[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 190 (Friday, December 20, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H7413]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           MAUI MINUTE NO. 30

  (Ms. TOKUDA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. TOKUDA. Mr. Speaker, this is my 30th Maui minute. After months of 
delay, three successive requests from President Biden, and unnecessary 
anxiety for millions of Americans courtesy of the richest man in the 
world, Congress will now finally send much-needed disaster recovery 
funding across the country.
  For over a year, I have led bipartisan efforts pushing to deliver 
this aid to Maui. We have delivered speeches in this Chamber and we 
have sent letters to leadership to introduce amendments that were 
blocked.
  Finally, we got this done. This disaster recovery package will 
provide a much-needed boost to meeting all our people's needs. The 
package will send over $2.1 billion in Federal disaster relief to 
Hawaii, including about $1.6 billion in the Community Development Block 
Grant Disaster Recovery Fund, or CDBG-DR, $350 million to rebuild 
drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, and $72 million to 
rebuild roads and bridges. It will replenish the Small Business 
Administration's disaster loans program so homeowners and small 
businesses can continue to recover.
  For my Maui constituents still recovering from the deadly fires, it 
has been far too long of a wait, but our work will not stop here. We 
will use these dollars to rebuild housing and infrastructure, restore 
our `` `aina,'' ``land,'' and bring our Maui `` `ohana,'' ``family,'' 
home.

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