Making Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I also thank the ranking member for her kind words. I would like to thank the chairperson for bringing this to the floor, both of them.

Mr. Speaker, this is a seminal moment in time, a moment in time that can shape the rest of our time. This is an opportunity for those of us who contend that we are our brother's keeper to, in fact, become our brother's keeper. You see, you can't be your brother's keeper without keeping your brother. This is a chance to be your brother's keeper.

This is a chance for the unity that we express when we are before the cameras to manifest itself in the votes that we cast here in Congress.

This is a seminal moment in time. This is a moment in time for us to care not only about those who live
in the suites of life, but also those who dwell in the streets of life, those who live on benches, those who sleep under bridges. It is an opportunity for us to cast a vote that will send aid, send assistance to those in Houston, Texas, and all across the area that has been devastated by this monster. It is a chance for us to help them.
But this is only a downpayment, only a downpayment. There must be much more. We need help in Houston posthaste, as is the case with other places around the country that have been devastated.

We need help for housing, not only for those who had homes before the monster hit, but also for those who didn't have homes who need to transition to a place that they can call home. If home is where the heart is, where is the heart of the homeless, people who sleep under bridges? Where is the heart of the homeless?
They have to be given a place that they can call home as well, which means, at some point, we have got to have dollars appropriated for the organizations that help those who live in the streets of life: the homeless. We have got to help them, too. If we can help those in the suites, we can help those in the streets.

I would also say to my colleagues: Please understand, people who are here and undocumented have needs, too. They live in places that are horrible. I have been in their homes. I have smelled the mold. I know what it is
like to see the conditions that they dwell in. It is time for us to put aside the politics that divide us from people who need help and help those people, too. Let's send some more money to the organizations that help them.

This is a moment in time. This is a seminal moment in time. It is time for us to step up and help everyone that is harmed, not be selective. If you are in this country and you are hurting, we ought to help you. God bless you.
I thank you, Madam Leader on my side, the ranking member. I thank you again, Mr. Chairman, and I beg that we do what we can to make sure every person in this country receives the help he or she deserves.

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