
Ms. Criswell. I see what you are saying. So, certain
nonprofit agencies, organizations are eligible for
reimbursement after a disaster, and they have to meet certain
criteria as far as a certified 501(c)(3). We would have to see
the specifics on each individual organization to see if they
meet our criteria as defined in the Stafford Act for a
nonprofit organization.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Well, I am sorry. I was really
interested in the Nonprofit Security Grant. I don't think that
they are predicated upon an--a response to a disaster. They are
kind-of----
Ms. Criswell. Yes.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. [continuing]. Protective in nature. I
just wanted to know if these entities were eligible----
Ms. Criswell. Yes.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. [continuing]. If that is a yes or no.
Ms. Criswell. They would have to be----
Chairwoman Demings. The gentlewoman's time has expired, but
the witness may answer the question.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. Criswell. Yes, they would have the same qualification
requirements to meet--in the Stafford Act on what qualifies as
a nonprofit organization.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you.
Chairwoman Demings. Thank you.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.
Chairwoman Demings. Thank you. The Chair now recognizes the
gentleman from New York, Mr. Torres, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Torres. Thank you, Madam Chair. Administrator Criswell,
you were the commissioner for emergency management in New York
and I was a New York City council member----
Ms. Criswell. Yes.
Mr. Torres [continuing]. During the peak of the pandemic,
so I have a few questions about COVID. George Kennan once
described the First World War as the seminal catastrophe of the
20th Century. Those words come to mind when I think of COVID-
19, which has become the seminal catastrophe of the 21st
Century. Nowhere has COVID been more catastrophic than in New
York, which emerged early on as Ground Zero for the global
pandemic.
The health care providers in New York, which were hit the
earliest and hardest by COVID, have dire concerns about the
glacial pace of FEMA's reimbursement. Hospitals in New York are
bleeding and instead of treating it as an emergency, it feels
to us like FEMA is moving bureaucratically as though it were
business as usual.
On February 17, 2022, the whole New York delegation,
Democrats and Republicans, sent a bipartisan letter calling for
rapid distribution of FEMA public assistance program funds. How
much longer must we wait to receive the funds we need to fully
recover from COVID?
Ms. Criswell. Congressman, I certainly appreciate your
question and I remember very clearly and vividly my time
responding and working with the hospitals in New York City as
we were trying to get our heads wrapped around what it was
going to take to combat COVID-19.
We are working very closely, my regional office, Region 2
office is working very closely with Health + Hospitals and the
other hospitals, nonprofit hospitals in the New York City area
to help advance funding. One of the things that we can do is we
don't have to wait for the entire project to have all of the
data, so we can reimburse it in its entirety. We can reimburse
it apportionately.
So we have done that with several of the hospitals. If
there are specific hospitals that are still having difficulty,
I would be happy to get that specific information, but we are
working very closely with them. As they have information that
we can submit, then we would obligate that money for them.
Mr. Torres. During COVID we saw our health care heroes put
their lives at risk during the peak of the pandemic so that
everyone else could safely shelter in place. Many hospitals in
New York provided our health care heroes with hazard pay, not
out of preference, but out of necessity for work force
retention in a moment of crisis. Do you believe as I do that
hazard pay for our health care heroes was a critical component
of the response to COVID-19?
Ms. Criswell. I do believe that we had to use creative
funding sources to make sure that we were getting the qualified
staff to come in and support these critical needs in these
hospitals. I am unfamiliar with an increase in hazard pay as I
know we were using contract resources, also, from----
Mr. Torres. But you recognize that hazard pay could be a
critical tool for sustaining and retaining a work force that is
in danger of burning out and turning over in a global pandemic?
Ms. Criswell. I do believe hazard pay could be used as a
critical tool.
Mr. Torres. Was, in fact, used, right? It is not
theoretical.
Ms. Criswell. Yes.
Mr. Torres. It was, in fact, used during COVID. FEMA's
policy is as follows with respect to hazard pay: ``FEMA cannot
reimburse the hazardous retention bonuses because the applicant
did not have a pre-disaster labor policy for hazardous duty
retention bonuses, meaning the justification for paying the
bonuses was not adequately documented.'' I have two responses.
First, the justification was adequately documented. It was
COVID-19.
Ms. Criswell. Mm-hmm.
Mr. Torres. But second, expecting applicants to have a
preexisting policy is nonsensical because the hazard pay was
itself an emergency response to COVID. Like whether there was a
preexisting policy should be irrelevant. What should matter is
whether the hazard pay was necessitated by the response to
COVID.
Ms. Criswell. Congressman, I know that we have existing
policies that talk about--we have policies that talk about
having preexisting policies at local jurisdictions for
overtime. I am not familiar specifically with what you are
talking about in our response to hazard pay. I am certainly
happy to go take a look at that and see if there is any
flexibility within our policy to address that.
Mr. Torres. I hope you can rethink the requirement for a
pre-disaster policy because we are denying our health care
heroes the hazard pay they deserve.
I have a question about Puerto Rico. One would think in the
21st Century every person and every place in America would have
reliable electricity, but the reality is different and much
darker in Puerto Rico, which has seen a never-ending cycle of
power failures. What role is FEMA going to play in expediting
the rebuilding of Puerto Rico's electric grid, which is nothing
short of an emergency?
Ms. Criswell. Yes, Congressman, we have a large team that
we have put in place in Puerto Rico, working very closely with
PREPA and the Puerto Rican government as they are rebuilding
from Hurricane Maria. We are working hand-in-hand with them as
they have projects to help them, again, expedite some of the
payments to get things moving faster, but also working with
them on these longer-term, complicated projects that just take
time to finish and complete.
But I have a large team over there that is working hand-in-
hand and we have continuous engagement the Puerto Rico Governor
as well as the staff there to ensure that we are meeting their
needs.
Mr. Torres. My time has expired.
Chairwoman Demings. The gentleman's time has expired.
Administrator Criswell, that concludes our first round of
questions. We do have time for a second round of questions.
Members who are interested in participating, please remain in
the hearing room or turn your cameras on.
I will recognize myself for 5 minutes.
Administrator, you said a minute ago that what we need to
do as a Nation is to really focus on the threats that we will
face in the next 5 to 10 years. I could not agree with you
more. We know that climate change is all around us, we focused
a bit on that, but I am reminded of the unbelievable tornadoes
in North Florida, the unbelievable flooding in South Florida.
Please discuss the ways that FEMA is investing in order to
mitigate activities to prepare for the acute threats brought on
by climate change.
Ms. Criswell. Yes. I think the future that FEMA needs to
play here and the role that we need to play is to really
emphasize our participation and our expertise in increasing
individual preparedness, but also reducing the impacts of
disasters through our mitigation programs. Many individuals see
FEMA as a response-and-recovery agency. My goal by the end of
my tenure is to make sure that they also recognize our role in
being a resilience agency, increasing individual resilience and
community resilience.
Our Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities
Program is our landmark program that is really bring in more
money than we have ever been able to invest in communities. Our
focus is to work with communities to help them take a system-
based approach, a community-wide approach instead of an
incremental approach, so we can have greater impact to protect
more parts of these communities.
Chairwoman Demings. You know, in addition to acknowledging
as a body that climate change is real, how can Congress assist
you in your efforts or your short-term and long-term plan over
the next 5 to 10 years?
Ms. Criswell. Yes. Chairwoman Demings, I always appreciate
the support that Congress gives us in funding our mitigation
programs year after year. As we have additional needs, we would
look forward to working with Congress to make sure that we are
really being able to build resilient communities across this
Nation.
Chairwoman Demings. Thank you so much for that. We have
already shared a couple of success stories regarding the
Nonprofit Security Grant Program. But you know what we found
out is that many organizations, whether they are places of
worship or colleges and universities, just are not aware,
communities are not aware of the program in the first place.
What has FEMA--or what steps has FEMA taken to make sure that
communities are aware of the Nonprofit Security Grant Programs
and other similar funding that is available?
Ms. Criswell. Yes. Chairwoman, a really important question
because if we have funding available, but nobody knows about
it, then we are not doing our due diligence and making sure
that we are increasing resiliency across the Nation. I would
say we do this in a couple of ways.
One, we have increased our amount of stakeholder engagement
and outreach through our resilience programs, through our grant
programs, through an engagement through our regional
administrators, but also our Office of Faith-Based and
Community Services. Right? They have done an extensive amount
of outreach to help people understand ahead of time that this
grant program is going to be available and that they can start
to prepare now for that grant program.
We have also increased and gave additional points to
organizations that have never applied before. So, we want to
give an incentive to nonprofit organizations that have not
asked for this funding or received this funding, and give them
additional points so it encourages more organizations to seek
out this program and apply for assistance.
Chairwoman Demings. Administrator, as you know, I am proud
to cosponsor the FEMA Equity Act along with Chairman Thompson.
You spoke earlier about just some of the structural issues that
result in inequities as it pertains to disaster response. Can
you discuss the importance of these actions based on your work
to increase equity in FEMA?
Ms. Criswell. Yes. I would really like to highlight a
couple of our programs within our Individual Assistance
Program. I mentioned it a little bit in my opening remarks. We
are really committed to increasing the--or I would say reducing
the barriers that individuals and communities have to accessing
our programs. We were able to make some simple policy changes
last year to increase our equitable delivery.
Those changes that I mentioned in my opening remarks about
changing the types of documentation we accept allowed 42,000
homeowners and over 53,000 renters receive assistance from FEMA
that just a year before we would have denied assistance. I
think that the total amount was about $350 million. This is
really substantial of understanding the barriers that
individuals and communities have to receiving our assistance,
really taking the time to understand it, and then looking at
why our policy is creating that barrier and what can we do to
change that policy.
We are continuing to look at our policies, but we are also
looking at future legislative or rulemaking changes that we can
do for long-term changes to helping ensure that those that need
our help the most can access it.
Chairwoman Demings. Thank you so much, Administrator. The
Chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Jackson
Lee, for 5 minutes.
Ms. Jackson Lee.
OK. Let me just make sure there are no other Members who
are prepared to ask questions during the second round. Ms.
Jackson Lee.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Can you hear me?
Chairwoman Demings. Yes, I can. You are recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you very much. Administrator, let me
quickly just go back to the question I originally asked and
just a quick response to the decrease to the State Homeland
Security Grant Program and to the Urban Area Security
Initiative Program. Do you know why that was proposed as a
decrease?
Ms. Criswell. Yes, ma'am. So, again, our suite of Homeland
Security grants are an essential part of increasing capacity
across the country. We have slightly decreased the amount of
funding that is within the UASI and the State Homeland Security
Grant Program. But, at the same time, we have added in new
grants such as our Cybersecurity Grant Program and increased
the funding within our Nonprofit Security Grant program. I
mean, we feel that this is a good balance to build capacity in
areas where we don't have capability yet while sustaining the
capacity that we have already built across the country with our
other two programs.
Ms. Jackson Lee. So, let me then follow up on the Nonprofit
Security Grant Program. I would like to work with the Budget
Committee and work with the budget going forward to see how we
can balance that. I believe it is a very important priority for
this committee and for me dealing with the Nonprofit Security
Grant Programs, particularly after recent threats to houses of
worship and HBCUs. You are requesting $360 million. I assume
that is a plus-up, an increase of $110 million.
So, can you elaborate on the importance of this program and
are there more that FEMA and the Department can do to support
these particular programs? This is----
Ms. Criswell. Congresswoman----
Ms. Jackson Lee. Yes.
Ms. Criswell. Yes, Congresswoman. As Secretary Mayorkas,
you know, he has really called for the significant increase
that we are seeing in this grant program because of the rise in
the types of threats that we are seeing to nonprofit
organizations across the country, in particular the houses of
worship as well as our HBCUs.
This is an incredible program, again, to build capacity in
an area that we just have not invested funding in and something
that our Homeland Security Grant and our UASI Program has not
addressed. So we want to continue to use this Nonprofit
Security Grant Program to build this capability in an area that
does not have the same capability that we are seeing in other
parts of our emergency management enterprise.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Well, I think the administration has very
good intentions. I would like to find a way to support the
Nonprofit Security Grant Program and still keep some of these
important programs that I mentioned that did lose dollars, that
are so very important to local areas in the midst of disasters.
I also want to put forward my FEMA restructuring bill that
I look forward, Administrator, to discussing with the
administration and strengthening FEMA's infrastructure
personnel. I think we already discussed it. I clearly want to
provide the sort of support system that FEMA staffing needs.
Would you just again for the record restate the importance
of ensuring the mental well-being, the financial resources, the
payments, and the sensitivity to FEMA employees having to move
around, leaving their home most times, to address disasters?
Ms. Criswell. Congresswoman Jackson Lee, I appreciate your
on-going support and commitment to our work force. Again, we
can't do what we do without them and they are incredible
servants of the public.
As I stated earlier, you know, we are taking a look at how
we can better structure our work force to respond to this
increase in the demand of natural disasters that we are
experiencing. My team is continuing to provide technical
drafting assistance to you for the bill that you had put
forward.
Ms. Jackson Lee. I wanted to emphasize particularly the
mental health. I have seen them work in very stressful moments.
Is some of the funding working to ensure their well-being as it
relates to mental health, dealing with disasters and the
terrible impact of disasters?
Ms. Criswell. Yes, ma'am. The mental health of our work
force is an incredible priority for me and we have put a number
of programs in place to make sure that we are very focused on
supporting the mental health of our work force. Part of our
budget request will continue to support and expand the type of
assistance that we are able to provide.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you. I look forward to really
discussing the legislation that I have. I thank the Chairwoman
for yielding and her leadership, and the Ranking Member. Thank
you all so very much.
Chairwoman Demings. The gentlewoman yields back. With that,
Administrator Criswell, I thank you for your valuable
testimony. I thank the Members for their questions. The Members
of the subcommittee may have additional questions for the
witness and we ask that you respond expeditiously in writing to
those questions. The Chair reminds Members that the committee
record will remain open for 10 business days.
Without objection, the subcommittee stands adjourned.
Ms. Criswell. Thank you, Chairwoman.
[Whereupon, at 11:33 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
----------
Questions From Chairman Bennie G. Thompson for Deanne Criswell
Question 1. Last month, Senator Warren, Chairwoman Demings, and I
introduced the ``FEMA Equity Act'' (HR 7668). The bill was drafted
after the State of Mississippi failed to do its part to address
devastation caused by the June floods in the Mississippi Delta. This
legislation would improve FEMA's data collection systems and require
the agency to incorporate equity criteria throughout its policies and
programming. It also codifies in law the Equity Advisor and the Equity
Enterprise Steering Group that you have established.
Based on your work to increase equity at FEMA, can you discuss the
importance of these actions, specifically improved data collection,
integrating equity criteria into FEMA policies and programs, the Equity
Advisor and the Equity Enterprise Steering Group?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 2a. Members of the Committee on Homeland Security have
witnessed numerous instances of State governments ignoring or
discriminating against certain communities in need after a disaster.
For example, during this hearing, Mr. Green discussed how the Texas
Grant Land Office directed Federal funds from Hurricane Harvey to
wealthier, White inland communities, failing to direct any of a billion
dollars in Federal funds to flood-prone communities in Houston. I have
personally seen the State of Mississippi ignore the needs of my
district. After the flooding last June, the Mississippi failed to even
ask for a joint preliminary damage assessment.
What can FEMA do to help ensure that States allocate Federal funds
equitably?
Question 2b. What can FEMA do to help ensure that States allocate
Federal funds equitably?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question From Chairwoman Val Demings for Deanne Criswell
Question. The Stafford Act's nondiscrimination provision was
intentionally constructed by Congress to be broad in order to allow
FEMA to implement equitable policies.\1\ Congress intended to prevent
the consequences of current policies, which although appear neutral,
often lead to disparate impacts.\2\ The committee has heard from
advocacy groups that FEMA has interpreted the law in a way that limits
the agency's ability to implement equitable policies and programs that
address various communities' specific needs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Hannah Perls and Dane Underwood, Equitable Disaster Relief: An
Analysis of FEMA's Legal Authority to Integrate Equity under the
Stafford Act, October 20, 2021, http://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/
uploads/Equitiable-Disaster-Relief-Perls-Underwood-PDF.pdf.
\2\ Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
How does FEMA interpret the Stafford Act's nondiscrimination
provision to advance equitable and fair policies and programming?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question From Honorable Andrew Garbarino for Deanne Criswell
Question. It was not long ago that Superstorm Sandy devasted much
of my district on Long Island. For many of my constituents, Sandy
caused such catastrophic damage that they are still recovering from it
today. In fact, most of my constituents' lives will never be the same.
However, we know that taking the right steps around pre-disaster
mitigation will save not only lives, but also countless taxpayer
dollars, as multiple studies show that for every dollar spent on better
protecting our communities from climate events, $11 are saved in future
costs. One such program that helps Long Islanders build homes
resiliently is the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities
(BRIC) Program, which was created by the 2018 Disaster Recovery Reform
Act. While Congress intended dollars provided to communities through
the BRIC Program to be used toward strengthening building code
enforcement, I have heard from countless Long Islanders that they
either are unclear on how to properly use the awarded BRIC funds or are
unable to use the funds toward the program's intended purpose.
Administrator Criswell, have you heard whether BRIC Program recipients
are having issues with using awarded funds, and if so, does FEMA have
any plans to address this issue?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
[all]