I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5503 
To require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish a Terri-
torial Disaster Recovery Program to continuously identify, monitor, and 
address factors and capability gaps that hinder the execution and comple-
tion of recovery activities relating to major disasters by eligible entities 
located in the territories of the United States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 18, 2025 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to 
establish a Territorial Disaster Recovery Program to con-
tinuously identify, monitor, and address factors and ca-
pability gaps that hinder the execution and completion 
of recovery activities relating to major disasters by eligi-
ble entities located in the territories of the United States. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Capac-
ity for Disaster Resilient Territories Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
(1) The United States territories are particu-
larly vulnerable to extreme weather events, which 
have become more frequent and stronger in recent 
years. 
(2) Category–5 Hurricane Marı´a, which made 
its landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, 
is considered to be the second deadliest storm re-
corded in United States history. 
(3) Category–5 Hurricane Irma, which struck 
the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Sep-
tember 6, 2017, is considered to be the second-most 
intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017. 
(4) Typhoon Mawar, which struck Guam on 
May 19, 2023, and the south of Rota, Northern 
Mariana Islands on May 24, 2023, is considered to 
be the strongest to hit Guam since 2002. 
(5) Super Typhoon Yutu, which struck the 
Northern Mariana Islands on October 24, 2018, is 
considered to be the strongest typhoon recorded to 
impact the Mariana Islands. 
(6) Hurricane Fiona made its landfall as a Cat-
egory–1 Hurricane in Puerto Rico on September 18, 
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2022, causing severe flooding and compounding the 
damage left by Hurricanes Irma and Marı´a. 
(7) A major disaster declaration was issued for 
the territory of American Samoa on September 15, 
2022, due to high surf, high winds, and flooding. 
(8) Rising sea levels, caused by ocean warming, 
contribute to the increased frequency and intensity 
of hurricanes, and the fragile condition of coastal 
environments in the United States territories. This 
translates to disrupted economic activity, such as 
tourism, agriculture and fishing, damaged dwellings, 
and limited drinking water supplies. 
(9) The Federal Emergency Management Agen-
cy (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘FEMA’’) has obli-
gated significant amounts of funding to address 
multiple natural disasters in the United States terri-
tories. 
(10) As of September 2025, FEMA had obli-
gated $10,382,528,245 under the Public Assistance 
and Hazard Mitigation programs to address dam-
ages caused by Hurricane Marı´a in Puerto Rico. In 
addition, as of September 2025, FEMA had obli-
gated $2,497,729,050 under the Public Assistance 
and Hazard Mitigation programs to address dam-
ages caused by Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico. 
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(11) As of August 2022, FEMA had obligated 
$4,200,000,000 under the Public Assistance pro-
gram and $138,200,000 under the Hazard Mitiga-
tion program to address damages caused by Hurri-
canes Irma and Marı´a in the Virgin Islands. 
(12) After the passage of Typhoon Mangkhut 
and Super Typhoon Yutu in Guam and the North-
ern Mariana Islands, FEMA obligated a total of 
$677,200,000 between 2018 and 2020 to aid re-
sponse and recovery efforts related to both disasters. 
(13) The United States territories have similar 
vulnerabilities that result in long and difficult recov-
ery processes. 
(14) The economies of the United States terri-
tories depend heavily on tourism to create revenue. 
Such dependency undermines disaster resiliency, 
given the industry’s susceptibility to external shocks, 
such as atmospheric conditions, financial crises, and 
global pandemics. Any of this phenomenon can re-
duce the number of visitors and trigger the closure 
of businesses and lay-offs. 
(15) The United States territories struggle with 
high levels of public debt, which impact their ability 
to provide cash advances to initiate disaster recovery 
projects. Notably— 
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