Where Is the Money for Hurricane Helene Victims?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is the responsibility of the federal government to care for American citizens. The Preamble to the Constitution states, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America” (emphasis added).

The American Constitution Society explained the following about the phrase “promote the general Welfare”: “The Preamble states that an overriding purpose of the U.S. Constitution is to ‘promote the general welfare,’ indicating that issues such poverty, housing, food and other economic and social welfare issues facing the citizenry were of central concern to the framer.” 

If promoting the general welfare was the “overriding purpose” of the Constitution, then the main responsibility of the federal government set up under that Constitution should be the general welfare of its citizenry. It is obvious that the Biden-Harris administration is not interested in caring for the general welfare of Americans suffering from Helene because they spent the emergency funds in welcoming illegal immigrants into our nation.

In a commentary originally published in September 2023 and republished this week at The Daily Signal, Simon Hankinson discussed how the federal government was funding its open-borders agenda. 

In a cynical budget negotiation tactic, the White House is trying to push through a $40 billion “supplemental” funding bill that holds bailout money for the Federal Emergency Management Agency hostage to sending billions more to Ukraine with insufficient accountability.

It gets worse. If the White House tactic works, and Congress coughs up enough aid to Ukraine that rescue money for FEMA can get through, hundreds of millions of that funding won’t go to disaster-afflicted Americans.

Instead it will go to providing housing, food, health care, and transportation for illegal immigrants through grants to activist nongovernment organizations and “sanctuary” cities.

That’s right. Even though FEMA grants are meant to help taxpaying Americans prepare for and cope with hurricanes, fires, and floods, the Biden-Harris administration has used these same funds to pay activist NGOs to settle migrants illegally in the United States.

FEMA’s major disaster relief and flood insurance programs are already in debt and need to be refilled each year. The White House’s supplemental request uses that as a smokescreen to skip in grant money for their open-border operation.

The Biden-Harris administration has plenty of money to send more money to Ukraine. The most recent payment was $2.4 billion to add to the tens of billions already sent to Ukraine. The administration has also spent more than a billion dollars to settle illegal immigrants -- people who should not even be in the United States.

Yet, when Hurricane Helene hit the southeastern states, FEMA was low on money. Kamala Harris offered a mere $750 to families who have lost everything. Axios reported the following in an article titled “FEMA is running out of funding, DHS Secretary Mayorkas warns.” 

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned the Federal Emergency Management Agency does not have enough funding to cover the rest of the hurricane season.

The big picture: Hurricane Helene carved a path of destruction through six southeastern states, leaving unprecedented devastation totaling tens of billions of dollars across communities, several of which officials said Thursday will need a full rebuild.

·         At least 215 people were killed due to the storm, which brought catastrophic flooding to coastal and inland towns, the AP reported.

·         The federal relief agency is extending aid in the form of food, water, generators and monetary assistance, among other resources.

·         So far, officials said Thursday, FEMA has provided over $20 million in individual assistance.

What he’s saying: “We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have,” Mayorkas told reporters on Wednesday, per multiple reports.

·         He continued: “We are expecting another hurricane hitting – we do not have the funds, FEMA does not have the funds, to make it through the season.”

The callousness of the Biden-Harris administration is unforgiveable. They have failed to fulfill the Constitutional responsibility of providing for the common welfare of Americans. The hurricane hit a week ago, but FEMA is barely showing up. The relief given to the suffering Americans has come from private citizens and organizations. Since this is the way that Kamala Harris fulfills her responsibilities, she does not deserve to be promoted to President of the United States.