Dear John,
Hurricane Helene has wreaked havoc throughout the Southeast leaving many areas flooded with a lot of damage to infrastructure and homes as well as entire communities. Over the last few weeks, our state has been hit hard by mother nature. Let us keep everyone in prayer and continue to help those in need.
In Washington this past week, House Republicans continued to bring meaningful bills to the floor that would curb the disastrous policies the Biden-Harris Administration have put in place. Of course, these bills go nowhere with a Democrat majority in the Senate and President Biden in the White House, but the votes on these measures do show the contrast between the two political parties and serve the purpose of better educating the public. Keep reading for more details.
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Since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office, their failed foreign policy of appeasement has diminished our standing on the world stage and emboldened our adversaries. Meanwhile, violent crime surges across the country due to their soft-on-crime policies, failed bail policies, open borders, and their defund the police movement. My colleagues and I are committed to law and order while maintaining strength and dominance on the world stage. Here are some bills House Republicans passed this week putting every member of the House of Representatives on record: Keeping Violent Offenders Off Our Streets Act - Allows state and local jurisdictions to use Byrne grant funding to develop and maintain a public safety report for each defendant charged with a violent offense and report this information to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
- Defines bail bonds as an insurance product so that they must comply with federal insurance fraud laws and background check requirement.
Ensuring Accountability for Key Officials in the Biden-Harris Administration Responsible for Decision-Making and Execution Failures Throughout the Withdrawal from Afghanistan Resolution - Ensures accountability for key officials in the Biden-Harris administration responsible for decision making and execution failures throughout the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
- Condemns several cabinet members for their role in the Biden-Harris Administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan and noncombatant evacuation operation.
Sanctioning Tyrannical and Oppressive People within the Chinese Communist Party Act - Requires financial and visa sanctions on members of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), their spouses, and their adult family members who implement, design, or approve policies or laws that are designed to violate the autonomy of Hong Kong, intimidate Taiwan, or contribute to political oppression or violation of human rights within the People's Republic of China.
Fix Our Forests Act - Simplifies and expedites environmental reviews to reduce costs and planning times for critical forest management projects while maintaining rigorous environmental standards.
- Ends frivolous litigation that delays needed forest management projects.
- Incentivizes forest management projects of up to 10,000 acres to increase the pace and scale of active management.
- Revitalizes rural economies by strengthening tools such as Good Neighbor Authority and Stewardship Contracting.
- Adopts new and innovative technologies to address forest health threats like wildfires, drought, insects and disease.
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House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure |
Natural Disaster Recovery Program Act
Major reform of programs always takes a long time to gain traction in Congress, but this past week the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee finally passed my legislation to streamline assistance to states, like North Carolina, in the aftermath of disaster by a vote of 33-27. I first introduced this bill almost five years ago. H.R. 9750 the Natural Disaster Recovery Program Act would create an unmet needs fund administered by the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA), which essentially would act as a pass-through. Funding would be sent directly to the state in the form of a block grant for disaster assistance in accordance with the requirements outlined in the bill for a state to use as necessary to expedite recovery.
Under the current Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program, hundreds of disaster survivors in North Carolina have waited almost a decade for assistance after being flooded out by Hurricanes Matthew and Florence in 2016 and 2018 respectively. The Natural Disaster Recovery Program Act creates a replacement program for CDBG-DR that would be housed under FEMA, serving the purpose of consolidating unmet needs assistance under one agency. In this program, states, like North Carolina, would be awarded half of the total grant funds immediately, allowing recovery dollars to move as quick as possible. The other half would be received upon verification of proper expenditure as well as review by the appropriate committees in Congress. This commonsense restructuring of disaster assistance will cut the red tape and speed up the process when it matters most.” The Natural Disaster Recovery Program Act: - Creates a new section under the Stafford Act authorizing a simple block grant program for disaster assistance to states impacted by federally declared disasters. FEMA would calculate unmet needs, serve as a pass through for grant funds, and reclaim any misspent or fraudulently used funds.
- Allows states to address their unmet needs, and could be used for disaster relief, resiliency, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, mitigation, and economic revitalization such as a state sees fit. It would be funded through regular or supplemental appropriations by Congress, and grants would be allocated to disaster-stricken states based on the amount of unmet need that can be met with funds available on a proportional basis.
- The program would not make funds contingent on the grantee’s submission of an action plan to the federal government as is currently the case. States would be awarded half of the total grant funds immediately, allowing recovery dollars to start flowing as quickly as possible. States would be totally responsible for the direction of these funds, except that a portion must be used to clean debris and sediment from rivers, creeks, streams, and ditches to alleviate inland flooding.
You can watch my full remarks here.
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As we have seen with the devastation of Hurricane Helene, make sure you have multiple ways to receive severe weather warnings, like a weather alert app on your phone or a NOAA weather radio in your home. Tune in to local TV news when severe weather threatens. Additionally, there are multiple websites with trusted sources of information on such events, including: Before traveling, please check road conditions using DriveNC.gov. This excellent resource features a live with real-time updates regarding road closures from flooding.
For more information, visit rouzer.house.gov/hurricane.
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This Week's Good News Story |
For this week’s good news story, I'm highlighting Shuckin' Shack Oyster in Leland for helping out people in need after last week's storm. A portion of the proceeds from the bar will be donated to Brunswick Family Assistance and Fix-a-Friend Neuter Clinic in Winnabow. It's great to see North Carolinians helping one another after disaster strikes. You can read more about the fundraise and you can help at WWAY's website.
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"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy." — Dale Carnegie |
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