Flood victims have message for Schumer: Help
Culberson, Cornyn want Democrat to push Harvery funds
Ahead of Sen. Chuck Schumer’s visit to Houston, Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, local politicians and flood victims gathered Friday in the Energy Corridor to urge the senator to not block funding on the Hurricane Harvey relief bill.
“I wanted to invite him to come meet my neighbors and my constituents who are suffering because the Senate won’t pass the bill,” Culberson said after a news conference inside a flood-ravaged neighborhood on the west side of Houston.
Schumer, D-N.Y., will be in town on Saturday for a fundraising trip for the Democratic Party. Schumer will be joined by U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, and Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana, at the Houston Marriott South for the event hosted by Tahir Javed, a Houston Democrat who’s running for the House in the 29th Congressional District.
Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn singled out Schumer, the Senate minority leader, on Tuesday for linking a House-passed disaster relief bill to a broader deal on 2018 spending. The House passed an $81 billion Harvey relief bill in December.
“My sense is that Senator Schumer is not going to be willing to give us those spending caps and willing to let us go forward on disaster relief until the DACA issue is resolved,” Cornyn said. “We know what the deadline is, it’s March the 5th. But I think it’s shame that in addition to the government shutdown these other hostages remain.”
Schumer has called the package “unacceptable” because he said it would shortchange Hurricane-stricken Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, as well as California, which has recently been scorched by wildfires.
Culberson, whose district includes much of the Energy Corridor, noted how many of the houses on Arrow Hill Road are empty because residents are unable to live there safely due to damage from Hurricane Harvey.
“My neighbors are desperate for financial help. They’re burning through their savings,” Culberson said. “The toll on everyone’s mental health is overwhelming.” Mary Khoury, 70, who lives in a neighborhood nearby in west Houston, said the home she had for 27 years flooded for the first time during Harvey. She vacated the home, which she shared with her husband and two daughters. Now, they’re living in a one-room hotel that FEMA is paying for.
Khoury said one of her daughters is away at college, but the living quarters are still cramped for the family.
“We are your citizens. I’m a senior citizen,” Khoury pleaded at the press conference. “We need your help.”
Paul Simpson, the Harris County Republican Party chairman, shared in other’s frustrations at the press conference. “A lot of hardworking Americans are suffering. They should not be allowed to suffer anymore.”