[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 34 (Thursday, March 16, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H1066]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SUPPORT THE FUNDING FOR FIXING TEXAS LEVEES

  (Mr. DOGGETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, the lives and livelihood of tens of 
thousands of Texans in a major hurricane zone are at risk because of 
defective federal levees that only the federal government can repair.
  I am here to ask that on the third vote this morning, our colleagues 
support an amendment offered on behalf of myself, Congressman Ortiz, 
and Congress Reyes to prevent another Hurricane Katrina-like disaster. 
This map shows the area of McAllen, Mission, Hidalgo, and Pharr, 
Texas--a booming community of hardworking Americans, small businesses, 
schools, hospitals, and nursing homes.
  That is how it looks today. This is how it will look if those federal 
levees fail, covered not in blue plastic, but in water. Because the 
federal levees are up to 9 feet deficient in height according to a 
report of the U.S. State Department.
  In order to prevent the destruction of the lives and livelihood of 
those hardworking Americans, we need the $7.8 million modest 
appropriation proposed in our amendment. Save lives and prevent a 
tragedy from occurring by approving emergency appropriations to assist 
the repair of these important federal levees.

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