Washington, D.C.– The House of Representatives has approved legislation authored by U.S. Representative Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, that solidifies Indian Country’s tribal sovereignty during major disasters and emergency situations. Rahall’s legislation was included as part of a larger bill to reauthorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) which was approved by voice vote on Wednesday evening.

Washington, DC – Following yesterday’s announcement that the President approved West Virginia’s appeal for Individual Assistance for those hardest hit by the June 29 Derecho storm, the House of Representatives has approved legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) that would require FEMA to reassess how it evaluates requests for Individual Assistance following future disasters.

Washington, D.C. – House Transportation Infrastructure Committee Republicans today voted down legislation that would have provided desperately needed state funding for clean water infrastructure and created hundreds of thousands of family-wage jobs. During a Committee markup, Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Ranking Democratic Member Tim Bishop offered an amendment to H.R. 4278 to ensure that States had sufficient and stable funding to modernize their wastewater infrastructure. The amendment was defeated on a party-line vote.