Texas Insider Report: Washington D.C. Today
Congressman John Culberson (TX-07) Chairman of the Commerce Justice and Science Subcommittee on Appropriations (CJS) released the following statement after the House passed
H.R. 302 the Federal Aviation Reauthorization Act of 2018 & the Disaster Recovery Reform Act.
Passage of this bill is a giant step forward to continue making Houston and every other community across the nation more resilient to future natural disasters. Reforming the Stafford Act and putting aside a percentage of federal relief dollars will help us build better and plan smarter so that when the next inevitable disaster strikes our communities will be ready and will recover faster.
Im very pleased that the Disaster Recovery Reform Act includes a legislative fix I spearheaded in the House-passed version of the disaster relief bill. This provision would allow Governor Greg Abbott to request a waiver so that Harvey survivors who took out SBA loans to repair their homes will no longer be prohibited from using HUD grant funding to repay these loans later. I urge Governor Abbott to request this waiver as soon as this bill is signed into law.
For every dollar spent on better pre-disaster mitigation we can save anywhere from $4 to $8 in the cost of future recovery. This bill is a bipartisan bicameral compromise and I urge the Senate to pass this it as quickly as possible."
Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA):
The bipartisan FEMA reforms in DRRA will help communities lessen the impacts of future disasters of all types:
- Focuses on building smarter and better before disaster strikes.
- Recognizes the benefits of taking action before a catastrophe occurs and reforms FEMA and the Stafford Act so that states and local governments can invest in pre-disaster hazard mitigation.
- Clarifies what may be eligible for mitigation funding making sure investments are cost effective to reduce the risk of future flooding.
- Speeds recovery by creating efficiencies in FEMAs programs such as getting structures inspected faster.
The Federal Aviation Reauthorization Act (FAA) of 2018
Provides a five-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that:
- Keeps America as the world leader in aviation by putting American jobs American innovation and the traveling public first.
- Cuts Washington red tape so that our manufacturers can get products to market on time stay competitive globally and continue to employ millions of Americans.
- Encourages American innovation in aviation technologies to promote a stronger American workforce.
- Ensures that our airport infrastructure connects our businesses and the increasing number of air travelers to the world.
- Ensures our system remains the safest in the world for air travelers.
Read the full text of H.R. 302 here.
