Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) Predisaster mitigation enables actions to be taken proactively to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of future disasters. (2) Effective mitigation minimizes the potential loss of life and property from a disaster based on identifying and understanding the risks in a given area or community. (3) The United States experienced 27 weather and climate disasters with damages exceeding $1,000,000,000 in 2024. (4) Mitigation can encompass a wide variety of activities, including preparation and planning, elevating or moving structures prone to flooding, reducing loss of life during extreme heat, and hardening structures to mitigate the effects of hurricanes or earthquakes. (5) Scientific research has proven that every $1 invested in predisaster mitigation saves up to $13 in disaster recovery costs. (6) In 2019, President Trump created the predisaster mitigation program known as Building Resilient Communities and Infrastructure (BRIC) because it is prudent from a business and insurance perspective. (7) In 2025, the BRIC program was wrongfully cancelled and over $4,000,000,000 of predisaster mitigation grants were clawed back from communities vulnerable to disaster damage.