Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Disaster Tax Relief Act, 2020
Floor Speech
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Mrs. FLETCHER. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Chair, I rise today to offer this bipartisan amendment with my colleague and neighbor, Mr. Crenshaw, to help families who, through no fault of their own, were denied disaster recovery funding--in our case, for our constituents affected by Hurricane Harvey.
As Members of this body will recall, Hurricane Harvey landed on the Texas Gulf Coast in August of 2017. It was the second costliest hurricane in United States history. It took 68 lives, it dropped more than 60 inches of rain, and it caused nearly $125 billion in damages.
Our community came together to help, and we showed each other and the Nation how much we can accomplish when we work together to help our neighbors in need.
This body worked, too, appropriating funds quickly to help those affected for immediate assistance and for long-term rebuilding.
But the needs were great and the funds, though well-intentioned, were slow. So many of our constituents took out loans from the Small Business Administration, where they could get low-interest loans to begin the necessary and immediate work of rebuilding.
When they applied for the SBA loans, they were told that taking out a loan would not disqualify them from other disaster aid. Unfortunately, they were, in fact, disqualified from other forms of Federal aid because they had taken out an SBA loan.
If they had taken out a loan from a friend or a bank, they would not have been in this situation. They would still be eligible for the Federal aid.
But because they chose to take out an SBA loan in the midst of an unprecedented disaster, they were disqualified from receiving further Federal assistance.
Of course, that is inconsistent with the program, it is inconsistent with the intent of this body to punish people for seeking help from the agencies that are there to help them in their times of need.
I have heard from so many constituents who have been left behind by what, by all accounts, was a mistaken interpretation of the intent and the rules that need to be corrected. We simply cannot leave them behind.
We now have the opportunity to correct this error here and to bring meaningful relief to disaster victims. This amendment will fund $45 million to those in Texas who were wrongfully denied assistance because they took out SBA disaster recovery loans. We have a chance today to right this wrong and to deliver the help that our neighbors have been waiting on for years.
During Harvey, our community demonstrated that we are at our best when we are working together to solve problems, and this amendment does the same.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Chair, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), the chairman of the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Madam Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment.
I know the amendment doesn't fully address the Member's concerns, but it addresses them substantially, and I look forward to working with them further to engage both HUD and the Texas Land Office to work toward a solution for this issue.
So I thank both of my colleagues for putting this constructive amendment forward, and their effort to highlight this issue that is of great importance. I am happy to offer my support.
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Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the distinguished Speaker of the House.
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Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I thank my colleagues for their collaboration on this bill. I thank Mr. Crenshaw for working with me on this important effort for our community and for communities across our State and, of course, our country.
I thank everyone for their collaboration and support in this effort, and for the eloquent statements and important statements made this morning in support of this amendment on the floor.
I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment. And I yield back the balance of my time.
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