Ranking Member Henry Cuellar Statement at the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request Hearing for the Federal Emergency Management Agency

Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee’s hearing on the fiscal year 2025 budget request for the Federal Emergency Management Agency:

Thank you, Chairman Amodei, and I congratulate you on your new role as Chairman of this subcommittee.

Good afternoon, Administrator Criswell.  It’s nice to see you again and thank you for being here.

This year, FEMA is celebrating 45 years of helping people before, during, and after disasters. You have been on the front lines of some of our country’s worst events.

We thank you, and the thousands of FEMA staff for their dedication and commitment to serving our country when it is most in need.

Your job is not getting any easier. As the earth continues to warm, these disasters have grown in magnitude, frequency, and cost – not just in dollars but in human life. 

This has led to an increased, year-round, up-tempo and has impacted staff morale. As funding becomes tighter, fewer resources are available to hire more staff and current staff experience burnout, particularly staff who serve under severe conditions.

I was happy we were able to include new authority in the recently enacted 2024 funding bill that allows the entire Department to access an employee emergency back-up care program.

I was also happy we were able to include funding within the Office of Health Security to support workforce wellness and for a tele-mental health and employee assistance pilot program. I hope these programs will be helpful to folks like FEMA’s disaster response personnel who may not otherwise be able to access such support.

I would be interested in learning more about how you are dealing with staffing challenges, whether there are creative ways to address these challenges, and how else the Congress can help.

Additionally, as storms grow in scale and number, the Disaster Relief Fund continues to be strained. There is a reliance on the Congress to keep it solvent sometimes through supplemental appropriations, which is not an ideal way to fund this program.

This creates uncertainty and reliance on “immediate needs funding” measures, which negatively impacts when and how the public receives help from FEMA.

In addition to managing the disaster relief fund, FEMA is tasked with managing several grant programs – including the Shelter and Services Program.

Although we would have preferred a much higher amount in FY24, the $650 million will go a long way to help communities dealing with migration. I hope we can increase that funding in FY25. 

I hope to hear today about your plans to implement the FY24 dollars and your ideas for improving this program in the future.

I also remain interested in your work on Operation Stonegarden and would like to hear any updates you might have on this program – including whether you are seeing progress in these joint efforts.

Thank you, Administrator Criswell, for being here today and I look forward to your testimony and answers to our questions.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back.