Schatz Calls For Additional Disaster Aid When Congress Returns In November

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today called for additional disaster relief funding when Congress returns in November. Speaking on the Senate floor, Schatz stressed the need to provide disaster survivors on Maui and in other disaster-impacted communities with flexible, long-term assistance in the form of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding which will enable them to rebuild their homes and communities as quickly as possible.

“Make no mistake, our work is not over,” said Senator Schatz. “When we return in November, passing disaster aid has to be the top priority of the United States Congress. There is no excuse not to do this. This is an American priority, and we cannot close up shop for this Congress leaving all these Americans behind.”

The full text of the senator’s remarks can be found below. Video is available here.

It is good that the Senate and the House are working on a bipartisan basis to pass a short-term bill to keep the government open. But make no mistake, our work is not over, because once again we are leaving town for a long period of time not having passed disaster aid to help survivors on Maui and elsewhere.

Over the past 13 months since tragic fires tore down the town of Lahaina and claimed 102 lives, I've been here on the floor repeatedly pressing for urgent disaster relief. And in that time, more disasters have devastated communities all over the country. So many people on Maui, in Texas and Vermont, New Mexico, California, Iowa and Florida and 20 states total, and unfortunately rising. They're waiting for help, and the federal government has not come to their aid yet. They've lost loved ones. They've lost homes. They've lost businesses. They've lost livelihoods. And all they want is help and a little bit of hope to get their lives back to something close to normal. What are we doing as a Congress if we can't even deliver help to our fellow Americans when disaster strikes?

When we return in November, passing disaster aid has to be the top priority of the United States Congress. There is no excuse not to do this. What's being asked of us is what Congress always does. We simply need to do the thing that we've always done, which is to show up for disaster survivors and get them the help survivors and get them the help that they need. And if you are a member who represents any of the 20-odd states that need this help, we need your help. And if you are a member from one of the other 30 states, there but for the grace of God go I. It will always come around. Everyone needs disaster help. So consider it your priority, even if your state, thank God, hasn't been hit this year or last. Even if you don't have 20 or 30,000 victims waiting for help. This is an American priority, and we cannot close up shop for this Congress leaving all these Americans behind.                                                                                                               

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