[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 29, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2079-E2080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




H.R. 3377, THE DISASTER RESPONSE, RECOVERY, AND MITIGATION ENHANCEMENT 
                              ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 29, 2009

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 
3377, the ``Disaster Response, Recovery, and Mitigation Enhancement Act 
of 2009''. This bill makes amendments to the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) to improve 
the assistance that the Federal Government provides to States, local 
governments, and communities after major disasters and emergencies. I 
thank Full Committee Ranking Member Mica, as well as the gentlewoman 
from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) and the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart), Chair and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee 
on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, 
for joining me in sponsoring this bill.
  H.R. 3377 is a consolidation of many issues brought to the attention 
of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the last two 
and a half years and contains a series of proposals to enable the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to carry out its programs 
and activities related to preparedness, response, recovery, and 
mitigation more effectively. Several provisions of this bill 
incorporate proposals put forth by Members on both sides of the aisle.
  This bill reauthorizes core FEMA programs and activities, including 
the Pre-Disaster Mitigation program; codifies programs that FEMA is 
currently administering under the authority of the Stafford Act but 
which are not expressly authorized in statute, such as the National 
Urban Search and Rescue System and Citizen Corps; restores an essential 
program, the Mortgage and Rental Assistance program, which was 
eliminated in 2000; and amends eligibility under certain FEMA programs, 
including the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, by creating incentives 
for better building codes.
  Congress made changes to the Stafford Act in 2000 with the Disaster 
Mitigation Act of 2000, and in 2006 with the Post-Katrina Emergency 
Management and Reform Act. FEMA is still working to implement the 
changes required in these Acts. This bill makes a number of positive 
changes to FEMA's authority which, together with prior reforms that 
FEMA is still implementing, will enable it to become a more effective 
agency.
  H.R. 3377 is a continuation of the Committee's work to address 
ongoing emergency management and disaster relief needs. In the 110th 
Congress, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure ordered 
reported a similar bill, H.R. 6658. We are reintroducing this bill, 
which is an updated version of H.R. 6658, with the intent to move it 
through Committee and the House as expeditiously as possible.
  Specifically, H.R. 3377 reauthorizes the Pre-Disaster Mitigation 
(``PDM'') program, a program to provide cost-effective technical and 
financial assistance to State and local governments to reduce injuries, 
loss of life, and damage to property through fiscal year 2012 at a 
level of $250 million per year. While a one-year extension was included 
in the Department of Homeland Security
  Fiscal Year 2009 Appropriations Act to keep this vital program alive, 
Congress must act. If we do not, this worthy program will sunset on 
September 30, 2009. The bill also reauthorizes the Emergency Management 
Assistance Compact (EMAC), which expired at the end of fiscal year 
2008, to provide form and structure to interstate mutual aid and allows 
a State impacted by a disaster to request and receive assistance from 
other states quickly and efficiently.
  The bill also specifically authorizes two existing FEMA programs that 
are not expressly authorized in statute but rely on broader language in 
the Stafford Act. The National Urban Search and Rescue System (US&R), 
is a robust system of 28 teams composed of state and local emergency 
responders who work together to respond to both local incidents and 
major disasters and emergencies, and codifies workers' compensation and 
other protections for US&R teams currently provided administratively by 
FEMA. The bill also specifically authorizes FEMA's existing citizen 
preparedness program, known as ``Citizen Corps'', to help coordinate 
volunteer activities to better prepare communities to respond to a 
disaster or emergency, as well as the Citizen Emergency Response Team 
Program.
  The legislation directs the President to modernize the integrated 
public alerts and warning system to help ensure that our Nation's 
warning systems are prepared for all hazards, which is currently 
authorized by the Stafford Act. It also amends section 404 of the 
Stafford Act by providing for additional assistance under the Hazard 
Mitigation Grant Program for States that actively enforce an approved 
building code throughout the State.
  H.R. 3377 also authorizes the Disaster Relief Fund and Disaster 
Support Account, which provide funding for FEMA's Federal Disaster 
Programs authorized by titles IV and V of the Stafford Act. Since its 
inception, how the Disaster Relief Fund is set up and administered and 
what it can be used for has been determined by appropriations; this 
provision remedies this deficiency and gives the authorizing statute 
and the authorizing committee in the House and Senate an appropriate 
role.
  The bill also takes small steps to address two very pressing issues 
that face our nation: health care and housing. This legislation makes 
temporary employees hired by FEMA in response to a disaster eligible to 
enroll in the Federal Health Benefits Program. Most of the employees 
that FEMA sends to disasters--many of whom have been employed by FEMA 
for years--do not have access to employer sponsored health insurance. 
This legislation would also restore the Mortgage and Rental Assistance 
program, which was eliminated in the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 
(P.L. 106-390). The program provides assistance for up to 18 months in 
the form of mortgage or rental payments to or on behalf of individuals 
and families who, as a result of financial hardship caused by a major 
disaster, are at imminent risk of dispossession or eviction. This will 
protect communities and citizens who have been impacted by disaster 
from taking an additional hit by exacerbating the current housing 
crisis in those communities.
  H.R. 3377 further provides new authority to allow FEMA to sell excess 
materials, supplies, and equipment to States, local governments, and 
relief or disaster assistance organizations to assist victims of 
smaller-scale natural disasters and other incidents that do not result 
in the declaration of a major disaster or emergency. This bill also 
authorizes FEMA to include household pet and service animal rescue, 
care, and sheltering to activities during emergency declarations under 
Title V of Stafford Act. Currently, such activities are only authorized 
under a Major Disaster Declaration under Title IV of the Stafford Act.
  Finally, this legislation addresses an important issue from the 
aftermath of the response

[[Page E2080]]

to Hurricane Katrina by requiring FEMA to assess the number of 
temporary housing units necessary for the agency to effectively respond 
to future disasters and emergencies. FEMA must, within six months, 
develop a plan to store any units needed for future disasters and to 
dispose of, through sale, transfer, donation, or other means, those 
units the agency does not need to keep in stock. This legislation 
provides FEMA the flexibility to provide temporary housing units in its 
current inventory to victims of disasters that do not rise to the level 
of a Presidential disaster declaration, if the Governor of the State 
certifies that there is an urgent need for the housing and meets other 
requirements.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 3377, the 
``Disaster Response, Recovery, and Mitigation Enhancement Act of 
2009''.

                          ____________________