Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. GONZALEZ-COLON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 259, the Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act.

Again, I thank Chairman Graves for moving forward with this bipartisan initiative, for making it possible so early in this Congress, and for it to be considered today.

I also thank my sister from the Virgin Islands, Stacey Plaskett, as well as Representatives Malliotakis and Cleaver for their support and as cosponsors on this legislation.

H.R. 259 would provide an innovative and comprehensive approach to tracking Federal disaster projects and assistance, as well as the funds.

It establishes a single online repository to report information about Federal disaster assistance to provide transparency to the American taxpayer.

This proposal, developed in collaboration with the Project of Government Oversight, would establish a subpage for transparency of disaster assistance on the USASpending.gov website to better inform the public about the status of the use of disaster funding. And believe me, Mr. Speaker, every time I go back to the district every weekend this is the first question I receive from my constituents: What happened with the funds to the bridge?

What happened with the funds to the school?

What happened to the funds to the roads that are still damaged 5 years after a hurricane?

Many people ask themselves these questions: Where is the Federal funding that has been approved by Congress?

Where is the money that has been allocated to the Federal agencies?

Does a contractor have it?

Did the local government spend the money well?

Those are general questions that everybody, at least in Puerto Rico, are asking.

So this bill would require agencies that offered disaster assistance, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Agriculture, and many others, to regularly submit updated information to the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that the best possible data is available in an easily accessible format.

The data to be published would include: the amount of disaster assistance provided by the agencies; the amount of disaster assistance that has been obligated or expended to projects or activities; and a detailed list of all projects or activities for which disaster assistance dispersed by the agency was expended, obligated, or used, including a description of the project or activity, as well as an evaluation of the completion status of that project.

I think this will help not just the general public, not just American taxpayers, but also the government agencies to know where the funding is and when those projects are going to be completed.

During the last few years, my district, like many others represented here in the House, has faced multiple hardships due to disasters. In Puerto Rico, we are still working through the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the earthquakes of 2020, and last year's Hurricane Fiona. Much of the support has been approved for rebuilding--this Congress passed legislation allocating billions of Federal funding not just to Puerto Rico, but to Texas, to California, and to many other States--and, of course, we need better accountability and oversight to ensure this funding is being used as intended by Congress.

H.R. 259 will foster accessibility and transparency of information to track Federal funding and its status. It will also enable local mayors and legislators, nongovernmental organizations, and individual constituents to know what funding has been used for, where the funding will go, and how much funding is left to be spent, among other information.

In Puerto Rico we have put money here for hospitals, for piers, and for bridges, and people don't even know where the money is because the projects have not even begun yet. This kind of information will not only help Federal and local agencies but mostly the American taxpayers.

This will allow better awareness of progress and utilization of resources and to ensure that streams of available funding are not overlooked or underutilized.

The transparency provided with this bill will be essential for better congressional oversight of disaster recovery in all the States and communities where it has been received so agencies can account for how effectively it is being used, and if it is getting to the hands of the individuals and communities that need it and that it was intended to go to.

Mr. Speaker, passing this legislation will assist efforts to improve Federal disaster response and make it more accountable and effective. I urge my colleagues to vote for passage of H.R. 259, the Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act.

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