Senator Hassan Announces Hampton Police Chief Alex Reno as State of the Union Guest

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) announced today that she will host Hampton Police Chief and Hampton Deputy Director of Emergency Management Alex Reno as her guest of honor for President Biden’s State of the Union Address on Thursday, March 7. Chief Reno is also an Air Force veteran, and has been activated and deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Noble Eagle.

Chief Reno’s leadership has been integral to recovery efforts on the Seacoast after devastating back-to-back winter storms in January. Climate change continues to heavily impact New Hampshire and the Seacoast has experienced severe flooding from several recent storms which damaged residences, roadways, and infrastructure.

“I am grateful to Chief Reno for his service, both in the United States Air Force and for the town of Hampton, and I am glad to have him here with me for President Biden’s State of the Union,” said Senator Hassan. “Chief Reno has played a key role in helping to rebuild Hampton and the Seacoast after extreme flooding caused extensive damage earlier this year. As New Hampshire continues to feel the effects of climate change and sees increasingly severe weather, we need leaders like him who will take charge on emergency response and recovery efforts.”

“I’m incredibly humbled and thankful that Senator Hassan has invited me to be her guest at this year’s State of the Union address,” said Chief Reno. “I’m also thankful that she, as well as other members of our Congressional delegation have recently taken the time to visit and hear the concerns of our citizens and public officials as it relates to the destruction of our infrastructure and the personal loss felt by the citizens of our community due to recent severe flooding. In recent years, our community has seen an increase in storm related flooding issues that have severely compromised our public and private infrastructure. Federal assistance is critical to ensuring that the community and its residents can bounce back from these disasters, become more resilient to the effects posed by these environmental dangers, and assists our first responders and local government in rendering needed aid to the community.”

Senator Hassan has worked to help New Hampshire communities rebuild after extreme weather, pushing, for example, for more funding for FEMA’s disaster relief fund. Senator Hassan has also supported efforts to improve coastal resiliency and directly negotiated nearly $1 billion in critical funding for coastal resiliency in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, funding that includes $492 million for the NOAA National Coastal Resiliency Fund and $491 million for the NOAA Community-Based Restoration.

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