Press Release

BURLINGTON, VT — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) released the following statement on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Review Council’s recently-released recommendations to slash the agency in half : “FEMA is essential in the aftermath of a disaster, but there’s no question the long-term recovery processes within the agency are too slow, too bureaucratic, and too difficult to navigate. Vermont knows this frustrating reality firsthand. The FEMA Review Council’s recommendations to the White House include many commonsense proposals to cut red tape, but the Council ultimately fails to address the reality that extreme weather, a consequence of climate change, will only get worse in the coming years. This is not the time to limit our response capacity,” said Senator Welch . “Our communities need to know that the federal government will be there to help when disaster hits. We can fix the problems that exist within FEMA without starving the agency of the resources it needs to help communities recovering from disaster. My bill, the Disaster AID Act , protects and reforms FEMA, and I urge my colleagues to lend their support.” Senator Welch called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release the FEMA Review Council’s full, unaltered report following reports former-Secretary Kristi Noem heavily edited the report and recommendations. This week, he joined Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) in writing to Secretary Mullin, urging the Secretary to pursue meaningful FEMA reform, including improving the agency’s disaster response and recovery timeline. The Senators also encouraged Sec. Mullin to support the nomination of an experienced FEMA Administrator, ensure FEMA is adequately staffed, and cooperate with congressional oversight and Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigations. Senator Welch has been outspoken in opposing attempts by the Trump Administration to dismantle FEMA. The Senator published a guest essay in The New York Times entitled: “Don’t Kill FEMA. Fix It.” In his piece, Senator Welch outlined why President Trump’s actions to undermine and potentially dissolve FEMA are misguided—but also committed to working on good faith efforts to reform the agency’s long-term recovery process. ###