WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, delivered the following opening statement during a Housing and Insurance Subcommittee hearing entitled, “Mitigation and Multiple Loss Properties: Factors Influencing the High Cost of Flooding.”

Thank you. 

Extreme weather events like wildfires, hurricanes and flooding are causing record damage to communities across America. But the Trump Administration says climate change is a hoax and is dismantling FEMA, the agency charged with managing emergencies. The President is also illegally withholding critical funds and gutting federal programs to help people recover from disasters. 

Today this Committee can begin to push back on the President and begin the important discussion around one of those disaster-related programs, the National Flood Insurance Program. I hope Republicans will work with Democrats to reform the NFIP, including by bolstering mitigation funding, ensuring affordable coverage, modernizing mapping, forgiving legacy debt, and finally authorizing NFIP for the long-term.  

It’s time to act. 

I yield back.