Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Wagner and my friend Mr. Green from Texas for their work on this legislation. We don't do perfect in the House of Representatives. We do the best that we can in the House of Representatives.

We have worked on both sides of the aisle for years to craft something that has needed to be dealt with for well over two decades, which is to authorize the CDBG program for disasters in the right way. I congratulate Mr. Green and Mrs. Wagner for their work.

As a volunteer after Katrina working in the very poor community of Lacombe, Louisiana, rebuilding houses, I saw firsthand the good and bad of Federal assistance as it relates to post-hurricane recovery and mitigation. And I fully understand why this legislation is so badly needed.

In 2013, the inspector general found that $700 million in CDBG disaster money following Hurricane Katrina had gone missing and was unaccounted for. In March of this year, the GAO issued a report entitled, ``Better Monitoring of Block Grant Funds Is Needed.''

That is why we are here today, Mr. Speaker, and that is the leadership that we have gotten from Mrs. Wagner and Mr. Green, to bring accountability to an incredibly important program that helps people in need after our worst moments in American history.

I thank the gentlewoman for her work, and I urge a ``yes'' vote.

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