Press Releases

Aloha, and mahalo to everyone for joining us today to assist us in assessing our federal government’s response to the devastating and tragic August 2023 Maui wildfires.

And a very special thank you to my colleague and friend, Pete Sessions, Chair of our U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce, for coming here personally to assist us in this review and equally importantly to determine our next steps here and to improve our federal government’s efforts at prevention, mitigation and response elsewhere  in our country.

Our federal government’s Maui’s recovery effort has proceeded on several fronts. As of the one-year anniversary of the fires, the federal government was on track to provide approximately $3 billion towards Maui’s recovery, including $463.1 million in assistance to survivors. However, there is clearly much more that must be done.

It is clearly imperative that we continue to provide federal assistance, including through supplemental disaster funding, which I have strongly supported through my work on the House Appropriations Committee. On August 7th, FEMA was forced to implement "Immediate Needs Funding" due to a rapidly shrinking Disaster Relief Fund that urgently needs additional appropriated funds. Because of this, FEMA will have to delay obligations for longer-term work to prioritize lifesaving disaster responses.

This is why the Hawai’i delegation recently sent a letter to Congressional leadership detailing the need for supplemental funding, including $20.9 billion for FEMA, $3.5 billion for the Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Relief that can assist with housing and more. I ask unanimous consent to enter a copy of our letter into the record of this proceeding.

I look forward to hearing from the witnesses about how federal agencies have assisted, what remains to be done, and what are the lessons to be learned both for our own ‘ohana and for our fellow citizens across the country.

Mahalo.