What Does An Official Letter From The White House Requesting Funds For Hurricane Harvey Look Like?

Often after a terrible disaster such as Hurricane Harvey has hit parts of the United States, politicians will jump on the news and state that a "request of funds" to congress have been made.  I often wonder what such a request looks like.  Thanks to the journal 'Politico' - I do not need to wonder any further.  In the blog post below I show that a letter has been sent to Representative Paul Ryan in Congress.  The only aspect of this terrible event left to wonder about is why initially President Trump earlier this year set in his budget massive cuts to the same disaster relief funds which now he is requesting emergency funding from.  Makes zero sense.  Regardless, funding needs to be desperately sent to Houston in order to rebuild the extensive damage seen over the course of the last ten days.

Please Send Relief Funding

  As I mentioned above, I have been wondering what such requests look like from politicians to Congress in the event of a disaster like Hurricane Harvey.  The damage is enormous and the repair process will be even larger over the next few years.  I received a link from my morning e-mail from the 'tip-sheets' published by Politico this morning with the following letter from Mick Mulvaney of the Office of Management and Budget:

Dear Mr. Speaker:

    On Friday, August 25, 2017, at approximately 10:00 pm CDT, Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, striking the southeast coast of Texas and steadily moving toward the southwest and central parts of Louisiana.  Prolonged high winds, storm surges, and torrential rains have contributed to unprecedented and widespread flooding that has upended the lives of residents and damaged more than 100,000 homes.  As a result, to date, more than 43,500 people are in shelters and more than 436,000 households have registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for support for temporary rental assistance, hotel/motel costs, and essential home repairs to help restore their lives to normal as quickly as possible.  Local businesses, schools, and public infrastructure have been damaged, and many families will soon need to regain stable housing, which has been difficult given the current situation.  As you know, the Federal Government has an important role to play in supporting and assisting States and local communities as they respond to natural disasters of this magnitude.

   At the direction of the President, and under the auspices of the National Response and Disaster Recovery Frameworks, numerous Federal agencies and coordinating and contributing resources and personnel (over 22,000 Federal workers) in response to the devastating effects of the storm.  As the affected region continues to battle the flooding, the Administration believes additional Federal resources are necessary to continue to fund critical, and often life-saving, response and recovery missions. 

   At this time, the Administration requests an appropriation of $7.85 billion in Federal resources for response and initial recovery efforts related to Hurricane Harvey.  This amount includes $7.4 billion for FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), including funds to ensure FEMA is prepared for any additional disasters while continuing ongoing response and recovery efforts.  It also includes $450 million to support the Small Business Administration's disaster loan program to assist small businesses and homeowners. In addition to these emergency supplemental appropriations, in the event that the Congress enacts a fiscal year 2018 continuing resolution(CR), the Administration also supports authorizing FMA's response to Hurricane Harvey and other natural disasters that require Federal assistance, including the potential for near-term response needs during Atlantic Hurricane season.

These additional Federal resources would enable the affected States to address disaster response and immediate recovery needs in the areas most affected by Hurricane Harvey.  These funds would be used to continue life-saving response and recovery missions; begin to address housing repair costs unmet by insurance; and provide low-interest loans to businesses and homeowners.  Because the need for this funding arises from an unforeseen, unanticipated event resulting in the loss of life and property, these resources should be provided as emergency funding.

   As you know, authorization of the National Flood Insurance Program expires on September 30, 2017.  The Administration will work closely with the Congress to reauthorize the program and implement reforms that can garner bipartisan support.  FEMA is working diligently to assess the fiscal position of the program to ensure that all claims are paid in a timely manner.  The Administration will follow up regarding any needs for this program.

The President visited Texas on August 29, 2017 to reassure the people of Texas that the Federal Government would help them rebuild from the catastrophic flooding and damage to the affected communities.  During the visit, the President emphasized that he is prepared to work with Congress to ensure that people affected by Hurricane Harvey receive the resources they need to respond  and recover as quickly as possible.  This request is a down-payment on the President's commitment to help affected States recover from the storm, and future requests will address longer-term rebuilding needs.

Finally, we must recognize that the debt ceiling could, unless modified, affect critical response and recovery efforts related to Hurricane Harvey.  As Treasury Secretary Mnuchin has said, it is critical that the Congress raise the debt ceiling by September 29, 2017.  Given the need for additional spending as a result of disaster response and initial recovery from Hurricane Harvey, the Administration continues to urge the Congress to act expeditiously to ensure that the debt ceiling does not affect these critical response and recovery efforts.  Indeed, if the debt ceiling is not raised, it may not be possible to outlay the requested supplemental appropriations or funds for other critical Government operations.

Thank you for your consideration of these funding needs.  I urge the Congress to take swift action to provide the additional funding requested to address Hurricane Harvey's unmet response-related and other critical needs.  I stand ready to work with you to achieve this goal.

Sincerely,

Mick Mulvaney

Regardless of political beliefs, the necessary funding should be sent.  The residents of Houston are all Americans and deserve to be helped in the time of need with the necessary funding.  I feel for those who have lost everything.  Furthermore, more tragic is those who lost love ones who did not survive the floods.  Nothing can replace the loss of life by such a tragic event.  The only hope a nation can have is to prepare by funding the necessary agencies which are quick to respond and have the necessary infrastructure to rebuild and recover from a tragic disaster like Hurricane Harvey.



Part of the funding process is to properly fund agencies at the Federal level.  An agency like FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency plays a critical role in the first few weeks along with the remaining recovery from such a disaster for Houston.  Which is why funding such as agency should be a top priority.

Why Take FEMA Funds?

A natural disaster like Hurricane Harvey reminds us of the potential unknowns that exist in our society.  From these terrible disasters, the government hopefully learns what to do and what not do in the event of a future disaster.  Part of the process is to send in Federal inspection agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency to check to see that businesses and other agencies are compliant and have not exacerbated the issue prior to Hurricane Harvey by ignoring critical regulation.  In the future, I will write a post regarding the EPA and chemicals released into the floods of Houston. For the present time, I would like to focus on Federal funding -- since that is the topic of the post.



To address the current funding issue related to Hurricane Harvey, look toward the current news cycle.  Reports are surfacing regarding the "flip-flop" nature of the politicians regarding natural disasters and funding.  Which is discouraging to say the least.  Although, the point should be made regarding President Trump's budget for 2018 -- which included massive cuts to Federal Agencies -- see article from last March.  Back in March earlier this year, a discussion of these massive cuts to Federal Agencies were aimed at increasing funding for President Trump's campaign promises -- building a wall on the U.S. southern border.  In an article from the Washington Post titled "Trump’s DHS budget includes billions to build his border wall" the following explanation was made regarding the shifting of funding around the Department of Homeland Security (under which the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- FEMA resides):

The budget plan envisions a $2.6 billion expenditure on border security enhancements, much of that for the design and construction of a larger wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Overall, DHS spending would grow by $2.8 billion, reflecting President Trump’s repeated calls to get tougher on illegal immigration.

The administration wants $314 million to pay for the hiring of 500 new Border Patrol officers and 1,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. In addition, it wants to spend$1.5 billion more than the current fiscal year on the detention and removal of undocumented people. 

Paying for that beefed-up immigration enforcement would mean significant cuts to other parts of the department, particularly the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s grants to state and local agencies.

The budget would cut $667 million from such programs, including disaster mitigation grants, which are designed to make communities more resilient before disasters occur. Also facing major reductions is the Homeland Security Grant Program, which includes the Urban Area Security Initiative. Its funds are distributed to major U.S. cities to help them pay for counterterrorism work, and previous efforts to restrict those payments have met stiff resistance in Congress.

Wow!  Take away money from FEMA to fund immigration issues.  Yes, the same FEMA which is under pressure to help rebuild and find disaster relief from Hurricane Harvey.  Yes, the same FEMA which is listed in the letter from Mick Mulvaney of the Office of Management and Budget above.  Yes, FEMA is the organization for which the White House is requesting funding for from Hurricane Harvey.



Why then would President Trump propose massive cuts from FEMA in his current fiscal year 2018 budget proposal released months ago?



In the letter above, obviously, the White House has taken a different position than what line up with the President's fiscal year 2018 budget cuts.  Although, according to an article from NPR titled "Trump Policies Could Undermine Post-Harvey Rebuilding" the proposed policies set forth by the President could be the impeding barrier toward future disaster relief:

JOYCE: Besides the executive order, the budget for the Federal Emergency Management Agency has become a target as well. FEMA is the government's front line when it comes to flooding. President Trump's proposed budget for next year cuts hundreds of millions of dollars that FEMA spends to help states prepare for flooding and other disasters. It also eliminates FEMA's flood mapping program. FEMA draws up maps that show who's in a flood zone and has to buy flood insurance and who doesn't. NRDC's Rob Moore says that could have far-reaching effects.

MOORE: What the Trump administration doesn't seem to understand is that these flood maps are used for decisions at every level of government. They're used by private developers for deciding where it is safe to build and what kinds of standards do we need to build to in order to be safeguarded against flooding?

JOYCE: FEMA is already in a delicate position financially. It's over $23 billion in debt. The tragedy unfolding in Texas and Louisiana will cost billions more and may well drive the agency further underwater. Christopher Joyce, NPR News.

The above excerpt was from the article listed which was an interview conducted by NPR's Christopher Joyce, the National Resource Defense Council's Rob Moore, and Ari Shapiro of NPR.

Conclusion...

President Trump is currently regretting his initial budget proposal of cutting FEMA funding at the present moment.  Especially, in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and the emerging Hurricane Irma.  In the months to come, the public will see the consequences of denying climate change and deregulating industry.  Hurricane Harvey has shown us already the horrible effects of deregulation of chemical industry by the release of enormous amounts of chemicals from the Arkema plant in Houston.  Furthermore, the superfund sites which were waiting to be assessed and dealt with have contributed chemicals of unknown concentrations.  We will find out about these levels of chemicals which have migrated from the contaminated superfund sites into the surrounding neighborhoods.



Regardless of the current political debate surrounding the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey on Houston Texas, funding should be released immediately to assist those who have lost so much and are left in disarray.  Hopefully, the process of rebuilding and recovery can proceed as quickly as possible.  Furthermore, hopefully, our current Administration wakes up to the realities that pose a great danger to us and the world at large by listening to science more often.