On the recordDecember 8, 2016
I thank the gentlewoman from New York for her continued leadership, and let me also acknowledge my support of her stance on the previous question and the eloquence of Mr. Cartwright on a very, very important issue. I rise to be part of that. Let me also join my good friend from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole) who said that the appropriators did their work. The American people need to know that. That is regular order, that the appropriation bills should have come forward, and the needs of the American people, through their Representatives in the people's House, should have been addressed. That is not the case, Mr. Speaker. So I rise with deep concern--one, as a neighbor to Louisiana, which I know that funds are being allocated, but I realize the devastation there; but also as a Representative of the State of Texas and the 18th Congressional District, where we face a continuous barrage of rains and flooding, that we need continued relief from flooding and, of course, the additional amendment that I had passed in the Energy and Water Appropriations to finally do a study of Houston's bayous. I am not going to give up on that. Now, there is money here on a short-term basis for the Army Corps of Engineers' community development block grant, the $1 billion for Federal Highway Administration, but we don't know whether these moneys will, in fact, be able to solve the problems that we have. So regular order would have been appropriate.…
