Government

Final passage of bill to fund Texas hurricane recovery, border security, defense needs

Emergency supplemental funding bill now moves to President for signature

From the Office of Senator John Cornyn

June 23, 2006

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn made the following statement June 15 regarding final passage of the Emergency Supplemental funding bill, H.R. 4939, that will provide funding for Texas hurricane recovery efforts, border security and national defense needs. The bill passed by a vote of 98-1 and now goes to President Bush to be signed into law:

“With final passage of this bill, and President Bush’s signature, we’ll send critical funding to support our troops in battle, help get Texas back on its feet after the hurricanes, and bolster border security. And I’m encouraged that Congress was able to keep the bill at the overall spending limit of $94.5 billion set by the President.

“This bill will help ensure that our military facilities in Texas have the funding they need to operate in support of our troops. We must always provide our troops with the necessary resources to win the war on terror, and this bill helps do that.

“When it comes to hurricane recovery efforts, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and I fought very hard both on the Senate floor and through her service on the Conference Committee to make sure Texas was treated fairly. But more remains to be done. There are more federal resources coming to the state and the Texas delegation will continue working hard to make sure our state is not forgotten.

“In addition to other funding in this bill, I spoke with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Alphonso Jackson, on the phone this week. He assured me that Texas will receive equitable treatment when HUD distributes the $1 billion in unallocated Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) in the supplemental. Secretary Jackson recognized that Texas suffered a significant amount of damage and loss during the storms and that we deserve a fair shake.”

Congress provided $11.5 billion in CDBG funds for hurricane relief last year. But only $74.5 million of those CDBG funds, or less than one percent, was allocated to Texas. In May, Cornyn introduced an amendment that was accepted to the Senate version of the supplemental bill to substantially increase CDBG funding for Texas.

The CDBG program is a flexible funding source that provides communities with assistance to address a wide range of unique community development needs.

Sen. Cornyn is a member of the following Senate Committees: Armed Services; Judiciary; Budget; Small Business and Entrepreneurship; and Joint Economic. He is also the chairman of the subcommittees on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship and Emerging Threats and Capabilities.