Disaster Resiliency Planning Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 3510, the Disaster Resiliency Planning Act.

Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and wildfires cause significant damage across the country to Federal real property assets. According to the Government Accountability Office, over the past 5 years, Congress has spent billions of dollars to repair Federal assets damaged by natural disasters. Yet, for decades, Federal agencies have made minimal efforts to prepare for natural disasters and make their real property assets more resilient. This is unacceptable.

Billions in taxpayer dollars have been wasted to repair assets left unprepared in the face of reoccurring and predictable risk posed by natural disasters and extreme weather events.

Natural disasters are a fact of life, and the U.S. Government maintains a sprawling footprint of buildings and facilities across our great Nation. We must recognize these realities. The Disaster Resiliency Planning Act does this.

It tasks the Office of Management and Budget with issuing guidance requiring Federal agencies to incorporate natural disaster resilience planning into their real property asset management and investment decisions. This will help save taxpayer dollars and ensure Federal agencies are acting in a fiscally responsible manner.

Mr. Speaker, this is a commonsense, bipartisan bill that will save taxpayer dollars and ensure Federal property recovers from natural disasters more quickly.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of S. 3510, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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