Press Releases

Mr. Chairman, we have done a lot to ease the burden of military service, for example, the Congress passed the 9/11 GI bill, the Hiring Heroes Act, and the Caregivers Act, all with strong bipartisan majorities.

However, we are still struggling in the claims process area but we are making progress. The last update I saw there were a total of 672,000 claims and of that 389,000 are considered backlogged. So Mr. Secretary we still have a ton of work to do on this.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Administrator Fugate, thank you for joining us this morning to discuss FEMA's proposed budget for fiscal year 2015. Your tenure has been a busy one, particularly in 2011, which brought a record high 99 Major Disaster Declarations, along with 29 Emergency Declarations and 114 Fire Management Assistance Declarations, also a record level. Since 2011, we have seen an additional 109 Major Declarations, including of course Superstorm Sandy in 2012 – the biggest test of FEMA's capabilities since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Assistant Secretary Darcy and General Bostick, we appreciate you appearing before the Subcommittee this afternoon.

The last several years have been busy ones for the Corps—between Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene, droughts, tornados, and flooding in the Mississippi and Missouri River Basins, you have had much to do. Let's hope that the year ahead of us is less full of surprises.

Administrator Pistole, thank you for joining us this morning to discuss the Transportation Security Administration's budget request for fiscal year 2015. Your agency has a uniquely difficult task: broadly securing the transportation sector, including not only aviation, but also rail, mass transit, highways, and pipelines.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. And since this is our first hearing with you as chairman, let me publicly congratulate you on assuming this new role and say that I look forward to working with you on the many issues that this subcommittee faces. You have big shoes to fill following Chairman Simpson but I am confident that you are up to the task.

Good morning, Dr. Danielson, it is good to see you again. Dr. Lyons, Secretary Smith and Hoffman, good morning. Thank you all for being here today to update the Subcommittee on your programs.

Today we consider the applied research and development portfolios at the Department of Energy—Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Nuclear Energy, Fossil Energy and the office that at least in theory, links them all together Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability — all critical areas of our nation's energy portfolio.

I would like to thank Chairman Latham and Ranking Member Pastor and welcome Secretary Foxx.

First, I want to commend the work of Chairman Latham and Ranking Member Pastor who have both announced that this will be their last Congress. Iowa and Arizona along with this Committee have benefitted greatly from their service. They will be sorely missed.