Political Quotes

“I have to tell you. Coming from a disaster-prone State, I am absolutely shocked that anyone would propose an amendment like this. Here it is, 1:15 a.m., a 48-page amendment is being offered to codify or memorialize a process that has done nothing but revictimize disaster victims in the aftermath of a hurricane or other type of natural disaster. Mr. Speaker, in 2016, this Congress provided about $1.7 billion in the aftermath of a disaster--about $1.7 billion--trying to help out those who were impacted by a thousand-year flood, trying to get money in their hands. Yet, 6 years later--6 years later--only one-third of those funds had actually been allocated to the disaster victims. Almost $500 million had been paid to the contractors administering the program. Mr. Speaker, HUD is not a disaster agency. Look at the Government Accountability Office reports. They have said over and over again that all you have is this alphabet soup of agencies that aren't coordinated. You have HUD that doesn't have disaster experience. This is a flawed approach. You can look at other programs that are capable of getting money out the door faster. In fact, in this legislation, it actually codifies--it says that you first have to help those in poverty. What if they are not impacted, but it requires that they are first helped?…”