Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5343, the ``FEMA Caseworker Accountability Act.'' This bill directs FEMA to report to Congress on case management personnel turnover.…
Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5343, the ``FEMA Caseworker Accountability Act.''
This bill directs FEMA to report to Congress on case management personnel turnover.
Specifically, FEMA must report on the turnover rate for their case management personnel, the average and median length of employment for such personnel, the steps that FEMA is taking or plans to take to lower the turnover rate, and other specified points.
Madam Speaker, FEMA's importance cannot be overstated. They have invaluable abilities to plan, coordinate, and execute very complex strategies to fulfill the disaster response and mitigation needs of local and state governments through collaboration and cooperation among a broad range of federal government agencies.
Following the havoc inflicted by Hurricane Harvey, I experienced firsthand the power of FEMA's skill, care, and rapid execution.
The nine-county Houston metro area that was impacted by Hurricane Harvey covers 9,444 square miles, an area larger than five states, including New Hampshire, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Harris County covers 1,778 square miles, enough space to fit New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Austin and Dallas, with room still to spare.
Over 41,500 square miles of land mass were impacted by Hurricane Harvey and the subsequent flooding that covered an area larger than the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont combined.
Hurricane Harvey dropped 21 trillion gallons of rainfall on Texas and Louisiana, most of it on the Houston Metroplex.
Harvey dropped 51.88 inches of rain near Cedar Bayou, the highest total ever recorded for a single U.S. weather event.
At its peak on September 1, 2017, one-third of Houston was underwater.
At the peak on August 31, there were 34,575 evacuees in shelters across Texas.
Hurricane Harvey is the largest housing disaster to strike the U.S. in our nation's history, damaging 203,000 homes, of which 12,700 were destroyed.
Months after Hurricane Harvey, in February 2018, an estimated 10,098 families were still residing in hotel rooms, in over 1,500 hotels. Thousands of others whose homes were severely damaged were living with family or friends.
It was also the second costliest disaster ever recorded in the United States, with an estimated $125 billion dollars in damages.
In its wake, 889,425 people registered for assistance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
There were scores of families, including small children and the elderly, living in mold-infested or gutted-out homes.
When this once-in-a-lifetime disaster struck my district, FEMA did their jobs exceedingly well, for which I am incredibly grateful.
However, there is always room for improvement in federal agencies, and FEMA is no exception.
A high rate of caseworker turnover is the last thing that vulnerable families need. In my district, the recovery from Hurricane Harvey is ongoing, which can be seen in the caved-in roofs, torn-up streets; and shuttered buildings across my district.
Those problems do not linger singularly because of caseworker turnover, but it is certainly a significant reason. If no one is working on closing these cases, or they are being managed by only a few overwhelmed individuals, that's a problem which needs fixing.
Therefore, passing this legislation will set us on a path to fix that problem, Madam Speaker, which is why I strongly support this legislation and urge my colleagues to support it as well.
H.R. 5343 will play a critical role in FEMA's post-disaster response operations, and I look forward to reviewing Administrator Criswell's future report and implementing its recommendations.
