Durbin, Kirk, Delegation Support Illinois Appeal for Federal Public Assistance for Southern and Central Illinois Counties
[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) were joined by the entire Illinois Congressional Delegation today sending a letter to President Obama asking him to reconsider the denial of the State of Illinois' request for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance to help nine Illinois counties recover from the deadly tornadoes that struck the state on November 17, 2013. Following the storm, Illinois received a major disaster declaration and Individual Assistance was authorized for 15 counties on November 26, 2014.
“We write in support of Illinois' appeal of the denial of the State's request for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance for nine Illinois counties severely damaged by tornadoes, high winds, and heavy storms on November 17, 2013,” the Members of Congress wrote. “The State has dedicated significant resources to the response and recovery effort, but federal help is needed. We respectfully request that you reconsider the State of Illinois' request for Public Assistance for this weather event.”
In December, Durbin and Kirk were joined by members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation in sending a letter to President Obama in support of Governor Quinn's request for FEMA Public Assistance for nine Illinois counties – Champaign, Douglas, Grundy, Massac, Tazewell, Vermilion, Washington, Wayne, and Woodford – due to immense storm damage. Federal Public Assistance would remove debris, repair damage to public water systems, and continue day-to-day operations as recovery from the disaster continues over the next several months.
Members signing on to today's letter include Representatives Cheri Bustos (D-IL), Danny Davis (D-IL), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Bill Enyart (D-IL), Bill Foster (D-IL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Randy Hultgren (R-IL), Robin Kelly (D-IL), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Peter Roskam (R-IL), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Brad Schneider (D-IL) Aaron Schock (R-IL), and John Shimkus (R-IL).
[Text of the letter below]
February 7, 2014
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC
Dear Mr. President:
We write in support of Illinois' appeal of the denial of the State's request for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance for nine Illinois counties severely damaged by tornadoes, high winds, and heavy storms on November 17, 2013. Illinois received a major disaster declaration for the event and Individual Assistance was authorized for 15 counties on November 26th. On January 9th, however, the State learned its request for Public Assistance was denied. We request reconsideration of that determination based on additional damage information made available since the State's first request.
Specifically, the disaster recovery costs have increased more than $7 million since the first round of Preliminary Damage Assessments were conducted after the disaster. Illinois estimates there are $21,450,443 in Public Assistance costs. This exceeds the per capita total for Illinois, which is $17.8 million. Federal Public Assistance is needed in Champaign, Douglas, Grundy, Massac, Tazewell, Vermilion, Washington, Wayne, and Woodford Counties to help pay for debris removal, repair of damage to public water systems, and to help pay for the day-to-day operations during recovery from the event.
Twenty-five tornadoes touched down in Illinois that day, killing six people in our state and destroying or severely damaging 1,000 homes. The State has dedicated significant resources to the response and recovery effort, but federal help is needed.
We respectfully request that you reconsider the State of Illinois' request for Public Assistance for this weather event. We thank you in advance for your timely consideration of this important request and stand ready to assist in any way appropriate.
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