[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 115 (Wednesday, July 10, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S4765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TEXAS SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 816

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, today I ask unanimous consent that a 
resolution passed by the senate of the State of Texas be printed into 
the Congressional Record. Senate Resolution No. 816 was adopted by the 
Texas Senate on May 24, 2019, by a vote of 31-0 and urges the U.S. 
Congress to consolidate disaster recovery housing funding for Hurricane 
Harvey.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                           Senate Resolution

       Whereas, Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas coast on August 
     25, 2017, causing an estimated $125 billion in damage; and
       Whereas, The second most destructive storm in American 
     history, the hurricane impacted approximately 30 percent of 
     the population of Texas, destroying homes, damaging 
     infrastructure, and displacing thousands of families along 
     the coast; and
       Whereas, The Federal Emergency Management Agency received 
     nearly 800,000 applications from affected Texans for some 
     form of assistance; as many as 83 percent of the people whose 
     homes flooded did not have flood insurance, creating 
     unprecedented demand for state and federal disaster recovery 
     assistance; and
       Whereas, The FEMA application process is so duplicative and 
     confusing, and the United States Department of Housing and 
     Urban Development regulations are so complex, that many 
     survivors give up trying to navigate the system and, 
     therefore, receive no assistance; and
       Whereas, Consolidating funding for recovery housing 
     programs into a single Disaster Housing Response and Recovery 
     Block Grant would increase efficiency, save taxpayer dollars, 
     and speed the recovery process by combining FEMA's short-term 
     programs and HUD's long-term programs; Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 86th 
     Legislature, hereby respectfully urge the United States 
     Congress to enact legislation to consolidate disaster 
     recovery housing funding into a single Disaster Housing 
     Response and Recovery Block Grant; and be it further
       Resolved, That the secretary of the senate forward official 
     copies of this resolution to the president of the United 
     States, to the president of the Senate and the speaker of the 
     House of Representatives of the United States Congress, and 
     to all the members of the Texas delegation to Congress with 
     the request that this resolution be entered in the 
     Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the 
     United States of America.
       I hereby certify that the above Resolution was adopted by 
     the Senate on May 24, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, 
     Nays 0.
                                                      Dan Patrick,
                                          President of the Senate.
                                                       Patsy Spaw,
                                          Secretary of the Senate.
     [State Seal Affixed]

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