McCaul Applauds Passage of Additional Disaster Aid for Texas

I, the Lead Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Chairman Emeritus on the House Homeland Security Committee (TX-10), released the following statement upon passage of H.R. 2157 - Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act, 2019, which appropriates $19.2 billion in long-awaited disaster relief funding to several federal departments and agencies for expenses related to the consequences of recent wildfires, hurricanes, volcanos, earthquakes, typhoons, and other natural disasters.

This legislation also includes a provision that would require the Office of Management (OMB) to release $16 billion in disaster relief funding that Congress already appropriated over a year ago. Texas is awaiting $4.3 billion of this funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for disaster recovery.

"This legislation includes a vital provision to expedite long-awaited hurricane mitigation funding. With hurricane season now upon us, I’m relieved that these urgently needed funds will begin to flow to the many Harvey survivors in my district and across Texas. The $4.3 billion in disaster relief aid is overdue and will go a long way in helping Texans as they continue to rebuild their lives after Harvey".

Background:
Congress appropriated funds for mitigation and resiliency on February 9, 2018 through the Bipartisan Budget Agreement of 2018. These funds and activities would be determined by Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) programs run by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Congress is still waiting on the final rule from HUD 16 months later. Last month, during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Secretary Ben Carson testified the rules would be published by May 1, 2019, and funds distributed shortly thereafter.