Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 539) to amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to waive certain debts owed to the United States related to covered assistance provided to an individual or household, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 539.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 539, the Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act, introduced by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Graves from Missouri and Representatives Carbajal, Garamendi, Huffman, Thompson, and LaMalfa of California.

This legislation is designed to ensure disaster survivors are not revictimized by recoupment--or clawbacks--of Federal disaster assistance they have received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Unfortunately, FEMA has repeatedly instructed disaster survivors to register for individual assistance for which they were ultimately not eligible, or granted qualified survivors more assistance than they should have received.

However, once FEMA identifies an error, it forces these survivors into a bureaucratic nightmare to appeal the debt that they now owe as a result of the agency's error. I am not surprised that this still goes on, but I am disappointed that--given the technology and data we have at our fingertips--we have not been able to improve this system for survivors, especially considering that this program is just a small piece of the Federal disaster recovery apparatus.

H.R. 539 would waive survivors' debt owed to the Federal Government in instances where FEMA erroneously distributed assistance. This bill would also provide a similar waiver to disaster survivors who may be involved in a legal action against a party deemed responsible for a disaster event. While this scenario is less common, it played out in California last year and jeopardized disaster relief for tens of thousands of families displaced by the unprecedented wildfires of the last few years.

Survivors have already been traumatized by a disaster--the Federal Government should not force them to endure a convoluted process to correct FEMA's mistakes or decision to pursue legal action years after an event against a liable party.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I am a proud sponsor of this bill, the Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act.

In 2018, Congress made the recovery process fairer and more equitable for communities when we passed important reforms to the disaster preparation and recovery processes. This bill builds upon those efforts by ensuring that funds spent by disaster victims aren't clawed back by the government.

When victims apply--and this is in good faith, mind you--when victims apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and receive it from the agency, those individuals likely need to move quickly to use that assistance for eligible expenses like home repairs to speed up

recovery and to begin rebuilding their lives, for obvious reasons. So, these victims should never expect that FEMA is going to come back weeks, months, and sometimes even years later and say: Oops, we made a mistake. Now you, the victim, are going to have to give back those funds that you have already put to good use.

To add insult to injury, FEMA's information on how disaster victims can appeal these decisions is incredibly confusing, and it is absolutely insufficient.

Remember, this is due to no fault of their own, but many disaster victims are faced with debt collectors and the full force of the Federal Government when it comes to repaying these funds.

This is absolutely unacceptable. People acting in good faith to rebuild should not be revictimized after they have properly relied upon FEMA's determination that they were qualified for the assistance that they did receive.

This bill, H.R. 539, is going to clarify that if FEMA makes an error, and there is no evidence of fraud, then the victim will not be revictimized. Their debt is automatically viewed as a hardship, and it is waived.

In addition, the bill would also require FEMA to report back to Congress, to us, on its error rates and tell us what they are doing to be more accurate.

Last Congress, this bill passed on the House floor and had bipartisan support. This Congress, the bill now has a companion version in the Senate, and I hope that we can see this legislation enacted into law this year and truly help disaster victims not only in my district but also across the Nation.

Madam Speaker, I encourage support for this bill. It is a good bill, and people don't need to be revictimized.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.