Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia Joins Bipartisan Effort Calling for a Disaster Aid Supplemental Funding Package

HOUSTON, TX - Today, Congresswoman Sylvia R. Garcia (D-TX-29) joined her colleagues in the Texas Congressional Delegation in a letter urging House of Representatives Leadership and House Appropriations Committee leaders to bring a disaster supplemental aid package to the House of Representatives as soon as possible, noting the great need from recent storms, including Hurricane Helene, which recently hit the Southeast United States, and Hurricane Beryl, which hit Texas in July.

"As Americans struggle to recover from Hurricane Helene, another devastating hurricane this season, we write to urge you to bring a supplemental disaster funding bill to the floor as soon as possible," the letter reads. "It is important to all those affected across multiple states that we work to provide critical assistance to individuals and businesses recovering from multiple recent natural disasters, including in our home state of Texas after a derecho followed by Hurricane Beryl, both Presidentially declared disasters."

"This is the second year in a row that FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund has run out of funding before the end of hurricane season," the letter continues. "These funds are critical to ensuring FEMA can continue to help our community and others across the country recover from past disasters and mitigate future events. Earlier this year, FEMA took measures to conserve and redirect remaining funds to lifesaving missions, pausing assistance with recovery and rebuilding missions for prior disasters, which is an equally important part of FEMA's goal. Already more than 650,000 Harris County residents have requested FEMA assistance, which is more assistance requests received than after any other disaster in the county's recent history. While we are glad to see that FEMA lifted the pause after the passage of the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, H.R. 9747, with hurricane season still ongoing, additional funding is necessary to meet the unprecedented needs of our community."

"We request that these relief funds be allocated directly to jurisdictions to the maximum extent possible so that local communities can deploy the funds quickly," the letter concludes.

Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Congressman Wesley Hunt (TX-38), Congressman Colin Allred (TX-32), Congressman Brian Babin (TX-36), Congressman Dan Crenshaw (TX-02), Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Congressman Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Congressman Al Green (TX-09), Congressman Morgan Luttrell (TX-08), Congressman Troy Nehls (TX-22), and Congressman Randy Weber (TX-14) also signed the letter.

To read the full text of the letter, click here.