One of the most fundamental responsibilities of our national government is to assist states when disaster strikes, a heart-wrenching lesson that was driven home following the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago.
President Trump’s recent unilateral decision to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency that provides coordinated disaster relief to the states and to declare that any future emergency funding will have to come directly from his office is a shocking destruction of a core public capability and an unwarranted power grab that would impose a partisan test on life and death assistance for American communities.
No individual state alone can handle the enormity of the destruction or afford the cost of rebuilding following many of the hurricanes, floods, and wildfires now occurring with increased frequency and severity throughout the country. We are the United States of America for a reason, and the need for a collective, coordinated response along with critical federal expertise and resources to help Americans survive and recover is growing, not diminishing.
