Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2007

SCIENCE, STATE, JUSTICE, COMMERCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007

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Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, over the last year, I have mentioned to Chairman Wolf on a number of occasions that I think of him every time that it rains. With the torrential downpours that we have had here in the Northeast over the last several days, I have been thinking of him even more, and thanking him, thanking him sincerely as well as thanking Ranking Member Mollohan and their respective staffs for responding to the great potential for preventable flooding disaster in the part of the country that I represent along our southern border in Texas.

I very much appreciate the subcommittee including $6.4 million in this bill for improvements to the levees along the Rio Grande River. This means that construction can begin for vital protection for the cities of McAllen, Hidalgo, Pharr and Granjeno.

Thank you for reassuring the families in these communities that, despite both the very tough competition for Federal dollars and our inability to get the Administration to really place a priority on flood protection, that you heard and answered their plea for help. This is a significant increase in support that will help ensure that, in the event we have a hurricane or even a very strong tropical storm, that thousands of families will not find their homes flooded, their businesses closed, their drinking water polluted and relief efforts hampered as both the local airport and highways are inundated.

In the spring of last year, as I first began representing the Rio Grande Valley, I made what was, until recently, the only request for more levee rehabilitation dollars. I appreciate the 39 local governments, school districts and economic development corporations that endorsed this call for life-saving Federal investment.

While today's bill nearly triples the Administration request for levees, I know the subcommittee is fully aware that much more is needed every year for the next decade to ensure rehabilitation for these levees, which are up to 9 feet short, geologically flawed, structurally unsound and could be overtopped along 38 river miles.

The millions that we invest today are the beginning of a vital investment that, when repeated in future years, will save us billions in flood relief and untold human misery.

But for the fate of nature, the hurricane that hit New Orleans could just as easily have tracked west instead of tracking east and caused a similar disaster in Texas. Until the entire rehabilitation program of the International Boundary and Water Commission is completed, at a total cost that is a mere fraction of what Congress has already approved for New Orleans, we remain at very great risk.

Now the Valley looks to our Texas Senators and to the Administration to fully support what this subcommittee has done and to add funds to what is being approved here in this bill so that together we can ensure a reasonable level of safety and avoid another Katrina-style disaster.

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