Senator Andy Kim Leads First Press Conference as a United States Senator to Advocate for FEMA Funding and Disaster Relief Survivors Across the Country

December 11, 2024​

WASHINGTON DC – Today, Senator Andy Kim led his first press conference as a United States Senator, where he advocated for permanent and comprehensive disaster relief at the federal level, including a push to permanently authorize and fully fund the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR), and improve upon the work done with the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Senator Kim was joined by Representatives Frank Pallone (NJ-06) and Jill Tokuda (HI-02), and over 50 disaster relief survivors from across the country who represented groups such as New Jersey Organizing Project, Organizing Resilience, Down Home North Carolina, Hawai’i Workers Center, Housing LOUISIANA, United Survivors Disaster Relief, and Concerned Citizens of Cook County.

“I have seen the devastating and long-term impact natural disasters like Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Ida have had on our families at home first-hand and spent my time in Congress working with organizations like NJOP to secure resources for those still working to recover years later. Still, there is so much to be done at the federal level to help communities across the country as we see a worsening climate crisis and severe natural disasters occurring at an increasingly alarming rate,” said Senator Andy Kim. “It was powerful to hear from so many today about the need for leaders to step up and do the jobs we were sent here to do so that FEMA remains fully funded and that disaster survivors have the support they need so that no one has to wait for help to rebuild their homes and lives after catastrophic events.”

 

“As a congressman, Andy Kim has always advocated for and stood with New Jersey’s disaster survivors,” said Joe Mangino, Co-Founder of New Jersey Organizing Project. “It was no surprise today when Senator Kim was the first elected official in the room as NJOP and Organizing Resilience asked Congress to fund the CDBG-DR, and fully fund FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund. We are grateful for the Senator’s leadership.”

 

As a Member of the House of Representatives, Senator Kim consistently fought to deliver funding for disaster relief survivors. Senator Kim also secured $26 million in forgiveness for shore towns and school districts that had received low-interest loans from FEMA, and secured language in the FY23 Omnibus for a permanent extension to Superstorm Sandy homeowners that had applied and received federal recovery loans.

 

In addition, he voted for the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, which would guarantee federal funding and appropriations through December 20, 2025, and was an original cosponsor to Rep. Pallone’s National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, which would reauthorize the NFIP program through FY2026, and which would prohibit FEMA from raising certain premiums, surcharges, and fees more than 9% a year for five years, establish a means-tested program to provide financial assistance to low-income households through policy discounts, and revise standards and certification requirements for flood insurance rate maps. 

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