S.Amdt. 5524

SA 5524. Mr. BENNET submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2, to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title
II of S. Con. Res. 33; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. __. PROCESS FOR CONGRESSIONAL REVERSAL OF REFUSAL TO
DECLARE MAJOR DISASTER.

Section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(d) Notification to Congress.--
``(1) Covered refusal.--In this subsection, the term
`covered refusal' means an instance in which--
``(A) the Governor of a State requests a declaration by the
President of a major disaster under subsection (a); and
``(B) the President declines to declare such a major
disaster--
``(i) contrary to a recommendation provided by the
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; or
``(ii) based on a recommendation by the Administrator of
the Federal Emergency Management Agency not to approve the
declaration that is contrary to established precedent.
``(2) Notification requirement.--Not later than 24 hours
after issuing a covered refusal, the President shall submit
to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
President of the Senate a written explanation of the covered
refusal.
``(e) Declaration by Joint Resolution.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Covered joint resolution.--The term `covered joint
resolution' means only a joint resolution of either House of
Congress--
``(i) introduced not later than 14 calendar days after the
date on which Congress receives a notification under
subsection (d)(2) relating to a covered refusal; and
``(ii) the sole matter after the resolving clause of which
is as follows: `That the President shall declare a major
disaster under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) relating
to _______