Today, Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Richard Burr (R-NC) issued the following statement on the Senate’s passage of H.R. 2157, the Supplemental Appropriations Act, or disaster relief funding.

“Since before Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina, I’ve been working with Senator Burr to make sure our state has the resources it needs to fully recover from the storm’s devastation,” said Senator Thom Tillis. “I’m glad our hard work secured much-needed relief for North Carolina’s farmers, communities, and military installations. I’m grateful for the Senate’s bipartisan support for this relief package and for President Trump’s leadership to help end the Congressional gridlock allowing critical relief funding to flow to North Carolinians in need.”

“After months of stonewalling from Congressional Democrats, I am glad the Senate has finally passed critical disaster relief funding that Americans across the country desperately need,” said Senator Burr.“This funding is long overdue, and will help thousands of North Carolinian families and small businesses still recovering from the historic damage incurred by Hurricane Florence last fall. It also begins the process of rebuilding Camp Lejeune and other military bases, providing hundreds of millions of dollars for storm-related repairs. Much of the funding will go toward future prevention efforts and flood mitigation to make sure we are better prepared when the next storm hits. I appreciate the immense effort Senator Tillis, Governor Cooper, and the entire North Carolina delegation have dedicated throughout this process. I am committed to working with them as this funding and additional resources are made available in the months to come.”
 
You can find a summary of the legislation here.
 
Background:
 
The Supplemental Appropriations Act included $19.1 billion to provide disaster relief for Americans impacted by hurricanes, wildfires, flooding, and other natural disasters.
 
Specifically, this funding includes:

• $381 million to repair damages to Marine Corps installations, including Camp Lejeune.
• $1 billion for the Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies account to better support emergency preparation and repairs for floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters.
• $600 million for the planning and construction of projects to replace facilities damaged by Hurricanes Florence and Michael.
• $2.4 billion for Community Development Block Grants for disasters since 2017, and permits states to interchangeably use funds from Hurricane Matthew for Hurricane Florence.
• $3 billion for farm disaster assistance to cover producers’ losses stemming from the 2018 and 2019 natural disasters.
• $168 million in mitigation dollars, which were appropriated to North Carolina in 2018, to be distributed to the state within the next 90 days.

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