i talked to craig fugate yesterday at a hearing, and we will follow up on that conversation.have many, many challenges across this country when it comes to disaster, and water is one of them apparently this year. with that, i want to thank you for having this hearing, and i look forward to the opportunity for questions and in interchange between myself and mr. fugate. >> i would now like to welcome senator roger wicker from mississippi to the committee. senator whicker has switched seats temporarily to testify before the committee. senator, welcome. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, ranking member. i have a written statement which i will not read in its entirety and ask that it be included in the record at this point. i would also noticed that the states of montana and south dakota have seen a great deal of water down our way this year which we are experiencing right now. it only in forces the fact that we are all in this together and we do need a multi-year reauthorization, so i am here today to agree with members of the committee in that respect and to speak for a few m

and now i would like to invite craig fugate, administrator of the federal emergency management administration to the table for his testimony. prior to his 2009 confirmation as fema administrator, mr. fugate had a long career in emergency management at the state and local level, including serving as a long term firefighter. welcome administrator fugate. you may proceed with your testimony. >> thank you chairman johnson and ranking member and members of the committee, i have submitted written testimony if it pleases the chairman, we'll submit that for the record. and i'll proceed with a brief statement. i think senator shelby summed up really the structural issues we are faced with the flood insurance program. one of the things i would like to emphasize here is as the program exists now, it is unlikely we can retire the $18 billion debt. i also see the risk that would substantially increase in either a large-scale hurricane or tsunami event. we do a much better job with rivering flooding and making the determination in how to manage that risk. but in these larger scale events, there are structu

. >> reporter: that was the fema director craig if you -- craig fugate.ack to you. >> thank you. >>> 8:14. this morning, president obama meets with house republican leaders at the white house about what it would take for republicans to support raising the national debt limit. that's after the house voted against an increase jade. republicans jade -- increase yesterday. republicans say they will only vote for a bill like that if it includes spending cuts. >>> egypt's news state agency is reporting that hosni mubarak and his sons will go on trial august 3rd. mubarak will be charged with corruption and killing demonstrators who tried to force him out of trier last february. he could get the death penalty if convicted. his sons face charges of abusing power to make themselves wealthy. in. >>> in japan, a opposition -- >>> in japan, on opposition parties submitted -- opposition parties smitted a no-confidence vote and want the prime minister to resign. the prime minister rejected that. >>> a group of senior citizens -- is offering to work at the damaged plant.

they came an hour ago, made introductions, and craig fugate came in and the deputy director, so everybody needs to keep joplin in their prayers, and i very much appreciate the attitude. the president came in on sunday, and i was thrilled with that because he got to see with his own eyes so if you can take the message to fema, we appreciate what they are doing. >> thank you, mr. long. .. resolution today into the issue is of blood mass destruction weapons to the whether it be a chemical weapons , and so i would ask that all three agencies represented here today both the hs, department of state and department of defense fully comply with the law which band update these reports in a more comprehensive way as soon as possible so congress can do its job for the american people. the job of the committee is to protect the american people and without that information we cannot adequately do our jobs. so i would ask you go back to your boss and tell them we needed that information as soon as possible. we will dismiss this panel of witnesses. i want to thank you for your testimony and expertise and

to that end, i'm already meeting with the director of fema, craig fugate this afternoon. we must be committed to that process to help all we can, both in this flood fight and in the ensuing recovery. it's been a real challenge this year as you look around the country, as you look around our state, the flooding i described here in minot but throughout our state and as you look around the country with flooding, up and down the missouri, up and down the mississippi and you look at the tornadoes and now the fires that are occurring in the southwest. this really has been a tough year. it's a challenging year. and so we need to pull together and we need to help each other, and i know we will because that's the american way. that's the way we have always done it, and i know that we'll be there to help each other, to help our citizens in minot, in the minot region, throughout the state of north dakota, but in other places around the country as well. as i say, that's the american way, and we will prevail in this endeavor. i thank you, mr. president, for the time. at this time i yi

within hours fema administrator craig fugate was on the scene to survey the widespread damage. the emergency disaster declaration and the major disaster declaration were approved within hours. i also want to thank homeland security secretary janet napolitano, h.u.t. secretary shawn donovan and tom vilsack and s.b.a. administrator karen mills for traveling to my district days later. as a result of the april tornados, 67 lives were lost in my district alone and in the state of alabama, 238 people lost their lives. i want to extend my deepest condolences to those who lost their loved ones. i want to thank all the first responders who were on the scene to help so many of the victims. i also want to thank the volunteers who continue to work tirelessly to restore the lives of families who lost all that they had. the destruction and loss of lives has been absolutely heartbreaking. but out of this tragedy, we will triumph. we will recover, rebuild, and restore our communities. we will be better and stronger than before. i am inspired every day by the resilience take my district in the