As you know, Americans throughout the southeast are still suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Many rural, mountainous communities — especially in western North Carolina — have lost everything. Tragically, the death toll has risen to more than 230 across six states, with rescue crews still working to locate survivors.
I’m incredibly thankful to all the first responders, troops, and volunteers who have worked tirelessly to save lives, deliver critical resources, and rebuild communities. From organizing rescue missions to supplying basic necessities, many private citizens and local churches have swiftly answered the call to aid their fellow Americans.
Undoubtedly, the Biden-Harris Administration’s response to Helene has been an abysmal failure.
When Helene made landfall, President Biden was vacationing at his beach house mansion in Delaware. Meanwhile, Vice President Harris was attending a political fundraiser in California. Despite warranted backlash for bad-optics, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took multiple days to even view the devastation.
In stark contrast, President Trump was on the ground in Georgia the Monday following the weekend of dreadful storms. Both Trump and Senator Vance have continued visiting victims and areas ravaged by Helene to keep the country focused on the problem. Additionally, President Trump has raised millions of dollars to assist Americans in need.
Yet many are outraged beyond the jarring juxtaposition of these responses.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) entire mission is to help Americans before and after disasters. However, the country is now realizing the Biden-Harris Administration has spent roughly $1.1 billion allocated to FEMA to house and aid illegal aliens. To make matters worse, video footage from a 2023 FEMA meeting has recently resurfaced in the wake of criticism surrounding the agency’s misuse of taxpayer funds. In the clip, a FEMA Emergency Management Specialist discusses prioritizing LGBT individuals, as they are “already disadvantaged.”
Unbelievable is an understatement. The Left’s woke DEI agenda ruins everything it touches.
Bottom line, FEMA is not out of resources. While the agency has shamefully misused taxpayer dollars, it still has funding to help Americans impacted by natural disasters. In fact, FEMA’s natural disaster fund had $1.8 billion at the end of September, and the agency just received an additional +$20 billion dollars. So combined, FEMA has over $22 billion to fund current disaster relief efforts.
But the Biden-Harris Administration’s troubles extend well beyond FEMA.
It’s no secret that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris prioritize funding for Ukraine over assisting the American people. Since the start of the war, over $175 billion of taxpayer dollars have been appropriated to Ukraine. As if this reminder wasn’t enough to enrage the American people, Kamala Harris recently took to social media to tout aid to Lebanon for “essential needs such as food, shelter, water, protection, and sanitation.” Apparently unaware and severely out of touch, Harris proudly added that U.S. assistance to Lebanon over just the last year is more than $385 million.
Meanwhile, folks here at home devastated by Helene are left with scraps.
This entire saga is a powerful reminder that time and time again, the Biden-Harris Administration puts Americans last.
Now more than ever, we need strong, America First leadership. Rest assured, I’m working with my conservative colleagues to get to the bottom of the Biden-Harris Administration’s abysmal response to Helene and reckless mishandling of our tax dollars.
