[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 78 (Thursday, June 2, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H3927]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           FEMA SAFER GRANTS

  (Ms. FUDGE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. FUDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I am deeply concerned 
about my community's ability to address its emergency response needs.
  FEMA SAFER grants are designed to assist cities with maintaining 
first responders on the street. The challenge is that FEMA has a 
stipulation that cannot have employees in layoff status.
  The cities that are most in need of these funds are financially 
challenged. It is difficult for them to avoid laying off employees when 
they have no funds in the budget to retain them, as required by the 
FEMA grants.
  This is a situation that people in my community are being confronted 
with. The city of Cleveland applied for and received two grants from 
FEMA.
  Due to State-level budget cuts, Cleveland needs these FEMA grants now 
more than ever. FEMA should be granted the authority to waive the no-
layoff clause. This way the funding system would be better able to live 
up to the intent of the grant, and our streets and communities would be 
safer.

                          ____________________