{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.schatz.senate.gov/news/press-releases/under-questioning-from-schatz-homeland-security-secretary-commits-to-helping-residents-impacted-by-maui-fires-stay-in-their-communities", "Under Questioning From Schatz, Homeland Security Secretary Commits To Helping Residents Impacted By Maui Fires Stay In Their Communities", "2023-11-08", "2023", "2023-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "HI", "Brian Schatz", "S001194", "www.schatz.senate.gov", "schatz", "https://www.schatz.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai\u2018i) called on Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to commit to helping Maui residents impacted by the August fires remain in their communities.\n\nSchatz asked Secretary Mayorkas, \u201cShould the federal government help disaster survivors stay in their communities?\u201d\n\nIn response, Mayorkas said, \u201cSenator, I believe the answer is yes. We should strive to do everything possible to rebuild, restore, and prove the resiliency of a community\u2026 I do believe in devoting resources and energy to the rebuilding of a community, rather than solely an exodus from it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want the memory of the fire itself to fade,\u201d said Senator Schatz. \u201cHawai\u2018i is the most isolated, heavily populated place on the planet. West Maui is even more isolated and even more expensive. As we think about helping people rebuild, it is not a matter of giving them a voucher and allowing them to fly to the mainland. And I appreciate your continued attention to this.\u201d\n\nSince the devastating fires in August, FEMA has provided nearly $250 million in federal assistance, while the Small Business Administration has delivered more than $215 million in disaster loans for affected Maui homeowners, renters and businesses.\n\nSchatz has led efforts to deliver additional federal disaster relief funding to Hawai\u2018i. Schatz worked with congressional leaders and his colleagues in the Hawai\u2018i delegation to ensure $16 billion in disaster relief money was included in the short-term spending bill signed into law in September.\n\nVideo of Schatz\u2019s full exchange with Secretary Mayorkas is available here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:01:09Z"]], "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://www.schatz.senate.gov/news/press-releases/under-questioning-from-schatz-homeland-security-secretary-commits-to-helping-residents-impacted-by-maui-fires-stay-in-their-communities"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1503961868584156, "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"}