Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5774 is designed to do two primary things. Number one, it is to prevent the Federal Government from revictimizing disaster victims. Number two, it is designed to save money. In the aftermath of a disaster, we watch as countless Federal agencies, the alphabet soup of Federal agencies, come rushing to the aid of these disaster victims, offering everything from food assistance, housing assistance, and you will see them having organizations coming in and offering clothes, offering loans. You see all of these uncoordinated activities. Yet, we have one Federal agency that is responsible for disasters, and that is FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA comes in, and what happens with all of these other programs? You see disjointed responses. Let me give you an example, Mr. Speaker. In the aftermath of the 2016 1,000-year flood that we had in my hometown, FEMA came in and started offering assistance. We saw disparate aid offered to different folks. You had another recovery program come in and provide $1.7 billion, Mr. Speaker. Here we are, 6 years after this disaster, and of the $1.7 billion, less than $700 million has actually been granted to flood victims, granted to disaster victims. Mr. Speaker, I know your home State of Texas got pounded by Hurricane Harvey, some areas experiencing 42 inches of rain in 36 hours.…”