Trump promises federal aid to hard-hit Texas

WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump on Monday promised federal assistance to storm-ravaged parts of Texas, insisting Congress will act swiftly on a multibillion-dollar Hurricane Harvey recovery package as the government signaled current funds will be exhausted in the next few weeks.

“I think it’ll happen very quickly,” Trump said of an aid package that could rival those enacted after Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy. “It’ll go very fast.”

The president said existing disaster balances of more than $3 billion are sufficient for the immediate emergency but promised his administration will send lawmakers a request for far more to help Texas rebuild from the record storm in which catastrophic flooding has hit Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city.

“The real number, which will be many billions of dollars, will go through Congress,” Trump said at a White House news conference.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., promised through a spokeswoman that “we will help those affected by this terrible disaster.”

The Republican-led Congress appears likely to add an immediate infusion of aid to a temporary spending bill to prevent a government shutdown Oct. 1, though congressional aides say the larger recovery package may take more time to develop.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster fund currently contains more than $3 billion, but FEMA on Monday said response to Harvey is “quickly drawing down” disaster balances.