On Friday's broadcast of NewsNation's “The Hill,” Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) responded to the proposal to abolish FEMA, saying, “Emergencies are best handled at the local and state level. I support the idea that.” However, federal assistance is needed in the case of large-scale disasters, and “we need better mechanisms” to get resources to local governments more quickly.
Host Blake Berman asked, “Congressman, what do you think about that idea of looking at FEMA and saying maybe…potentially getting rid of it?”
Mr. Vera replied: “So, I believe 100% of the time, based on the basic premise that emergencies are best handled at the local and state level, where communities know best. Obviously, in the event of a major disaster, we're going to need federal assistance, and the state of North Carolina is going to need that assistance, too. How can I get it delivered faster? I'm open to that conversation because there are bigger disasters happening too, with flooding and hurricanes in North Carolina and frigid temperatures in Texas and Louisiana. , we've had the worst disaster we've ever seen here in California. So we need better mechanisms. And how do we rebuild in a better, more resilient way? What does that look like? So I think we should talk about all of that.”
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