Sen. Hassan announces Hampton police chief as State of the Union guest

HAMPTON — U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan, D-NH, announced Tuesday she will host Hampton Police Chief Alex Reno as her guest of honor for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address on Thursday, March 7.

Reno, who is also Hampton’s deputy director of emergency management, is an Air Force veteran and has been deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Noble Eagle.

Hassan said Reno’s leadership has been integral to recovery efforts on the Seacoast after devastating back-to-back winter storms in January.

New Hampshire and the Seacoast experienced severe flooding from both 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 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.”

Reno said he was “humbled and thankful” to be selected as Hassan’s guest.

“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,” Reno said. “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.”

Hassan has worked to help New Hampshire communities rebuild after extreme weather, pushing, for example, for more funding for FEMA’s disaster relief fund. 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.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton police chief gets invite to Biden's State of the Union