[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 15178-15179]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           INDIAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY FIGHTS HURRICANE HARVEY

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 27, 2017

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, since Hurricane Harvey hit our area 
last month, stories of Harvey Heroes continue to bring our community 
together and make us grateful for the incredible people that we call 
neighbors. There are many uplifting stories of those who grabbed their 
personal boats and set out in the waters to rescue individuals, many of 
whom they did not know. Our first responders answered the call time and 
time again. And so did so many people whose names we may never know. 
For all of them, we thank them from the bottom of our hearts.
  So many people have opened their homes, their hearts, and their 
wallets to help Houston recover. One such community was the Indian-
American community right in the greater Houston area. They have already 
raised over $1.6 million dollars. 700 Indian-American volunteers have 
dedicated more than 24,000 hours to their city, and together, they have 
distributed over 28,000 meals to our neighbors in need.
  One specific story I would like to highlight is that of a group of 
Indian-Americans, led by Houstonian, Jiten Agrawal, made their way 
through the unparalleled flooding after the Hurricane to reach a 
student apartment complex near my alma mater, the University of

[[Page 15179]]

Houston, that had been flooded and was without power. The president of 
the Indian graduate students' organization, Ravi Shankar, reached out 
to the community to help, and help is what they gave. These volunteer 
rescuers brought food and water to over 180 students and helped 
transport them back to their families or a safe location.
  We are grateful to these volunteers, some of the many Harvey Heroes, 
for helping Houstonians get through a very difficult time. They are 
just one of the reasons why we are Houston Strong.
  And that's just the way it is.

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