Water Resources Development Act of 2016

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is one that has received bipartisan support. It is supported by Congressman Gene Green of Texas as well as Congressman John Culberson of Texas.
This amendment is quite simple. What it does is accord the Army Corps the requirement to prioritize projects wherein we have had a loss of life, a disaster declaration has been issued, there is a partnership agreement in place, and the funds have been authorized for the partnership.

In Texas we have had--and across the country, I might add--floods that are no longer classified as 100-year floods. Indeed, they are being classified as billion-dollar floods. We have had the Memorial Day flood, which was more than $1 billion, and the Tax Day flood, which was more than $1 billion. Between the two, we had more than 15 lives lost-- approximately 17 to be more accurate.

This amendment would give us the opportunity to have some of the projects on the Corps' docket completed such that we can eliminate some flooding and minimize additional flooding.

I am honored to say that the Corps is aware of this amendment, and I am grateful to the Rules Committee for making it in order. I thank the chairperson and the ranking member for assistance given as well.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source