[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 27 (Monday, February 10, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H607]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SUPPORTING AID TO FLORIDA, TEXAS, AND CALIFORNIA

  (Mr. LATIMER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LATIMER. Mr. Speaker, I am a proud New Yorker, and today I speak 
as a proud American. An American tragedy has played out in California, 
and those who have lost their homes and their lives are first and 
foremost Americans.
  This Nation has an obligation to help all of our fellow citizens. For 
those who claim America first, its is not America first except for 
California, America first except for Massachusetts or New York. We owe 
a debt to help our fellow Americans in California without political 
considerations or restrictions.
  When a hurricane tears through Florida, do we say let's see the 
Governor's plans to harden infrastructure before we help Floridians? Do 
we say let's see what local Florida zoning laws allow for buildings 
near the coast before we grant aid? When tornadoes devastate Texas, do 
we say how do they make schools less vulnerable before we give Texans 
assistance?
  When Floridians are suffering, I see Americans. When Texans are 
suffering, I see Americans. As a New Yorker, I support aid to Florida, 
Texas, and California when they need it without politics.

                          ____________________