[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15852]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HELPING FLOOD VICTIMS IN NEED

  (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge Congress to help 
the neediest and most vulnerable flood victims from our Nation's recent 
hurricanes.
  Our district in Houston and Harris County, Texas, is familiar with 
hurricanes and disaster recovery. We rebuilt our communities after 
Allison in 2001, and again in 2008, after Hurricane Ike.
  Texans are proud and independent people. We take pride in our self-
reliance and can-do attitude. However, many members of our community--
low-income families, seniors, and disabled Americans--are in the 
greatest need and must rely on others for help.
  Current rules can prevent the neediest victims from receiving 
assistance they need to recover and rebuild their homes, including 
denying individuals Federal assistance for being able to afford flood 
insurance premiums that can exceed over $4,000 a year. That is out of 
range for most of these folks.
  As America's elected representatives, we have a moral responsibility 
to act and protect our Nation's most vulnerable disaster victims, 
especially our seniors and disabled, from being left with nothing.

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