Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2019
Floor Speech
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Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Chairwoman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Chairwoman, as I stand here this morning, my district and the entire Houston region are underwater again. A severe rainstorm swept across the Houston area last night. Our bayous, creeks, and tributaries are over their banks. Rivers are cresting near record levels and may surpass them before the weekend is over. Nearly 90,000 residents have gone without power, and many are trapped by floodwaters.
Parts of our area had up to 7 inches of rainfall within just a few hours last night, and it is still raining. It is the worst rainfall we have had since Hurricane Harvey. And last night, I heard from my constituents, it felt like Harvey and they were afraid.
As Members of this body will recall, Hurricane Harvey hit Houston and the Gulf Coast in August of 2017. It dumped nearly 60 inches of rain; it claimed 68 lives; and it caused an estimate of $125 billion in damages. It was the second most expensive hurricane in United States history.
Members of this body responded to Harvey's devastation. In February of 2018, this body appropriated more than $4 billion to Texas, through the Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds, explicitly to rebuild and mitigate against future storms, storms like the one we are having right now.
But nearly a year and a half after those appropriations were made, those funds have not arrived. Why? Because the Department of Housing and Urban Development has not published the rule governing the fund's use in the Federal Register.
Most recently, HUD told our State agencies that the rules were set to publish on May 1 of this year; but again, the day has come and gone, and all we have is silence.
This is unconscionable. It is for this reason that I offer this amendment today. My amendment requires the publication of the rule governing the 2017 CDBG-DR fund's release within 14 days.
I am joined in this amendment by my Republican colleagues as cosponsors, and I would like to thank Mr. Graves and Mr. Rouzer for cosponsoring this truly bipartisan amendment. I know they have worked tirelessly on these issues for a while, and I appreciate their partnership on this issue.
I also thank my colleague and cosponsor from Houston, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.
I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Chairwoman, allow me to thank my very important sponsor of this amendment and, as well, our Republican colleagues for their leadership. We are underwater in Houston. We are concerned about Puerto Rico and support the underlying bill. If this amendment passes, we will be able to help all of those who have been impacted by disaster: 203,000 homes, 12,700 of which were destroyed.
Four billion dollars are important dollars, and to have that delay really hinders those who are suffering now. You can imagine that we will be going home to overflowing bayous and homes and people who are in fear. Therefore, this amendment, particularly in the shortening of the time, recognizes that disasters mean emergencies, and people in emergencies are desperate and they need help.
So I am delighted to support this amendment and will join with the gentlewoman as we move forward on improving how FEMA responds, as well, to these disasters and how we can work further with the Army Corps of Engineers.
This important amendment is going to be a lifesaver for so many by shortening the time in which these regulations will be able to be rendered, and I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and her leadership.
Madam Chair, I rise in strong support of the Fletcher-Jackson Lee Amendment to, H.R. 2157, the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2019.
The Fletcher-Jackson Lee Amendment shortens the time requirement of the publication of rules of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Fund in Public Law 115-123.
Flooding is a serious problem in Houston, today areas of the city are experiencing high water placing residents, businesses and city services at risk.
I am in strong support of this amendment because of the desperate situation of those who have lost their homes during disasters and the unacceptable length of time victims have had to wait for housing assistance.
Hurricane Harvey was the largest housing disaster in our nation's history.
Hurricane Harvey damaged 203,000 homes, of which 12,700 were destroyed.
The nine-county Houston metro area impacted by Hurricane Harvey covers 9,444 square miles, an area larger than five states, including New Hampshire, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Harris County covers 1,778 square miles, enough space to fit New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Austin and Dallas, with room still to spare.
Hurricane Harvey dropped 21 trillion gallons of rainfall on Texas and Louisiana, most of it on the Houston Metroplex.
The underlying bill is a comprehensive emergency disaster supplemental bill to help meet the urgent needs of American communities still struggling to recover from recent hurricanes, typhoons, wildfires, floods and other natural disasters.
This robust disaster package includes $17.2 billion in long overdue emergency spending for disaster-stricken communities across our nation and territories.
It builds on the legislation that passed the House in January-- including an additional $3 billion to address the urgent needs of those living in the Midwest (Nebraska, Missouri, South Dakota, Iowa and Kansas) and South (Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas) who have been devastated by flooding and tornadoes in recent months.
This bill also provides some additional disaster assistance to communities continuing to recover from Hurricane Harvey.
House Democrats are standing up and taking action to help communities across the United States and in Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa recover and heal from devastating disasters--these communities should not be held hostage because of President Trump's personal contempt for Puerto Rico.
Senate Republicans should come to their senses and join Democrats in advancing this bill and speeding relief to millions of Americans.
Included in this legislation is critical funding for:
Infrastructure and community development to rebuild our transportation systems and repair housing, businesses and public infrastructure;
Farmers and rural communities to bolster the farmer safety net and restore disaster-damaged lands;
Social services, mental health, education and dislocated worker initiatives to invest in the well-being of children, workers and families in disaster-struck areas-- including providing critical nutrition and Medicaid assistance for Puerto Rico and U.S. territories;
DOD and Veterans Affairs to repair and rebuild hurricane-damaged bases and facilities; and
Disaster resiliency to mitigating damage and costs from future disasters which are becoming more frequent as a result of climate change.
American families hit by natural disasters deserve to know that their government will stand with them throughout the road to recovery.
Democrats are committed to delivering this assistance to our fellow Americans as they work to rebuild their lives and their communities.
Another reason I strongly support this bill is that H.R. 2157, the ``Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2019,'' provides much needed and long overdue relief to Americans in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands still suffering from the ravages of Hurricanes Maria and Irma, as well as relief to victims of Hurricane Michael which struck Alabama, Florida, and Georgia in October 2018 and to the victims of the Midwestern floods that have caused so much damage in Nebraska, Missouri, South Dakota, Iowa, and Kansas.
Madam Chair, H.R. 2157, the ``Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2019,'' provides much needed and long overdue relief to Americans in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands still suffering from the ravages of Hurricanes Maria and Irma, as well as relief to victims of Hurricane Michael which struck Alabama, Florida, and Georgia in October 2018 and to the victims of the Midwestern floods.
I support this legislation and offered an amendment that would have provided additional funding for electricity delivery and necessary expenses related to the consequences of Hurricanes Harvey, Maria, Irma, and Maria, and Super Typhoon Yutu including technical assistance related to electric grids.
As the representative of the Eighteenth Congressional District of Texas, which was ground zero for Hurricane Harvey, I regularly hear from constituents expressing their concern with ineffective and inadequate FEMA mechanisms put in place to help rectify the damage caused by natural disasters.
That is why I also offered an amendment to H.R. 2157 that would prohibits funds in the bill from being used to prevent the FEMA Administrator from monitoring the response given to disaster victims in order to ensure quality control or becoming aware of complaints regarding the response given to disaster victims and having in place a mechanism to address such complaints.
A third Jackson Lee amendment to H.R. 2157 would have provided a minimum of $1 million for wastewater and drinking water treatment works and facilities impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.
Hurricane Sandy inflicted more than $70 billion in damages in 2012, and Matthew cost the U.S. about $10.3 billion in 2016. With Harvey, an estimated 13 million people were affected, nearly 135,000 homes damaged or destroyed in the historic flooding, and up to a million cars were wrecked.
Hurricane Harvey ranks as the second-most costly hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since 1900, causing more than $125 billion in damage.
Our residents need more money than for single-family home repairs, whether it is disaster recovery or general housing dollars and I will continue to stride on behalf of the neighborhoods and on behalf of hard-working homeowners who deserve these funds, so they can continue on with their lives and return to their homes.
Victims of natural disasters are entitled to know who to contact when issues related to FEMA arise and to be assured that their questions are answered, and complaints addressed.
Allocating funding for measures such as Electricity Delivery for necessary expenses related to the consequences of Hurricanes Harvey, Maria, Irma, and Super Typhoon Yutu, is vital to negate the effects of these catastrophic events from significantly worsening.
Hospitals, first-responders, and a number of other vital institutions that help our communities recover from the aftereffects of natural disasters need access to electricity.
Moreover, with the severity of natural disasters and the ranging of their locations we must be proactive in our preparation for recovery.
Alternatively, water is the most essential recourse known to man.
A human can go for more than three weeks without food--Mahatma Gandhi survived 21 days of complete starvation--but water is a different story.
At least 60 percent of the adult body is made of it and every living cell in the body needs it to keep functioning.
Under extreme conditions an adult can lose 1 to 1.5 liters of sweat per hour and if that lost water is not replaced, the total volume of body fluid can fall quickly and, most dangerously, blood volume may drop.
We do not have the luxury of not preparing for hurricanes, floods. earthquakes, mudslides, tornados or other natural disasters.
With these events it is not a question of if, but when.
For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying legislation.
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Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Chair, I thank my cosponsors and my colleagues for their support of this amendment.
I agree. The time for action is now.
Madam Chair, for the reasons that we have set forth, I urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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