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Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Mr. President, today, I am introducing the Building Resilience and Stronger Communities Act, along with Senator Murkowski of Alaska. Our bipartisan bill would reinstate the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, BRIC Program at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, and protect it against elimination in the future. It would also make it easier for smaller communities to access funding by increasing the Federal cost-share for small projects and for projects that protect critical facilities, and it would ensure that Tribes will be able to access funding under the program.

Established by Congress in the Disaster Recovery Reform Act and signed into law by President Trump in 2018, BRIC serves as FEMA's primary predisaster mitigation program. Since 2020, FEMA has awarded more than $4.5 billion in BRIC funding to help communities across the country strengthen their resilience efforts. Through BRIC, local governments have been able to carry out essential projects such as elevating at-risk infrastructure, reinforcing bridges, or improving drainage systems. These projects not only protect vital infrastructure and in turn, homes and businesses but also create jobs and ensure that communities can continue to function in the aftermath of natural disasters.

Rather than waiting for costly recovery efforts after a disaster, the BRIC Program helps communities prepare in advance--reducing disaster impacts, promoting long-term safety, and saving taxpayer dollars through proactive investment. Indeed, various studies have found that for every $1 spent on resilience and preparedness, communities save between $13 and $18 in damages, cleanup costs, and economic impact.

Despite the BRIC Program's demonstrated benefits under both Democratic and Republican administrations, the Trump administration abruptly canceled the program in April 2025, claiming it was ``wasteful and ineffective.'' Regrettably, FEMA did not take steps to improve the program or reinstate funding. Our bill addresses these issues by reestablishing the program, opening it to a broader array of mitigation projects in smaller and Tribal communities, and making it easier to access funds to protect critical facilities--including healthcare facilities, police and fire stations, schools, and power stations. These are commonsense reforms that will help improve BRIC and save taxpayers billions of dollars in disaster recovery payments in the future.

I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting this bipartisan legislation.

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