Iowa Delegation joins Harkin in urging President to grant 60-day waiver for state matching funds for emergency protective measures and debris removal

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) was joined by Iowa’s Congressional Delegation in urging the President to waive for 60 days the percentage of matching funds the state must contribute to qualify for federal disaster assistance concerning emergency protective measures and debris removal. The current White House took similar action to aid Louisiana and Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina to lower the in-kind matching requirement for the period immediately following the hurricane.

“Iowans are a resilient and resourceful people, but – like with other national disasters of this magnitude – we are going to need generous federal assistance in order to get back on our feet. The destruction is so vast that it is simply beyond the capacity of local governments and the Iowa state government to handle by themselves,” said Harkin.

Continued Harkin, “Our state needs to have the local matching funds required for FEMA assistance reduced as much as possible and in the interim be waived. There is no conceivable way that a state with devastation on the scale that Senator Grassley and I witnessed this weekend can come up with a 25 percent match in order to trigger the customary FEMA assistance. I hope we can work with FEMA and President Bush to provide relief to Iowa as it begins wading through the recovery process.”