[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 84 (Monday, May 20, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ESCAPE ACT OF 2019

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 20, 2019

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, today I reintroduce the ``Enhancing the 
Strength and Capacity of America's Primary Evacuation routes (ESCAPE) 
Act,'' with Congressman William R. Keating (D-MA). I want to thank 
Congressman Keating for his leadership as the sponsor last Congress and 
partnering with me this year.
  This bicameral bill would establish a new U.S. Department of 
Transportation grant program for roadway, bridges, and other 
transportation projects that strengthen and protect routes essential 
for mass evacuations caused by natural disasters and other emergency 
events. With increasingly frequent and severe disasters across the 
country due to climate change, Congress must provide dedicated funding 
for resilient evacuation routes.
  In 2017, nearly 200,000 Californians were forced to evacuate when 
they learned that Oroville Dam, the tallest dam in the nation, was on 
the verge of failing. Thousands of drivers funneled onto a narrow two-
lane highway, spending hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic to reach 
safety along the Sacramento Valley's major north-to-south evacuation 
route.
  Last year, Paradise, California, just north of my district was 
reduced to rubble by the devastating Camp Fire. As the flames engulfed 
the single-lane road that served as the city's primary evacuation 
route, residents were forced to abandon their vehicles and escape on 
foot--some to their death. The lack of adequate evacuation routes in 
our nation--particularly for small rural communities--is costing lives 
every year. Our bicameral legislation would provide dedicated federal 
funding for evacuation routes that save lives in times of crisis.
  I hope that any infrastructure package passed this Congress will 
include our ``ESCAPE Act.'' I plan on making this a major priority in 
my work as a senior member of the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure.
  Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to join Congressman Keating and me 
in cosponsoring this critical legislation.

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