Moskowitz Relaunches Bipartisan Congressional Disaster Preparedness & Recovery Caucus for 119th Congress

WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23) today announced that he is relaunching the Congressional Disaster Preparedness & Recovery Caucus for the 119^th Congress, following his lead role in founding the group in 2023. Joining him in caucus leadership are fellow co-founder Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA-02) and co-chairs Reps. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL-28), Joe Neguse (D-CO-02), and Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-06). 

“As the first emergency manager elected to Congress, I’ve seen firsthand what works in our emergency management system and what doesn’t. This system needs reform, but it also needs the tools to be fully prepared when disaster strikes,” said Congressman Moskowitz. “Now more than ever, it’s critical that Congress has a strong, bipartisan voice advocating for disaster preparedness and recovery, which is why I teamed up with Congressman Carter to cofound this bipartisan caucus. I look forward to continuing our work pushing commonsense reforms and ensuring that lifesaving resources are there when Florida communities need them most.”

“Hurricane Katrina, and all the storms we have experienced since then, taught us that natural disasters know no boundaries, and neither should our nation’s disaster preparedness or recovery systems,” said Congressman Carter. “As the climate crisis makes extreme weather events more frequent and intense, we need to work together to save lives and strengthen our systems. This bipartisan caucus is committed to advocating for effective preparedness and recovery measures and programs that best serve the American people and don’t leave anyone behind. As we mark twenty years since the most devastating storm in our nation’s history, this work is more critical now than it ever has been.”

“The Congressional Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Caucus is vital to developing common-sense policies that keep disaster-prone communities safe,” said Congressman Gimenez. “As a firefighter paramedic, Fire Chief, and Mayor, I have witnessed firsthand the critical importance of rapid, reliable resources during hurricane season. I look forward to working with my colleagues to protect families in Miami, the Florida Keys, and communities across our nation.”

“As Americans face increasing numbers of natural disasters — wildfires, floods, hurricanes — we must do all we can to prepare our communities to respond and recover in the wake of tragedy,” said Congressman Neguse. “That’s why I’m honored to continue the vital work of the bipartisan Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Caucus in the 119th Congress.”

The caucus will work across the aisle to advance legislation and policies that provide efficient, necessary relief for disaster survivors and help pave the way for impacted communities to become whole again. They will advocate for disaster preparedness measures and programs that help save lives, while readying America’s communities for disasters ahead. Caucus leaders come from regions across the United States—including communities affected by hurricanes, wildfires, flooding, and more—and will lean on their own direct experience navigating disaster recovery to work towards a better disaster preparedness and recovery system.

Before entering Congress, Moskowitz served as Florida’s Director of Emergency Management from 2019-2021. In this role, Moskowitz oversaw disaster response and recovery for the DeSantis Administration for major events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Category 5 Hurricane Michael.

Since coming to Congress, Moskowitz has been a leading voice for fully funding FEMA, keeping emergency response nonpartisan, and enacting commonsense reforms to bolster federal emergency management. His bipartisan FEMA Independence Act would remove FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security and reinstate it as an independent, Cabinet-level agency reporting directly to the President, and his bipartisan Disaster Housing Flexibility Act and Disaster Response Flexibility Act would give states more flexibility to quickly deploy resources to communities in need. 

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