WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) delivered a speech on the U.S. Senate floor calling for the continuation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program. The program invests in flood mitigation and prevention, saving billions in flood recovery efforts throughout the United States.
“FEMA must reconsider cutting the BRIC program and canceling BRIC applications. This program is a life-saver and a cost-saver that President Trump supported during his first term,” said Dr. Cassidy.
“I want to put Americans first. That includes investing in infrastructure to protect families from the risk of flooding,” concluded Dr. Cassidy. “We have a program to do that. It’s called BRIC. Again, it protects families and saves taxpayer dollars in the long-run. That’s efficient in my book.”
Background
In 2018, under President Trump’s first administration, Congress established the BRIC Program to reduce flood risk by investing in pre-disaster mitigation efforts. Last Friday, it was announced that the BRIC program housed at FEMA would end.
Cassidy’s remarks as prepared for delivery are below:
Mr. President,
What you see depends on where you sit.
Last Friday, it was announced that the BRIC Program–or Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program–run by FEMA would end.
Most families across the country likely haven’t heard of the BRIC program, but if you were to explain what it does, they would say they need it. I can tell you folks in Louisiana need it.
Louisiana has benefitted the most per capita in BRIC’s latest round of funding.
Preparing for a hurricane or flood in Louisiana is an inevitable part of life.
Well, we know that the best way to recover from a flood is to prevent damage from happening in the first place.
You’ve heard the old saying “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
That same principle applies to flood resilience and mitigation infrastructure.
When we invest in levees and floodwalls, communities are protected when the storm hits and we save billions on a recovery effort we never had to do.
If you go down to South Louisiana, for example, you’ll see homes that have been elevated that now will not flood.
That’s the type of work we need to do–if we do it now, the family won’t have to file an NFIP claim the next time their town floods, and the taxpayer saves.
Investing now saves money down the line.
That’s why back in 2018, during President Trump’s first term, Congress established the BRIC Program to invest in those flood protections now to prevent future flooding.
And through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, we provided $1 Billion for the program.
The BRIC Program is an effective tool.
It’s the type of tool communities in my state rely on.
But BRIC is in danger.
Let me be clear, I support President Trump and the DOGE agenda to eliminate government waste–there sure is a lot of it.
There is fraud, there is waste, but this isn’t it.
FEMA must reconsider the impact cuts to the BRIC program and canceling BRIC applications would have.
Congress passed it for a reason.
Congress authorized AND appropriated this money.
Congress said this program WILL exist.
We passed BRIC into law and provided funds for it.
To do anything other than use that money to fund flood mitigation projects is to thwart the will of Congress.
The BRIC Program is a life-saver and a cost-saver that President Trump supported during his first term.
It improves efficiency, not decreases it.
I can tell you, folks in South Louisiana–Terrebonne, Lafourche, Ascension, and in places you wouldn’t expect to flood, like Livingston Parish–they overwhelmingly support President Trump, and they overwhelmingly support flood prevention investments like BRIC.
Louisiana was the third largest recipient of BRIC’s most recent round of funding and is the largest recipient on a per capita basis.
Without BRIC, none of the projects you see here would be possible.
$39.8 Million to the City of Central for drainage projects to significantly reduce flood risk.
$36 Million to Ascension Parish to strengthen electrical infrastructure in the wake of Hurricane Francine–that’s how you keep the lights on after a storm.
$20 million to Lafourche Parish to strengthen 16 miles of power lines.
And $10 Million to the Coushatta (koo-sha-tuh) Tribe of Louisiana to provide evacuation roads and emergency routes during flooding.
Lafourche Parish president Archie Chaisson had a $25 million application for grid-hardening so that the people of Lafourche would be able to get back on their feet quicker after a hurricane.
This isn’t waste. Go down to Ruby Red Louisiana, and they’ll tell you the same thing.
We must continue the BRIC program because if we can save homes, lives, and communities, we should.
When rivers swell, Americans should be prepared. BRIC ensures we are.
And if FEMA were to move forward with the plan to cut BRIC, what would the alternative be?
Flooding causes up to $496 BILLION dollars in damage every year throughout the United States, not just in my home state.
Let me repeat that–$496 BILLION in damage we need to recover from versus investing a few million now to prevent that damage.
Across the United States, we’re seeing floods destroy homes and neighborhoods, down power lines, harm businesses, and take lives.
Just since the start of 2025, at least 8 Americans across the 4 states in dark red have died as a result of storms hitting their communities.
And in the last three months, 37 states have experienced flooding–those are all the states in red.
Take one look at this map, and you’ll quickly see that this is as much about rivers and inland flooding as it is about coastal flooding.
It’s as much about the entire U.S. as it is about Louisiana.
These are all places that can benefit from the BRIC Program!
All of these places flood, all of them can use flood prevention infrastructure.
We know it works. We know it saves money.
These are parts of the country that don’t typically make you think “flooding,” but it’s a reminder of the urgent need for nation-wide flood prevention.
BRIC was designed for that purpose.
Every community in those states has the potential to end up just like Livingston Parish, Louisiana, pictured here.
This is just after the Great Flood of 2016.
We worked hard to help them recover–families relied on FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program to rebuild–and by golly they did.
But ask yourself, wouldn’t it have been better if they never flooded at all?
Every house tells a story. When houses get swept away, priceless items are swept away with them.
A wedding dress that was ruined. A lifetime of pictures that were destroyed.
More will be destroyed if Congress doesn’t act and keep this law in place.
These local leaders want to put their people first. So do I. That includes investing in infrastructure to protect families from the risk of flooding.
Right now, we have a program to do that. It’s called BRIC.
Again, it protects families and saves taxpayer dollars in the long-run.
That’s efficient in my book.
Let’s keep BRIC in place.
With that, I yield.
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