[House Hearing, 119 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
2026 MEMBER DAY
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
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DECEMBER 18, 2025
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Serial No. 119-33
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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
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
63-130 WASHINGTON : 2026
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COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Andrew R. Garbarino, New York, Chairman
Michael T. McCaul, Texas, Vice Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi,
Chair Ranking Member
Michael Guest, Mississippi Eric Swalwell, California
Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida J. Luis Correa, California
August Pfluger, Texas Shri Thanedar, Michigan
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Seth Magaziner, Rhode Island
Tony Gonzales, Texas Daniel S. Goldman, New York
Morgan Luttrell, Texas Delia C. Ramirez, Illinois
Dale W. Strong, Alabama Timothy M. Kennedy, New York
Josh Brecheen, Oklahoma LaMonica McIver, New Jersey
Elijah Crane, Arizona Julie Johnson, Texas, Vice Ranking
Andrew Ogles, Tennessee Member
Sheri Biggs, South Carolina Pablo Jose Hernandez, Puerto Rico
Gabe Evans, Colorado Nellie Pou, New Jersey
Ryan Mackenzie, Pennsylvania James R. Walkinshaw, Virginia
Brad Knott, North Carolina Troy A. Carter, Louisiana
Vince Fong, California Al Green, Texas
Matt Van Epps, Tennessee
Keighle Joyce, Staff Director
Hope Goins, Minority Staff Director
Sean Corcoran, Chief Clerk
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Statement
Honorable Andrew R. Garbarino, a Representative in Congress From
the State of New York, and Chairman, Committee on Homeland
Security....................................................... 1
For the Record
Honorable Jared Moskowitz, a Representative in Congress From the
State of Florida:
Prepared Statement............................................. 1
MEMBER DAY
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Thursday, December 18, 2025
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Homeland Security,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 12:01 p.m., in
room 310, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Andrew R.
Garbarino, [Chairman of the committee], presiding.
Present: Representatives Garbarino, Van Epps, and Goldman.
Chairman Garbarino. The Committee on Homeland Security will
come to order. Today, pursuant to notice, the committee will
fulfill its requirement under Section 3(r), House Resolution 5,
119th Congress, to receive testimony from Members, delegates,
and resident commissioners on the proposed legislation within
its jurisdiction.
It appears no Members have joined us to testify today.
Members unavailable to appeal before the committee are invited
to submit written testimony for the record.
[The statement of Hon. Jared Moskowitz follows:]
Statement of Honorable Jared Moskowitz
December 16, 2025
Thank you, Chairman Garbarino, Ranking Member Thompson, and Members
of the committee. As the Representative for Florida's 23rd
Congressional District--and the only former State-wide Emergency
Management Director to ever serve in Congress--I appreciate the
opportunity to speak with you today about how we strengthen FEMA and
improve the way our country prepares for, responds to, and recovers
from disasters.
This hearing is timely because the FEMA Review Council is preparing
to finalize recommendations on the agency's future. And unfortunately,
recent reporting has raised questions about how that review process has
unfolded, including changes to the scope of the draft report and the
cancellation of a planned public briefing. At a moment when FEMA's
role, structure, and its very existence are under active review, it is
especially important that reform discussions remain focused on
strengthening the agency rather than dismantling it.
Unfortunately, there has been serious talk in recent months about
eliminating FEMA in some form. Secretary Noem herself has publicly
argued for eliminating FEMA ``as it exists today,'' before later
shifting her position to argue that FEMA should be reworked or
reoriented rather than fully dismantled. Regardless of how it is
framed, eliminating FEMA is not the right answer. FEMA is not perfect--
no agency is--but we don't fix that by walking away. We fix it by
making the agency better. We can save FEMA by enacting common-sense
reforms that make it faster, more efficient, and more effective, and
I've been working on bipartisan proposals to do that. We have a real
opportunity to make the agency deliver as the American people deserve
it to.
The worst thing Congress could do right now is dismantle the only
Federal agency whose sole mission is to respond when Americans are at
their most vulnerable. Eliminating FEMA would force States to take on
disasters alone, regardless of whether they have the resources or
capacity to do so. It would slow recovery, raise costs, and leave
families without the support they need.
The rate of disasters is increasing, and their severity is
increasing as well. In 2023 alone, the United States faced 28 separate
billion-dollar disasters, the highest number ever recorded, totaling
more than $91.3 billion in damages.\1\ \2\ Events like these aren't
concentrated in one region, either--they strike nearly every part of
the country, and the damage is such that communities simply can't
recover alone.
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\1\ Wu, Shuang-Ye. ``Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters
Broke U.S. Record in 2023, NOAA Says.'' PBS NewsHour, January 10, 2024.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/a-record-28-billion-dollar-
weather-and-climate-disasters-struck-the-u-s-in-2023-noaa.
\2\ National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). U.S.
Billion-Dollar Weather & Climate Disasters 1980-2024. National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/
billions/events.pdf.
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We saw it in Hawaii, when wildfires tore through Maui, decimating
the historic town of Lahaina in what became the deadliest U.S.
wildfires in more than 100 years. Nearly 100 people were killed, and
thousands of families lost their homes and businesses at incredible
emotional and financial cost--more than $5.7 billion in damage.\2\ \3\
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\3\ Blake, Mike, and Marco Garcia. ``Maui Wildfires Deadliest in
Century as Death Toll Hits 93.'' Reuters, August 13, 2023. https://
www.reuters.com/world/us/death-toll-maui-fires-hits-least-80-damages-
billions-dollars-2023-08-12/.
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We saw it in my home State of Florida, when Hurricane Ian made
landfall as a Category 4 storm, flattening coastal communities, cutting
power to millions, and causing nearly $120 billion in damage.\1\ It was
one of the costliest storms on record.
And of course, during COVID-19, our country experienced our first-
ever nationwide Major Disaster Declaration. All 50 States, all 5
territories, and the District of Columbia were under active
declarations at the same time.\4\ It was the first time a public health
emergency triggered a response under the Stafford Act.\5\
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\4\ Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA Led Historic
Pandemic Response, Supported Record Number of Disasters in 2020. U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, January 11, 2021. https://
www.fema.gov/press-release/20210111/fema-led-historic-pandemic-
response-supported-record-number-disasters-2020.
\5\ U.S. Government Accountability Office. Disaster Relief Fund:
Lessons Learned from COVID-19 Could Improve FEMA's Estimates. GAO-24-
106676. Washington, DC: Government Accountability Office, July 9, 2024.
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-106676.
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These are just a few of the many examples, but in all of them, who
showed up to help? It was FEMA--working alongside State and local
responders--that helped provide shelter, coordinate aid, and begin the
long but necessary recovery process.
In the years after Ian, FEMA provided $1.15 billion in direct
grants to help nearly 400,000 Florida households repair and rebuild,
and another $2.3 billion to local communities for debris clean-up and
infrastructure repair?\6\ In total, Federal support for Ian's recovery
topped $10.2 billion?\6\ In Hawaii, FEMA is still around almost 2 years
later, offering direct housing assistance. And during COVID, the agency
helped deliver billions of units of PPE, supported field hospitals and
vaccine sites, and provided more than $125 billion in emergency aid to
State and local governments.\4\ \5\ If there was ever any doubt about
FEMA's importance, COVID made it clear.\4\ \5\ FEMA delivered the
national response that the pandemic required.
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\6\ Federal Emergency Management Agency. ``Hurricane Ian: Two Years
into Recovery.'' FEMA.gov, September 19, 2024. https://www.fema.gov/
press-release/20250122/hurricane-ian-two-years-recovery.
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All of this to say, this is not a regional issue. It is national.
As more and more Americans live in high-risk areas and the climate
continues to change, the scale and costs of these disasters will keep
rising. And FEMA is the only Federal agency with the expertise and
infrastructure to coordinate response and recovery at this magnitude.
But FEMA can only do that work if it has the structure, authority,
and agility to meet the challenges we face. That's why I introduced the
FEMA Independence Act--to restore FEMA as a stand-alone agency with a
direct line to the President. I'm honored that this committee included
that reform in the broader package. It's a common-sense step that
reflects what many of us already knew from experience: FEMA needs the
ability to act quickly, cut through bureaucracy, and lead when disaster
strikes.
While that is an important step in the right direction, I also
believe we should continue exploring ways to give States more
flexibility in how they administer disaster recovery programs. For
example, I introduced the Disaster Housing Flexibility Act and the
Disaster Response Flexibility Act to allow States to opt into a block
grant model for housing and public assistance. These proposals are
rooted in my experience managing State block grant programs during my
time as the director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management,
where getting resources out the door quickly made a real difference.
These kinds of reforms are not about shifting responsibility. They
are about recognizing that some States have the capacity and readiness
to move faster--and we should empower them to do so when appropriate. A
voluntary block grant framework would allow FEMA to focus more of its
capacity on States that need the most Federal support, while giving
States with strong emergency management infrastructure more say in
their own recovery. Not only would it reduce administrative burden and
increase efficiency, it would also give States the flexibility to
tailor assistance in ways that make the best use of available
resources. It is a flexible, scalable model worth considering as we
look ahead.
FEMA is not a luxury. It is a lifeline. Whether it is hurricanes in
Florida or Texas, wildfires in Hawaii or California, floods in Vermont
or Iowa, tornadoes in Kentucky or Mississippi, or heat waves in Nevada
or Arizona, FEMA shows up with the people and resources to help. That
work does not replace State or local efforts--it supports and
strengthens them when the scale exceeds what any one community can
manage.
That is why proposals to abolish FEMA are so dangerous. Eliminating
the only Federal agency solely focused on disaster response would not
make our communities safer or recovery faster. It would do the
opposite. We should be improving FEMA, not tearing it down--and that is
exactly what this reform package begins to do.
This committee plays a central role in shaping FEMA's future
through oversight of the DHS and the agency's disaster mission. The
discussions taking place here, alongside the on-going work of the FEMA
Review Council, will help determine whether FEMA is positioned to
respond effectively to the growing scale and complexity of disasters. I
appreciate the opportunity to contribute to that conversation and look
forward to working with the committee as it considers reforms to
strengthen FEMA and the Federal-State partnership.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today.
Chairman Garbarino. All right. Pursuant to committee rule
VII(E), the hearing record will be held open for 10 days.
Without objection, the committee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:02 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]
[all]