Rep. Cuellar Announces $15 Million in Disaster Assistance for State of Texas

WASHINGTON, May 18 -- Rep. Henry Cuellar, R-Texas, issued the following news release:

Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) today announced that State of Texas has received $15,639,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program to help local communities in Texas recover from severe flooding. Among the counties that will receive funding are Hidalgo, Harris, Hays, and Travis Counties. These flexible grants help cities, counties, and States recover from presidentially-declared disasters, especially in low-income areas.

In Texas, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) is the lead state agency that receives and administers the Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program and works with eligible counties, including Hidalgo, to allocate disaster funding. With this new allocation the State of Texas has received a total of 66 million to support recovery from major disasters in that occurred in 2015.

As part of his work on the House Appropriations Committee, Congressman Cuellar has vigorously defended HUD's Community Development Block Grant program, which the Trump Administration has threaten to defund according to the President's 2018 federal budget request that laid out huge cuts to federal agencies and programs to pay for a border wall with Mexico. These funds were successfully included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017, which included $400 million to support recovery from major disasters in 2015 and 2016.

"Programs like the Community Development Block Grant help many communities in my district provide decent housing, a suitable living environment, disaster recovery and resources to expand economic opportunities, principally for low and moderate-income persons," Congressman Cuellar said. "Hidalgo County can use these funds to help pay for recovery from the severe flooding we experienced last year. I'd like to thank Judge Ramon Garcia and the Commissioners Court for their hard work and cooperation. I will continue to secure funding for my district and my constituents to address local challenges."