Far too often, rural communities are left struggling to scrap resources together following a natural disaster. This makes it extraordinarily difficult for families in communities like Malden to rebuild their homes and piece their lives back together. 

I believe the federal government can do more to make the process of receiving assistance easier for rural communities that find themselves at an unfair disadvantage. That’s why I helped pass the Small State and Rural Rescue Act last week to ​​help improve coordination efforts between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state and local officials. 

Specifically, the legislation will help responders determine the type of damage they need to assess, better understand the extent of the damage, and ensure the damaged communities get the assistance they desperately need.

This is a great start, but we still have more work to do to get this bill signed into law. In the meantime, I will continue working hard to advocate for our rural communities here in Eastern Washington to get the fair access to assistance they deserve.

CLICK HERE to read the bill.