The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) joined dozens of other organizations in a letter to the U.S. Congress opposing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s calls to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

FEMA is responsible for helping state, local, tribal, and territorial governments prepare for and recover from disasters. It provides federal assistance like the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which helps states strengthen infrastructure and mitigate the impacts of disasters. Research shows that investing in disaster preparedness and resilience saves money in the long run, in addition to safeguarding livelihoods—and saving lives.

Abolishing FEMA would gut key resilience, preparedness, and disaster recovery programs. States, especially smaller ones or those hit repeatedly by extreme weather, don’t have the capacity and resources needed to respond to today’s scale of climate-related disasters on their own. Without a well-resourced and functioning FEMA, communities will be left without the lifesaving resources they need when a major disaster hits.