i want to start -- and congressman jared huffman is up at the podium with me.y that are under fire attack. i have the same thing going on in napa county and in lake county and jared has the same or similar in mend see know county. we have never been taxed by a natural disaster to the extent we're being taxed right now. it's overwhelming, it's a tough rode but just know the people up here in this front row have your backs. i can tell you from a federal perspective, the federal government is moving extremely fast to your benefit, to our benefit. right away they approved of federal fire assistance grants which brings resources into the county and helps a great deal. as soon as the governor and the counties all declared their disaster areas disasters, we move that up to the administration through congress and congress move quickly to approve a couple of things that are very very important. most important, they approved public assistance grants. that means that there'll be money coming from the federal government to make sure that all of the local responders have th

i want to sta -- and congressman jared huffman is up athe p podium with me. together we represent the areas in sonoma county that are under fifire attack. i have thehe same thing going o napa county and in lakake similar in mend see know county. we have never been taxed by natural disaster to the extxten it's overwhelming, it's a tough rode but j jt know the peoe upp here in this frontnt row have yr backs. i c tell you from a federal perspective, the federal government isoving extrememely fast to your befit, to o benefit. right away they approved of federal fire assistanc g gras which brings resources into tht as soon as the governor andhe counties all declared their disaster areas disasters, we move that up to the administration through congress and congress move quiuickly to approve a couple of things that are very very important. mo important, they approved public a aistance grants. that means that thererel be money coming from e federal gogovement to make sureha all the local r rponders have the funds necessary to rpond to this disaster. that's extremely

jared huffman represents the other part in the united states congress and jim wood, our assemblyman, and i just want everybody to know that your state and federal partners are going to be working overtime to make sure that we're there to help in any way and every way we can. as you've already heard, the governor declared a state of emergency. that's been forwarded to the federal government. it rests with fema right now. my office has been involved with fema and been pushing them to make the declaration. so far they've approved the federal fire assistance grants which will help a great deal, but as this progresses i fully expect that we'll be getting assistance from fema in the way of public assistance which is going to be very, very important for our state and local government partners and individual assistance which will be assistance for those individuals who have suffered a loss of property. there will also be, i'm assuming, low interest loans that will be available. i was in the helicopter today, the sonoma county sheriff's department helicopter, took a number of photographs. all

i sent a letter signed by myself and jared huffman, the other congressman from sonoma county, represents the other half of sonoma county, to the white house. yesterday, travel with sheriff robinson in napa and later with the sheriffs department on an overfly of sonoma, took a number of photographs. all of those have been submitted to fema and the white house so they understand exactly how serious and devastating this fire is on the people of our area. so we expect them to be moving quickly. i spoke with a fema director last night. they are understanding of the situation and will hopefully move quickly to declare both public assistance, and that's the federal money that will come to the affected area to do the repairs as needed and the response as needed as well as the individual assistance, and that's grant money for people who -- who have been harmed. along with that comes a low interest loan program, so all that is in the works. senator feinstein called me this morning. she is fully engaged in this. she is pushing. nancy pelosi, the democratic leader, spent a lot of time on the phone w

so i am congressman jared huffman and i represent sonoma county and it is important that you know asare working here in sonoma county this is unfortunately one of many fires in northern california. mike has major fires in at least three counties that he represents. i have a fire in mendocino county. i was up there today and while there is not as much headline news, there is the same kind of devastation up there. we have a lot of work to do and it is a all hands effort. i do want to emphasize what might just told you in detail. the federal approvals are there. our local government partners are going to be moving forward knowing that they can have the confidence of federal support behind them. there will be a longer and slower process for individual homes and businesses. one of the reasons that mike and i want to be here is to let you know that your representatives in congress are here for the long haul to make sure that the federal government has your back. i just want to end by saying that already we are seeing amazing responses throughout our district. again, i was just up in mendoc