Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Disaster Tax Relief Act, 2020

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Chair, I rise today to support the people from the great State of Texas.

It has been 2\1/2\ years since Hurricane Harvey. Many of my constituents are still struggling to finance their rebuilding. And it is not as if Texans simply waited on Federal aid. We passed a local bond for $2.5 billion to address recovery and future prevention. Additionally, many took out SBA loans, a low-cost loan to get themselves back on their own feet.

Here is the problem: My constituents never thought that taking out an SBA loan, a loan that they would be paying back, would prevent them from also receiving other Federal aid.

This problem of dual benefits was addressed in law recently by my friend Representative Garret Graves from Louisiana, but the fix came too late for some. Many victims of disasters who would be eligible for Federal aid such as CDBG-DR are not able to access that aid.

This amendment will not be able to provide the estimated nearly $3 billion that the Texas General Land Office believes would be needed to help all of those affected, but my amendment will solve this problem for some of the most vulnerable people who unfairly fell through the bureaucratic cracks.

I urge my colleagues to vote in support of this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and missed the vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 54. PERSONAL EXPLANATION

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source