Top House Democrats got a firsthand look at the devastation left behind by the Eaton Fire on Thursday.
Rep. Judy Chu led House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Democratic Whip Katherin Clark, Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, and other House leaders on the tour around fire-ravaged Altadena.
Altadena Town Council Chair Victoria Knapp, one of the thousands who lost their homes in the disaster, told the delegation that federal support is about “preserving what makes Altadena unique.”
“It is a community of rich racial, socioeconomic, and generational diversity, a place where working families, young professionals, and retirees have built lives side by side,” she said. “It is a place where the black community put down roots when discriminatory redlining denied them mortgages elsewhere. They built something lasting here, something worth protecting.”
Jeffries vowed to return to Washington, D.C. and fight for a condition-free disaster aid package.
“For decades, California sends more money to the federal government year after year after year than they ever get back in return,” he said. “People of California are simply asking for some of those tax dollars to come back to the state to help the people in need.”
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Chu said the FEMA money currently allocated to the Palisades and Eaton Fires runs out in March, and supplemental funds will be needed to allow Altadena and the Palisades to fully recover.
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