More than a dozen bills breezed through the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday before a lawmaker stock-trading ban generated fireworks.
The committee cleared S. 861, the “Disaster Assistance Simplification Act,” by voice vote. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), would streamline federal assistance for victims of disasters.
It would direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to create a consolidated system for disaster relief applicants to request assistance and receive updates.
Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan opposed S. 854, the “Risky Research Review Act,” which would establish an oversight board to review biomedical research that could pose a risk to human health.
