MANTEO, N.C. — Republican Congressmen Greg Murphy and Rob Wittman were in the Outer Banks on Monday to make two stops: the first in Wanchese at Bayliss Boatworks to speak about workforce challenges, and the second in Manteo at the Dare County Emergency Operations Center to discuss FEMA.
The Trump administration’s plan for FEMA is to shift more power back to states and localities when it comes to disaster relief support and funding. The congressmen took time to speak to Dare County leaders about how they can help in those efforts in the Outer Banks.
“This is what's going to happen with FEMA: We're going to still, hopefully, supply the funds, but give control back to the localities where they need it and understand it best. The last thing people need is somebody in a cubicle in Washington, D.C. telling people in Dare County how best to recover from a disaster," said Murphy.
Before that, the congressmen were in Wanchese at Bayliss Boatworks to see the shipbuilding operations in person and speak with founder John Bayliss about the challenges the area faces.
"Some of the challenges he faces are some of the taxations that occur, regulations that occur in workforce, trying to get individuals to come to work, stay to work, how do we provide them with affordable housing, and just listening to a lot of the businesses in the community and their concerns and how we best in Washington, D.C. can help them," said Murphy.
Murphy made sure to give credit to what John Bayliss has built.
“He's got a great business, as do many other shipbuilders here in Dare County, and really, in eastern North Carolina, bringing qualified individuals to help grow their businesses. We want to have good policies, not only on immigration basis, but also on a tax basis, to help these individuals grow their businesses and be able to employ people and give them great paying jobs," said Murphy.
Murphy said the FEMA transition is still in the process as leaders in D.C. continue to hear from localities about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to disaster relief.
