10/14/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/14/2024 13:06
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Last week, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) led Republican members of the Committee in demanding answers from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for the Biden-Harris administration's backwards spending priorities. Specifically, the members condemned the Biden-Harris administration's push for hundreds of millions of dollars every year for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to spend specifically on illegal aliens, first through the Emergency Food and Shelter Program-Humanitarian (EFSP-H), and subsequently the Shelter and Services Program (SSP). Read the full letter here.
Read more in Fox News via Adam Shaw.
In the letter, the members write, "[Y]ou stated to media reporters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 'does not have the funds, to make it through the [hurricane] season.' If true, FEMA's funding shortfall is extremely disconcerting as Americans impacted by Hurricane Helene and potentially by Hurricane Milton face dire circumstances while the Biden-Harris administration may have unwisely and irresponsibly focused funding requests for other FEMA activities."
The members continue, "FEMA operates the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), the federal government's primary fund for disaster relief activities. Throughout the Biden-Harris administration, Congress consistently met or exceeded, through supplemental appropriations, the President's budget requests for disaster relief. In fiscal year (FY) 2023 and FY2024, Congress appropriated approximately $61.2 billion for the DRF through a combination of both annual and supplemental appropriations. The Committee, however, is troubled that the Department and FEMA may not have properly appraised Congress of its need for additional disaster relief funds while simultaneously requesting large sums of monies to fund FEMA's Shelter and Services Program (SSP), a grant program to fund nonfederal entities for shelter and services provided to migrants encountered by the Department, including illegal aliens."
The members conclude, "According to analysts, Hurricane Helene caused up to $47.5 billion in damages to Americans across 16 states. The recovery for these communities will take years and possibly even decades. While the Committee understands that there is no intermingling of funds between the DRF and SSP, the Department's priorities for limited resources provided by taxpayers to the Department should first and foremost serve Americans."
Background:
Over the past three and a half years, the Biden-Harris administration has fought for billions of taxpayer dollars to radically alter FEMA's mission.
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