BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 1 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Rep. Becca Balint (Vt.-AL) today released the following statement in response to the White House requesting $4 billion of emergency aid, in addition to the previously requested $12 billion, to replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), which was heavily utilized during the July floods in Vermont and is running low following several natural disasters across the United States this summer:

“We are encouraged by the White House’s request for an additional $4 billion in funding to replenish FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, which provides much-needed assistance to individuals, towns, and non-profits, as well as critical funding to help prevent future disasters by making our communities more resilient. As a delegation, we’re continuing to push for the federal resources Vermont farmers, small businesses, families and communities need to recover from July’s flooding. The tragic natural disasters across the U.S. in the last few weeks, including flooding in our state, fires in Hawaii and Louisiana, earthquakes and storms in California, and hurricanes in Florida, Georgia, and the Southeast, show that we are all susceptible. We stand ready to work with our colleagues from impacted states around the country and get this done.”