Chamber calls on Congress to send more storm aid here
Published 4:21 pm Thursday, January 11, 2018
Staff report
The Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce announced Thursday it has officially called on Congress to pass a new appropriations bill to help Texas recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.
House Resolution 4667, the federal hurricane relief bill, which passed the House of Representatives on Dec. 21, is now awaiting a Senate vote and must be passed in January to help the state.
It has been over 120 days since Texas faced the largest rainfall incident in America’s history, yet the needed funding for repairs and resilience projects has not reached the state.
In October, Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott submitted a 301-page request to Congress, outlining $61 billion in projects identified by elected officials across the state as critical priorities that will protect Texans, property and the Texas economy.
“We are truly grateful for all the work that has been done so far to help Texans,” said Bill McCoy, president/CEO of the Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce. “Hurricane Harvey was an unprecedented storm that caused significant flood damage, but time is moving on and we have big projects to start to make sure this never happens again.”
The federal government always plays a significant role in natural disasters. Since 2005 it has provided assistance to many states including Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New York, North Carolina, New Jersey and Mississippi.
“As Texans, we are always prepared to jump in and work hard to help our neighbors and our communities,” Jeff Hayes, chairman of the board, “and so far, we have accomplished a lot.”
For example, in Port Arthur local industries sent crews to homes to help clean up and help citizens return to their homes.
But Texans can’t recover alone, the chamber said.
Chamber leaders asked community members to reach out to elected officials, including U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.
Tell them we are “Texas Strong,” the chamber said in an issued statement, but we need help from Congress to fix our state and to prevent the negative impact of a mega storm in the future.
