Kristi Noem Details Efforts To Reform FEMA, Make States More Responsible For Disaster Response

Forbes Breaking News

6 months ago

DHS Sec. Kristi Noem details efforts to dismantle FEMA in its current form.

Transcript

00:00Thank you very much, Doug.

00:02He's doing a great job.

00:03They all are.

00:04Russell, vote.

00:05Sure.

00:06Thanks, Mr. President.

00:07From a funding perspective, the accounts that support

00:10the important work that these Cabinet Secretaries are doing

00:13are funded.

00:14They are flush.

00:15The main one, the Disaster Relief Fund, has $13 billion.

00:18It's projected to get us all the way into the end of the fiscal year.

00:21So we're in a very good place.

00:23And we've been — the President has personally been a steward

00:26of the taxpayer resources on every one of the expenses

00:29that the states have come in for to put us in a position

00:32where we are ready for this season.

00:35Great job.

00:36Thanks, Christine.

00:37Again, Mr. President, we are in hurricane season right now.

00:39It will last for the next several months.

00:41And we are prepared for what is coming.

00:44We are anticipating that we will have higher-than-usual activity

00:48during this hurricane season.

00:50We could have three to five major storms,

00:52up to a dozen other hurricane-level thresholds

00:56that we will meet throughout this season.

00:59And FEMA stands prepared and has been working with all of our regions

01:02on training, pre-deploying resources,

01:05making sure that individuals are out there ready to respond to each state

01:09as they bring the necessary resources to take care of their people.

01:12But also, sir, you've been very clear that you want to see FEMA eliminated

01:16as it exists today.

01:17So I'm preparing all of these governors that they will have more control

01:21over the decisions on how they respond to their communities

01:25so that it can help it happen faster,

01:27that they can pre-deploy resources

01:30and help coordinate on communication as well.

01:33So while we are running this hurricane season,

01:36making sure that we have pre-staged and worked with the regions

01:39that are traditionally hit in these areas,

01:42we're also building communication and mutual aid agreements

01:46among states to respond to each other

01:48so that they can stand on their own two feet

01:51with the federal government coming in

01:52in catastrophic circumstances with funding.

01:55But we all know from the past that FEMA has failed thousands

01:58if not millions of people,

02:00and President Trump does not want to see that continue into the future.

02:03So this agency fundamentally needs to go away as it exists,

02:07and we need to have a response to states that supports them

02:11when terrible things come

02:13and when the worst day of their lives happens

02:15to where the financial resources are there.

02:17But they have decision-making power right there in the state to respond.

02:21So the next several months we expect it to be high activity,

02:24and the federal government is here to support the people of the United States.

02:28With President Trump's leadership while he's doing that,

02:31he's also going to make sure that they're better set up for the future

02:34so that they have the ability to really take care of their families

02:37when a crisis or a terrible storm does hit.

02:39We've got many governors that just recently had terrible tragic losses

02:43from tornadoes, from other events that went through their states.

02:48And FEMA was extremely responsive, and they've all been very happy.

02:51I think, Mr. President, you even spoke to one of those governors this morning.

02:54Right, right a little.

02:55Who is very happy.

02:56And the Missouri governor as well, who is very happy.

02:59As soon as something happens in their state,

03:01I'm in direct communication with the governors to make sure they have what they need,

03:05but also making sure that they have the ability to make decisions

03:08to respond to the people that live in their states.

03:11Thank you very much. Great job, everybody.

03:13So we want to wean off of FEMA, and we want to bring it down to the state level.

03:20A little bit like education, we're moving it back to the states.

03:23Thank you very much.

03:24Thank you very much.

Kristi Noem Details Efforts To Reform FEMA, Make States More Responsible For Disaster Response

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