[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 119 (Thursday, July 10, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4305-S4306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Central Texas Floods

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, 2 days ago, I came to the floor to speak 
about the catastrophic flooding in Central Texas, and I would like to 
update my colleagues on the status of those recovery operations and 
also to express my gratitude to many of them who have reached out and 
offered their condolences--not to me but through me to my constituents 
and the people who are still grieving and who were so adversely 
affected by this natural disaster. For many who are affected by this 
tragedy, the pain will never go away.
  At this point in the rescue and recovery efforts, more than 119 
deaths so far have been confirmed across the State. Remember, this 
happened mainly the early morning of July 4, in the early morning 
hours. But that 119 deaths so far includes 36 children in Kerr County 
alone.
  Sadly, we learned a couple of days ago that, after counting all of 
the day campers and other people who were camping alongside the 
Guadalupe River during the Fourth of July weekend, where they were 
expecting to celebrate the Nation's birth but also fireworks displays 
and cookouts and things like that, unfortunately, people outside of the 
organized camps, mainly children and counselors--170 of them are 
missing in addition.
  So, for many of my constituents back home in Texas, the nightmare is 
not over. Of course, these loved ones who were lost were mothers and 
fathers and teachers, high schoolers, and precious children, young 
children.
  Those who died at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp, 
included two 8-year-old girls from Austin named Linnie McCown and Mary 
Stevens. As hard as it is to look at the pictures of these young girls, 
I think it is important to remember that these are not just numbers; 
these are human lives that were lost in this tragedy and families left 
behind who will never ever forget this terrible tragedy, nor fully 
recover.
  These two young girls were sleeping in a cabin called the Bubble Inn, 
which was close to the banks of the Guadalupe River.
  Linnie attended Casis Elementary School in West Austin. Her father 
Michael drove down to the Hill Country to search for his daughter. He 
told a reporter that when he went to the cabin at Camp Mystic and saw 
the stuffed animals, charm bracelets, and photos, he wanted to take 
some of those for each parent, even while he himself was looking for 
answers about his own daughter.
  After learning about Linnie's death, Michael wrote on social media:

       She filled our hearts with so much joy we cannot begin to 
     explain. We are going to miss her very much but know she's up 
     there shining bright.

  Mary Stevens attended Highland Park Elementary School in North 
Central Austin. Her mother Stacy said on a post after her death:

       Our world is shattered but I have peace getting your 
     letters and knowing you were

[[Page S4306]]

     having the time of your life at camp and had a dance party 
     with all of your friends before the Lord decided to take you 
     from us. He has bigger plans for you.

  Mary and Linnie were just two of the victims of this horrific 
flooding, and there are many others with their own stories and families 
and futures that were cut far too short.
  Now 6 days after the flooding, rescue and recovery efforts for those 
who remain unaccounted for are still underway. I would like to 
reiterate the message of Department of Homeland Security Secretary 
Kristi Noem, who shared with me in Kerrville on Saturday her No. 1 
priority, which was to save lives and to reunite families.
  As I said, there are now 170, at last count, people still missing in 
Kerr County alone, including 5 campers and 1 counselor from Camp 
Mystic. This number does not include others that were missing in 
surrounding counties like Travis, Williamson County, Burnet County, and 
it doesn't include out-of-town visitors who may have been vacationing 
in Central Texas. Because of that, the sad reality is, this number will 
rise.
  Once again, I want to recognize Governor Abbott and the many other 
State and local officials who snapped into action in response to this 
disaster, as well as the first-line responders who are committed to 
recovering as many people as possible.
  More than 19 different State, local, and national government entities 
have been involved in these rescue efforts, and according to Lieutenant 
Colonel Baker of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas 
game wardens alone have conducted more than 400 rescues and 30 
recoveries.
  I am grateful as well to President Trump and Secretary Noem for their 
rapid Federal response. President Trump, when I talked to him on 
Saturday morning, said: Whatever you need. And that message was 
reiterated by Secretary Noem. And, of course, the President agreed to a 
Federal disaster declaration at the request of Governor Abbott on the 
spot.
  I am especially thankful to the President for his kind words of love 
and support for those who have lost everything during this very, very 
sad time for Texas. The President and the First Lady are expected to 
come to Central Texas tomorrow, and I look forward to joining them once 
again.
  To all of my Senate colleagues who have expressed words of kindness 
and condolences over the last few days, I want to express my 
appreciation to them. It is not hard for each of us to imagine, as 
parents or grandparents or husbands or wives, what a loss like this 
must mean in the lives of those who have been left behind.
  Occasionally, we see people try to make political hay and engage in 
the blame game after a disaster like this. Of course, I guess I am not 
entirely surprised by that, but my request to them is, Please, wait. 
Wait until we have recovered all of those who are unaccounted for. 
There will be plenty of time for a thorough investigation of the facts 
and circumstances. Of course, it is only normal to say: Well, we want 
to make sure, in the future, we learn lessons from this experience so 
that we can save lives in the future. That time will come, but it is 
not now.
  We need to use our words to encourage and to uplift and to console 
our fellow Americans during this difficult time. Now is not the time 
for partisanship; now is the time for unity. As Texans, we are 
accustomed to working and playing as a team. We don't point fingers. We 
ask: What can I do to help?
  So the best thing we can do right now is to offer our condolences to 
the families of the victims and to continue to support the ongoing 
recovery efforts. It is imperative right now that we continue to work 
relentlessly, in the words of Governor Abbott, to recover as many 
people as possible who are yet unaccounted for. And he said: We will 
account for all of them.
  Again, I want to reiterate what I said previously in that there is 
zero evidence of any failure on the part of the National Weather 
Service or any government Agency that they contributed to this horrific 
disaster. But if there are technologies we can implement, training we 
can promote, or systems we can improve, we should look to doing that in 
the future, for the future. There will be time for Federal efforts 
beyond the major disaster declaration granted by the Trump 
administration. We have already begun to try to identify legislative 
efforts we might undertake here in the Congress.
  In listening to my colleague from Vermont, we know that natural 
disasters like this are not confined to any specific part of the 
country, to any State, or to any region. They happen everywhere at 
different times and in different places. It remains unclear whether 
there is anything that could have been done differently to prevent this 
horrible tragedy from taking place, but our goal must, nevertheless, 
remain to prevent more mothers and fathers and families from suffering 
the very great pain that so many are feeling right now.
  This week, there has been example after example of Texans helping 
fellow Texans. Countless prayer vigils and donation drives have been 
organized across the State in honor of those who lost their lives in 
the flooding. Fundraisers have raised tens of thousands of dollars for 
everything from a fund in memory of Mystic camper Hadley Hanna to money 
for Lyle and Sue Glenna, a couple from Minnesota who managed to use 
their car horns to alert others at their campground of the incoming 
flood, likely saving multiple lives in the process.
  There wasn't a single spot left in the parking lot of the George W. 
Bush Presidential Library in Dallas for the vigil that was held there, 
and University of Texas students gathered at UT Tower in Austin to 
honor Chloe Childress and Katherine Ferruzzo--Camp Mystic counselors 
and incoming freshmen. Chloe lost her life in the flooding, and 
Katherine remains unaccounted for at this time.
  As a father of two daughters, I can't imagine what these parents are 
going through, or grandparents or families or friends, given the loss 
of these young girls--of these lives that had only just begun. For 
those who are still waiting to hear news about their missing children 
or family members, they should know that we are doing everything 
humanly possible to find them and bring them home.
  While I can't show the photos of every person who has died or is 
still missing due to the flooding, I want all who have lost loved ones 
to know that the prayers of those of us here and, I believe, of those 
across the Nation are lifting them up and are with them during their 
time of unimaginable grief.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.