yeah. gov. youngkin: we are still working on it. vp vance: you are kidding me. wow. vp vance: this was how many days after? >> that day. water. vp vance: ok. >> three or four days after, maybe a little bit longer. yeah, ok, all right, thank you.

so ladies and gentlemen, the vice president of the united states of america, jd vance. [applause] >> after touring the damage done by hurricane helene in damascus, virginia, vice president jd vance talked about federal support for the community during a brief talk.

vp vance: ok. we are. ok, well, hello everybody. it's great to be back in damascus. i visited during the campaign trail. the governor was kind enough to show me around, not just last time but this time as well. as you all know, i love the appalachian region of our country, especially this particular part. it's beautiful. the people are kind and friendly, and they've got a great community here, but obviously got slammed very hard by the hurricane, and i think unfortunately while the people have done an incredible job of rebuilding this community, they have not had a federal government that's really been on their side. i've heard so many stories just in the last hour that i've been on the ground of federal agencies that have not developed and deployed the resources necessary, federal bureaucrats that have been a barrier as opposed to a facilitator of some of the federal resources, and i think the country has decided collectively that we want to help the regions of our country that were devastated by this flood. so why are the bureaucrats not doing the american people's will and frankly holding up some of the aid here? i want to hear from the governor here in a second, but let me just say one last thing. i've been the vice president of

the united states for all of 7 days. this is, i think, my 7th day on the job, and this is an incredible place to have my first official trip. i heard so many good stories of good people helping their neighbors rebuild, of a woman at a church helping an elderly woman clean off photographs that were destroyed by the, or at least damaged by the flood. of people who have volunteered their time, have come out of retirement, volunteered and donated their money to help people rebuild or fix houses. this is just an incredible place with incredible people, and i'm honored to be the vice president of a country that's as kind and generous as the people here in damascus. so we're going to try to make sure the federal government does right by them, and i'm going to go back to washington with that message and that directive from the people here on the ground in damascus. it's great to be here and let me just say one final thing. they are very, very, i think, blessed to have one hell of a

governor in glenn youngkin. gov. youngkin: thank you. first of all, welcome to virginia, and we're just so honored to have you here, mr. vice president, thank you for keeping your word. vp vance: yes. gov. youngkin: when you were here in october right after this devastating hurricane, you said you'd be back, and we are so honored that this is your first official visit. and so thank you. the words that the vice president shared are so accurate. this community withstood a devastating storm. where we are standing was literally deep, deep, deep with water, with mud. businesses were washed away. houses were washed away, and the community has responded, and we find ourselves now looking back in awe of the heroes that's had over 100 swift water rescues that saved lives, of the communities that came together and said we're going to rebuild together. but what we also see is the federal government has really ground to a halt in getting the resources to us. there was a very large cr past with a lot of disaster funding

in it, and that money needs to flow. and what i so appreciate is the vice president and the president understand that the funds are available, but the funds have to get to the people to use them. and so we are ready. we are already rebuilding homes. we are already rebuilding businesses. we are ready to work as your prototype project on how to do this in an accelerated way, and i think everybody here is encouraged to hear the vice president's words that we're going to go to work together in order to streamline, streamline these processes to get the bureaucracy and the red tape out of the way. so that virginians and tennesseans and north carolinians and south carolinians and georgians and the folks in florida can get the resources that we need and particularly as we see the devastating fires in california, there's another process there to be had. so, mr. vice president, i cannot tell you what it means.

to this community, to southwest virginia, to virginia as a whole, for you to be here and to work with us to make sure that when we are rebuilding, we are rebuilding in a way that everybody in the nation can say that's the way to do it, that's the way to do it. vp vance: great. gov. youngkin: we'll take a few questions, guys. >> mr. vice president, one of the things that i've heard from people that they knew that there was a potential of maybe a flood, not to this magnitude, but they couldn't afford flood insurance even if they wanted to. vp vance: sure. >> is there anything that your administration can do? vp vance: well, first of all, as the governor said, the most important thing that we're doing is trying to pick up and fill the gap where the insurance isn't necessarily available. and there's been about $4 billion that's been earmarked for the state of virginia. only about $47 million has actually been delivered or even promised to be delivered to the state of virginia. so really what we're going to have to do where there are major gaps in flood insurance is to ensure that the people's government is actually helping people rebuild and recover after these terrible floods actually happen.

yes, there are things that we can do to make flood insurance more available. i think there's some. regulatory changes that we can engage in, but the most important immediate thing that people here need is help recovering, help rebuilding, and that's what we're going to do. the basic thrust of donald trump's administration, whether it's defense policy to helping people in damascus, is we're putting people over bureaucrats. the bureaucracy has for too long stood in the way of the people's business. that's going to stop, and we're going to fight to make sure it stops every single day. >> do you have a timeline of when we might be able to see some of that federal response, governor, even some of the state response? there's a home around the corner that's been split in half. this gentleman said that his mother, i don't know if you guys have seen the pictures, she said his mother has had insurance, had flood insurance, but the problem was she couldn't get any federal insurance, and he said that she's getting run through all this rigmarole. and he's just looking for an answer. what could you possibly provide for him?

vp vance: look, as soon as possible, right? we need to get back to washington. we need to figure out what the holdup is and actually power through that hold up for people. every single day after today is too long. we recognize these things don't always happen as quickly as they can, but the big difference now compared to a week ago is that people actually have an administration that's going to help them power through that bureaucracy. we're going to fight for them every single day. we're going to try to get that money as soon as physically possible, because that's what's necessary to help people rebuild. gov. youngkin: and i can tell you that we heard from business leaders today that even in the last week, they've seen more movement than they had seen before. and so this is the opportunity for us to, yes, cut through red tape, cut through bureaucracy at the state level. i have a $127 million budget amendment in to supplement what has already been at least appropriated by the federal government. now it needs to come out, and this is a sprint, because, as the vice president said, folks can't wait.

they've been waiting for four months since this storm, and they don't need to wait another day. vp vance: absolutely. >> anybody over here. > yes. in seven days of being in office, you have been to 2/3 of all of this devastation, and i want to ask you about east tennessee being part of the funding to help people. i know a lot of people are appreciative, and we want to know if east tennessee is going to be a part of that and how this is going to energize, how you're going to energize the communities who have been great in helping each other. vp vance: yes, ma'am. so i actually met with a congresswoman from east tennessee this morning actually when we landed. obviously we landed actually in tennessee and then drove here to virginia. look, we recognize that while most of the attention from helene is focused on north carolina in particular, and to be clear, there's a lot of devastation in north carolina. there's also a lot of devastation here in virginia and also in east tennessee. so our promise and our focus is going to be on leaving no american behind. that includes those in tennessee and certainly here in damascus.

>> mr. vice president, can you preview at all what some of the specific changes you'd like to see with regard to fema's response, and does that include possibly eliminating the agency , as the president said? vp vance: well, first of all, it's not just fema, right? there's housing and urban development. there's the department of agriculture. there's a lot of different agencies that are coordinating a response to this particular problem, and a couple of things that particularly seem to matter the most to the people of damascus is, one, this incredible bike trail and hiking trail that runs along these mountains is a major source of economic opportunity and economic development, right? people come in, they stay in airbnbs, they stay in bed and breakfasts, they go to the coffee shops, they go to the restaurants. but unfortunately, the part of that trail that is managed and monitored by the federal government has been way too slow to actually start that rebuilding process. that's something that we want to focus on immediately. i think the second big issue is, and the governor knows these numbers better than i do, but i believe the maximum you can get

from fema for home rebuilding is about $42,000 right? the average amount of damages, as i heard today, is about $130,000, right? so that's a massive, you know, $80,000 to $90,000 shortfall that we need to make sure that other parts of the federal government. are fixing. now, to be clear, the continued resolution that was passed just a few weeks ago actually does have the resources to fill that gap, but only if the bureaucrats get out of the way and actually make sure that people get the money that they're entitled to , that the american people have decided that we want to contribute, and we want to fund this incredible redevelopment, but it's got to happen quicker than it's been happening with the bureaucracy in washington. >> time for one more question, guys, one more. >> some people were complaining about the red tape to get hotel vouchers, they were about to end in january when there's a snowstorm. what are some specific ways you

could streamline the process and make the recovery process more efficient? >> unfortunately it's a perfect example of the bureaucratic inadequacy of the last administration and why we need to do better in this country. the thing i heard most when i was in western north carolina before the inauguration and after the election is that there are people who wanted to put trailers or other temporary housing in particular areas of western north carolina but they couldn't because fema had designated these particular areas to be ineligible for the type of assistance that would allow people to put that temporary housing in the first place. that's another example of the sort of thing that's broken about the federal response. it's actually, when you have such great governors, like glen youngkin, and you talk to people, the local government is work, the state government is working as hard as it can. the local community, nonprofits, churches are working at breakneck speed. yet you have the federal government out there, the digest institution with the most money that's not doing its job.

it just drives home how much better we can do. i think one of the takeaways of my time, the last week, being the people's vice president is they should have higher expectations for the federal government. i talk to so many people who will say in effect, well it's the federal government. the burach the red tape. no, no, no. the bureaucracy and red tape is not an excuse for the government to not do its job. we're not going to be perfect, government is as fallible as the people who run it. but we can do better than we have over the last few years. that's something president trump andry committed to doing. let me leave you with one final thought. i know a lot of people watching in the local news, this is part of our country, appalachia and virginia, that's been ignore and left behind for decades, for generations in this country. we're never going to be perfect but i promise this administration will not forget you. we love you. we're rooting for you. we want to be part of thin credible recovery here in

southwest virginia. god bless you guys. >> thank you for being here. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> democracy. it isn't just an idea. it's a process. a process shaped by leaders. elected to the highest offices. and entrusted to a select few with guarding its basic principles. it's where debates unfold, decisions are made, and the nation ice course is charted. democracy in real time. this is your government at work. this is c-span. giving you your democracy unfiltered. >> c-span's "washington journal." a forum with you. coming up tuesday morning, lisa

gilbert from public citizen gives insights on the group's efforts to push back on certain aspects of president trump's agenda. mike gonzalez talks about the effort to dismantle federal d.e.i. programs. join the conversation live at 7:00 eastern on tuesday morning, on c-span, c-span now or online at c-span.org. >> on wedsday, president trump's health and human services sretary nominee, f. nnedy jr., ttifies at a senate finance comm confirmation. he's an environmental lawyer and activid also the 2024 independent presidential ida he eventually withdrew from the race to endorse donald trump. a.m. eastern on c-span.:00 then on ay, mr. kennedy returns to capitol hill to take questions senate health committee. that's live at 10:00 a.m. eastec-span3. you can also watch both hearings on c-span now, our free mobile video app, or online at c-span.org.