Political Quotes

“Madam Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment, a commonsense fix that gives HUD the flexibility to waive redundant and unnecessary environmental requirements that slow down the disaster recovery process. Anyone from a district that has endured one of these devastating hurricanes, wildfires, or floods can attest to the fact that Congress should do everything in our power to quickly give these communities relief. Madam Chair, 3 years ago, South Carolina was struck by Hurricane Matthew. As a result of that storm, South Carolina was awarded $95 million, which was to be used to repair the households of 1,300 indigent families. The three counties that were most affected were three of the very poorest counties in South Carolina, Marion, Dillon, and Marlboro, and 2 years and 6 months later, about $25 million of that $95 million has been spent, about 400 of those houses have been repaired, which leaves about 1,000 South Carolina families, indigent families, people who had nothing to begin with, either out of their homes or living in substandard, mold-infested housing that could burn down from electrical problems, or the flooring is buckled and so forth. We have to do better. Why does it take so long? Why does it take two-and-a-half years to get these people back in their homes?…”