{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/wyden-merkley-walden-push-fema-transparency-federal-disaster", "Wyden, Merkley, Walden Push FEMA for Transparency in Federal Disaster Declarations", "2017-05-19", "2017", "2017-05", "Republican", "House", "OR", "Greg Walden", "W000791", "walden.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Wyden, Merkley, Walden Push FEMA for Transparency in Federal Disaster Declarations \nWashington, D.C.\u00a0\u2013 U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore., and Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., today pushed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to be more transparent when it comes to the agency\u2019s process for granting federal disaster declarations. The lawmakers\u2019 push follows FEMA's denial of Oregon\u2019s request for a federal disaster declaration that would bring much-needed relief to communities hit by severe winter weather in January.\u00a0\nA federal disaster declaration would allow local governments and residents to seek federal aid to recover from dangerous winter weather that led to more than $17 million in damages. Wyden, Merkley and Walden also pushed FEMA to improve communication with regional offices about new policies that may affect states\u2019 disaster declaration requests.\u00a0\n\u201cWe write you with great concern over the recent denial of Oregon\u2019s request for a major disaster declaration as a result of the succession of severe winter snow and weather events occurring from January 7 through 20,\u201d\u00a0they wrote in today\u2019s letter to Acting FEMA Administrator Robert Fenton. \u201cThese storms had devastating effects on Oregon\u2019s economy, and hit small rural communities especially hard.\u201d\nOn March 9, Oregon Governor Kate Brown requested a federal disaster declaration for 10 Oregon counties, including Baker, Columbia, Curry, Deschutes Hood River, Josephine, Malheur, Multnomah, Union and Washington.\u00a0 The lawmakers wrote in support of the state\u2019s request on March 16.\u00a0Brown announced the state would appeal the disaster declaration denial.\n\u201cOregon has a long history of successfully working with FEMA after weather disasters,\u201d\u00a0the lawmakers wrote in the letter to FEMA Acting Administrator Robert Fenton.\u00a0\u201cIt is in this spirit that we encourage you to increase transparency and improve your communication and support to rural communities that have already struggled greatly to recover from this severe weather event.\u201d\nRead the full text of the letter here.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/wyden-merkley-walden-push-fema-transparency-federal-disaster"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8060529362410307, "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"}