Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke speaks at The Chattanoogan hotel in this file photo.Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke is keeping up his and the city's profiles in the nation's capital.
According to a news release Tuesday, Berke testified before the tax and IRS subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance to support the passage of the National Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2014, which would provide communities that face natural catastrophes with federal funding.
In March 2012, tornadoes caused $16.8 million in damage and destroyed 82 buildings in Hamilton County alone. The state of Tennessee was declared a disaster area.
"There is one thing we all know very clearly. When a community suffers this kind of disaster, the speed at which aid is administered directly correlates with the speed in which a community can heal," Berke said in the hearing. "And I have no doubt by speeding up the time in which tax relief is available to families and businesses, we will see our communities recover quicker."
During his testimony, Berke supported provisions in the bill that would give businesses income in years after a disaster, and increase low-income housing credits to those living in disaster areas.
The hearing was held by Chairman Sen. Robert Casey Jr., D-Pa., and and Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo.
City spokeswoman Lacie Stone said in an email Tuesday that Berke was asked to speak, along with officials from other cities that had been declared federal disaster areas between 2012 and 2014.