Waters: Trump Would Rather Put Children in Cages Than Prepare Nation For Natural Disasters

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, in response to the release of documents showing the transfer of $9.8 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) emergency preparedness funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for its detention centers, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), made the following statement:

“The Trump Administration’s transfer of $9.8 million in FEMA emergency preparedness funding to ICE for its detention centers at the beginning of this year’s hurricane season is a travesty. This President is more interested in cruel policies that put children in cages and separate them from their parents than ensuring that our nation is prepared for natural disasters.

“To make matters worse, on the eve of another major hurricane’s expected landfall, Trump is trafficking in despicable conspiracy theories and denying the devastating death toll in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. Every day, Trump shows the American people just how unfit he is to be President.”

As a 2018 National Preparedness Month Congressional Co-Chair, Ranking Member Waters is working to raise awareness of the importance of flood insurance and other forms of emergency and disaster preparedness.

Additionally, she has continued her efforts to push for a long-term reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), that ensures the affordability and availability of flood insurance.

Most recently, she was selected to serve on the 2018 Farm Bill Conference Committee, where she urged her colleagues to protect Section 12609 of the 2018 Farm Bill, which would extend NFIP through January 31, 2019.

She has also expressed longstanding concerns about NFIP’s stability and the need to improve FEMA’s flood maps. See her September 2017 op-ed on NFIP here.

In 2014, Ranking Member Waters led bipartisan legislation to provide homeowners with flood insurance rate relief. The law struck an important balance between addressing affordability concerns, bringing accountability to FEMA, and protecting the financial stability of the NFIP.

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