Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Harvard Latinx Law Review
Publication Date
Spring 2019
ISSN
1542-460X
Page Number
37
Keywords
congressional investigations, relief efforts, disaster victims, emergency preparedness
Disciplines
Disaster Law | Law
Abstract
During the 2017 hurricane season, three major storms impacted differ- ent regions of the United States. These storms-Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria-devastated communities in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico within the span of a month. These storms were so destructive that the World Meteorological Organization has retired all three storm names, meaning no future hurricane will ever bear the names Harvey, Irma, or Maria again. In response, according to the Government Accountability Office ("GAO"), "19 federal agencies had entered into contracts and obligated over $5.6 billion on those contracts to support efforts related to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria" as of December 31, 2017.
The Constitution states that Congress shall have the authority to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper."' From this mandate, Congress derives its implied powers of investigation, "to consider proposed legislation and also to oversee the administration of existing governmental programs..."
Pursuant to such authority, on October 27, 2017, Ranking Member of the Senate's Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, Claire McCaskill (D-MO), invited the committee's chairman to conduct "a bipartisan investigation and consider scheduling a series of ... hearings to lay out the reality of the federal government's response" to the these storms.
Recommended Citation
Jennifer Safstrom,
Weathering the Storm: Utilizing Congressional Investigations to Improve National Hurricane Preparedness, 22 Harvard Latinx Law Review. 37
(2019)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/1339