Screwing The Valley, With Help From DeLay & Company
Vince Leibowitz | Mar 17, 2006 | Comments 0
Out of everything Congress can manage to find the money for, the folks on Capitol Hill couldn’t muster up an extra $7.8 million to fix old levees along the Rio Grande River in the Valley”
Congress defeated an amendment Thursday morning that would have added $7.8 million for fixing the aging levees along the Rio Grande, meaning there are not enough funds to raise and upgrade the levees that would prevent catastrophic damage during a storm.
The “Prevent the Next Katrina-like Disaster†amendment U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin), proposed failed by a margin of 198 to 221.
Gee, you’d think with that specific of a moniker it might have received a few more votes. Doggett submitted the amendment as part of the 2006 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act.
The worst thing about this, though, is that every Republican member of the state’s congressional delegation—except McCaul, Hall, Burgess, Poe and Smoky Joe Barton—voted against this measure! The roll of dishonor on H.Amdt. 712 to HB 4939 includes deficit-hawk Jeb Hensarling, Tom DeLay, ex-Fort Worth Mayor Kay Granger, Sam Johnson, Mac Thornberry, Kenny Marchant, Mike Conway, Henry Bonilla (whose district touches on the border), Culberson, and Carter.
Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-Mercedes) tried separate amendment for $10 million but withdrew his amendment Wednesday night in what his staff said was a strategic move to hopefully garner support for the allocation in the Senate during upcoming weeks.
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Filed Under: Texas Congressional Delegation
