{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://troycarter.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-carter-moskowitz-introduce-bill-maintain-fema-assistance-during", "Congressman Carter, Moskowitz Introduce Bill to Maintain FEMA Assistance During Federal Shutdowns", "2025-10-24", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "House", "LA", "Troy A. Carter", "C001125", "troycarter.house.gov", "troycarter", "https://troycarter.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Co-Chairs of the Bipartisan Congressional Disaster Preparedness & Recovery Caucus, introduced the Federal Emergency Management Continuity Act (H.R. 5780). The bill would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to continue obligating and disbursing disaster relief funding during this and any future federal government shutdowns.\n\n\"I'm proud to support this critical legislation that ensures FEMA will continue delivering vital disaster relief and recovery assistance without interruption \u2014 even during government shutdowns,\u201d said Rep. Carter. \u201cNatural disasters and emergencies don\u2019t wait for politics, and neither should our response. This bill safeguards the continuity of essential operations and protects the dedicated FEMA employees who make disaster recovery and response possible, ensuring that communities in crisis continue to receive assistance despite dysfunction in Congress.\u201d\n\nUnder the bill, resources available in the Disaster Relief Fund would continue to be obligated and dispersed for covered programs during any lapse in federal appropriations. FEMA employees necessary to carry out such disbursements would not be subject to furlough or reduction in force due to a shutdown.\n\nAppropriations made under the Disaster Relief Fund allow FEMA to support eligible response and recovery efforts associated with domestic major disasters and emergencies, as directed by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Management Act.\n\n\u201cDuring a government shutdown, communities hit by disaster shouldn\u2019t have to worry that the resources they\u2019re counting on to recover will go undelivered,\u201d said Rep. Moskowitz. \u201cWith this bill, families and businesses can have confidence that the funds they were promised will still be on their way, no matter what\u2019s happening in Washington. Their recovery shouldn\u2019t risk being put on hold just because Congress can\u2019t do its job.\u201d\n\nRead the full bill text here.\n\nBackground:\n\nThe Bipartisan Congressional Disaster Preparedness & Recovery Caucus works across the aisle to advance legislation and policies that provide efficient, equitable relief for disaster survivors and promote measures that pave the path for impacted communities to make a full recovery. They also advocate for disaster preparedness measures and programs that help save lives, while readying America\u2019s communities for the disasters ahead.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://troycarter.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-carter-moskowitz-introduce-bill-maintain-fema-assistance-during"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0538967326283455, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}