On the recordApril 21, 2016
Just a few days ago in Harris County, in Houston, and in my congressional district and many other places, again, the State of Texas experienced a terrible rain. It was not a hurricane and it was not a tornado, but it was a downpouring of 20 inches-plus of rain. Our bayous overran, people were standing on furniture, babies had to be rescued, and people died. Today, I want to call the names of seven people who died untimely in this terrible, terrible storm. Next week, I will ask my colleagues to stand with me for a minute of silence, but I wanted in this week to call their names. They were mothers and fathers, truck drivers, mechanical engineers, teachers. They were Americans, they were Houstonians, they were Texans, and, unfortunately, they died. The government must work better to ensure that there are flashing lights on underpasses and toward many other solutions. We look forward to the declaration of disaster to help the people remaining. My sympathy to their families: German Antonio Franco, Claudia Melgar, Sunita Vikas Malhara, Pedro Rascon Morales, Charles Edward Odom, Suresh Kumar Talluri, Teri White Rodriguez. Mr. Speaker, may they rest in piece. God bless their families in this terrible, terrible time. ____________________
