Date: 2005-09-07
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I am proud of what I have seen of what is happening not only in America. but also in my home State of Texas. I think we are all an America. where the tragedy occurred in Louisiana. Mississippi. and Alabama last week. and the human and economic cost is unprecedented in our history. I know our Congress will respond to that. We pray daily for those who have been affected by this terrible storm. and as we say in southeast Texas. "There but for the grace of God go us" in southeast Texas. because we have had our storms and our floods. and that is why I think we have been so willing to help. particularly in Texas as a whole. our neighbors to the east. mostly Louisiana. but possibly Mississippi and Alabama. I rise to focus on the reliefefforts for these evacuees. thousands of which are in my hometown of Houston. Texas. Getting folks out of harms way is the first objective. and we then have to provide for them during the mdny months it takes to recover from this disaster. F 1915 Today there are over 30.000 in four megashelters in Houston where Texans are being the best friends in need that they can be. The Reliant Astrodome. Reliant Center. Reliant Arena. and George R. Brown Convention Center are full or filling up with evacuees. The American Red Cross has shelters around the area with an estimated 2.600 displaced persons. including Baytown. Texas. And the people of our area. whether in Baytown or across our county. are responding to this tragedy. Countless people are working long hours to serve. particularly. I know. a Baytown City Council member. Sammy Mahan. and Fire Marshal Bernard Olive who literally formed their own shelter and provided so much assistance to our neighbors. Thousands more are in hotels and private homes across Texas and in the Houston area. There are about 100 seniors that have just moved into a senior housing facility in our district. and thousands more may end up in similar housing. Some estimate in the Houston area we have about 100.000 to 150.000 total evacuees. maybe more. The health care. food. and clothing and other needs of these shelters is and will continue to be enormous for a long time. The charitable giving by individuals. nonprofits. and businesses has been overwhelming. Like 9/11. we are seeing Americans and Texans at their best. However. most of the burden for caring for these new residents of the Houston area will fall on already overburdened local governments. So we are relieved that FEMA is up with five disaster relief centers at some of the shelters coordinating the disaster assistance. But we need a lot more. We had 20 centers during Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. Unfortunately. we are having a hard time caring for all the needy folks who live in the Houston area alone. so we are going to have to rely on the Federal Government to respond to this national disaster.. To show how steep the costs are. the city of Houston on Monday. Labor Day. met in special council session and put $10.000 advance cost immediately for evacuee costs. This does not include our Harris County costs. And the amounts are so huge in other jurisdictions. the city has to rely on accountants from the Big Four accounting firms who volunteered to compile these expenses. I understand our Federal disaster law has never been used to compensate States for such a massive relief operation for citizens who are not from our State. There appears to be a significant amount of red tape for the money. There are several different ways to flow funds. through Louisiana then to Texas. or Texas may have to bill Louisiana. and then Louisiana gets reimbursed. and Texas may be reimbursed by the Federal Government directly. In addition. the public health costs alone present a complex situation. And I believe Texas will need a public health emergency declaration just like Louisiana. Many of these evacuees could already have or be susceptible to infectious diseases that thrive in our cramped conditions. That is why we are trying to move them out of these large facilities to apartment5 and homes as quickly as we can. How can Texas afford handling the Medicaid and Medicare costs of Louisiana residents who fled to our State? We cannot even cover our own needy children as we would like to. That is why the Federal Government should pay. at least in an emergency. 100 percent of the Medicaid match in times of emergency and -national disaster. And tonight I am going to introduce legislation for that. While progress is being made on the housing front. there is much work to be done. and the sooner housing is found. the better off for our health situation. We need to figure out the best way to do this in an unprecedented situation. This event will be the largest charity and volunteer operation ever by .Texans. and I think by our Nation. But we are stepping up to the challenge. Many Houstonians worked through Labor Day weekend to provide the initial relief for our Louisiana brothers and sisters. Donations are pouring into our churches and charities across my district. our community. and our State. Our religious community. it is great to see these daily meetings in the city of Houston with our Democratic city of Houston mayor and our county judge is a Republican. being problem solvers and dealing with our faith community. Our Catholic bishop and our Methodist bishop. churches of all walks of life are literally out there every day helping. However. local and State governments cannot be equipped. Mr. Speaker.-I know I have used up my 5 minutes. That is why I would like to put the rest of my statement in the RECORD. And I cannot say too much about being so proud to be a Texan. but also an American. However. the local and State governments are just not equipped to deal with the scale of the situation. There is a reason that disasters like this are borne on the Federal level. Therefore. Texas. like Louisiana. will need to be reimbursed for the local government costs of this operation. Otherwise Hurricane Katrinas impact will become ever wider as the costs spread ever outwards. FEMA has been criticized for its red tape. but on this issue we have a chance to be proactive. Lets devise a financial strategy that keeps aid and relief moving as fast as possible. If we need a legislative fix. then we need to find out now. rather than later. We will have at least two more supplementals to address the situation.