Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, listening to the gentlewoman talk about this amendment, clearly there is a divide between what she is expressing and what this amendment actually does. The gentlewoman said that this would help to get the money in the hands of those who are most impacted. That is not what this does. To the contrary, it actually requires that those that are in poverty be prioritized. It doesn't matter if they have been impacted or not. There is not even a requirement in here to determine that they are most impacted. In fact, this amendment actually codifies a low- and moderate-income requirement that doesn't take into consideration the actual impacts of that person. It also has a provision in here that discusses the impact to households but not individuals. So maybe if you are single, you are not even eligible under this because in some cases, it makes reference to individuals. In other cases, only families or households. Mr. Speaker, the bottom line: We have been through this program over and over and over again. I am completely shocked, the sponsor of this amendment, in 2017 when we appropriated $35 billion, his home State of Texas in 2019 had only drawn down $18 million. In the case of Florida--keep in mind, this was in the aftermath of Harvey, Irma, and Maria. In the case of Florida, in 2019, nearly 2 years after the disaster funds had been appropriated, only $1 million had been drawn down.…”