Lincoln Diaz-Balart: “Let me first thank the chairman of the committee for his spectacular work on this bill. Look, this bill provides…”

“Let me first thank the chairman of the committee for his spectacular work on this bill. Look, this bill provides much-needed relief and resources to Texas, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, California, and Puerto Rico. I have heard a lot in this debate, but let's be very clear. This bill treats Florida, the folks in Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and California exactly the same--exactly the same. Significant portions, Mr. Speaker, of my district were hit hard by Hurricane Irma. Communities are still working to get back on their feet, communities like Everglades City, Chokoloskee, Plantation Island, Immokalee, and Montura Ranch. This bill helps meet our Federal obligation to ensure the full, appropriate Federal commitment is there for long-term recovery. Mr. Speaker, for highways, this bill funds repairs for the 2017 storms and clears the backlog of prior years. On the housing side, this bill provides $26.1 billion for Community Development Block Grants. Of that, $13.6 billion is provided to meet all remaining unmet housing, business, and infrastructure needs for those hurricanes, and, yes, that includes the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The remaining $12.5 billion is provided for mitigation grants, again, also to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and Florida and California and Texas. All of those are treated exactly the same. So, again, these grants provide resources to our communities so that they can rebuild.…”