U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA), along with nine other senators, sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), asking for each federal agency’s request for the next supplemental disaster appropriations bill. Each federal agency was instructed to provide OMB with this information. The Senators request the same information in order to identify gaps in data and ensure funding is efficiently delivered to Americans impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, as well as the declared wildfires.
The letter was also signed by Senators John Kennedy (R-LA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bill Nelson (D-FL), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), David Perdue (R-GA), and Johnny Isakson (R-GA).
You can read the letter below, or click here.
Dear Director Mulvaney:
We write in response to your October 24, 2017 letter to Congress soliciting additional information for long-term recovery needs and rebuilding efforts due to the consequences of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, as well as the declared wildfires. We appreciate your commitment to ensuring the forthcoming disaster supplemental will address the needs of Americans who were impacted by these natural disasters. It is vital that we acknowledge and respond to these long-term efforts.
Realizing the Office of Management and Budget is working internally with relevant federal agencies on specific data that supports your next supplemental, we trust that you will work with members of Congress to ensure those figures represent the true array of immediate needs. To that end, we respectfully request you share each agency’s request for funding with our offices and the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations as soon as possible so that we may quickly work with our states and local governments to identify potential gaps in your data.
These agency requests should include the Department of Agriculture, Coast Guard, Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Small Business Administration, Department of Transportation, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Commerce, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Interior and Department of Education, and other agencies that submitted information. All of these agencies play vital roles in disaster recovery in our states and territories. Thank you for your prompt consideration and we look forward to working with you moving forward.
Sincerely,