Chuck Schumer Calls For Investigation Into Trump Admin.'s Cuts To NWS Amid Texas Floods

Forbes Breaking News

During remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for an investigation into cuts to the National Weather Service under the Trump administration.

Transcript

00:00Now when a tragedy as devastating as the one in Texas occurs, the American people deserve

00:06to know what happened, what more could have been done to minimize the tragedy, and what

00:10we can do better to prevent this from happening again.

00:13And that means taking a close look at what went wrong, if anything, at the agency level.

00:20So yesterday I asked for an investigation into what role, if any, the administration's

00:25staff cuts to local National Weather Service stations played in preparedness and response

00:31to the Texas tragedy.

00:34We also must look forward.

00:36As communities rebuild, as families mourn, we must ensure the federal government has all

00:43the resources in place to aid those in need.

00:46And that means holding off against devastating cuts to agencies like FEMA.

00:51As recently as last month, Donald Trump talked about, quote, weaning off FEMA, and has toyed

00:57with eliminating the agency entirely as soon as this year.

01:04That has been a mistake, that would be a mistake at any time.

01:07But in light of these horrible floods, it's unthinkable that Donald Trump would do something

01:12like put FEMA's future in doubt.

01:15As communities rebuild, today would be a good day for Donald Trump to back away from his threats

01:21to dismantle FEMA.

01:23Any one of us who has visited these terrible hurricanes and floods, and so much other in

01:30terms of natural destruction, sees the job FEMA does.

01:35They're dedicated, they're hardworking, and they're there for people at the exact time people

01:39desperately need them.

01:41To eliminate this agency?

01:43It speaks of someone who doesn't know anything about what they do.

01:48We all know that nothing can bring back the lives of those who perished.

01:53But the administration can and must ensure it takes every step, including funding FEMA.

02:00Not eliminating it, not cutting it in two-thirds, but funding it fully.

02:06The administration must do that to ensure that it takes every step possible to prevent

02:11a tragedy like this, from happening again.

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