Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Devastating Floods In Texas

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor to express condolences for the tragedy in Texas and call for President Trump to back off threats to eliminate FEMA. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Today, the Senate’s thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims, families, and communities devastated by the flash floods in Texas.

The reports from Texas were both heartbreaking and terrifying at the same time: water rising over 25 feet in a matter of minutes, entire buildings and homes swept away, hundreds of people stranded.

As of this morning, 105 people have died during the floods, including 27 children.

To see the pictures of those children – the little beautiful faces, which I saw published in one of our New York papers this morning – just breaks your heart and stays with you. And the agony, of course, of those in their families who survived.

Of course, the search continues for many more, and we hope and pray more will be found alive.

I thank all the first responders on the ground, and we all hope for the best in the ongoing rescue and recovery efforts.

Now, when a tragedy as devastating as the one in Texas occurs, the American people deserve to know what happened, what more could have been done to minimize the tragedy, and what we can do better to prevent this from happening again. And that means taking a close look at what went wrong, if anything, at the agency level.

So, yesterday, I asked for an investigation into what role, if any, the administration’s staff cuts to local National Weather Service stations played in preparedness and response to the Texas tragedy.

We also must look forward. As communities rebuild – as families mourn – we must ensure the federal government has all the resources in place to aid those in need.

And that means holding off against devastating cuts to agencies like FEMA.

As recently as last month, Donald Trump talked about “wean[ing] off” FEMA and has toyed with eliminating the agency entirely as soon as this year.

That would be a mistake at any time, but in light of these horrible floods it’s unthinkable that Donald Trump would do something like put FEMA’s future in doubt.

As communities rebuild, today would be a good day for Donald Trump to back away from his threats to dismantle FEMA.

Any one of us who has visited these terrible hurricanes and floods and so many others, in terms of natural destruction, sees the job FEMA does. They're dedicated, they're hardworking, and they're there for people at the exact time people desperately need them.

To eliminate this agency, it speaks of someone who doesn't know anything about what FEMA does.

We all know that nothing can bring back the lives of those who perished. But the administration can – and must – ensure it takes every step, including funding FEMA.

Not eliminating it, not cutting it by two-thirds, but funding it fully. The administration must do that to ensure that it takes every step possible to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.

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