ICYMI: Sen. Cruz Visits Houston Emergency Operations Center, Pledges Federal Support at Hurricane Beryl Press Conference

HOUSTON, Texas – In Case You Missed It: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) joined Houston’s local and area officials at the City of Houston Emergency Operations Center yesterday, received a briefing from emergency management personnel, and joined a press conference with Houston Mayor John Whitmire (D-Houston) and other local officials.

At the press conference, Sen. Cruz said, “I want to start by commending the mayor for the terrific job you're doing and the terrific job your entire team is doing, from Houston police to Houston Fire to solid waste to everyone dealing with emergency management. I've spent the afternoon in the Emergency Management Center with this team, and this is a professional team that is focused, number one, on saving lives, on responding to Houstonians who are in harm's way.

“We just came through a very serious storm. Sadly, it took the lives of three Houstonians. For those three, we grieve for them, we pray for their families. We pray, we grieve, especially, for the family of the HPD civilian employee who lost his life today. Stepping forward to serve his community, it was the last act that he could do.

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“As the mayor said, the steps for a federal emergency declaration, the governor submits a request for a declaration to the President of the United States. At that point, I and John Cornyn, along with Al Green and the rest of our federal colleagues, we will support that federal declaration, and I'm confident that the President will issue a federal emergency declaration promptly, as soon as the request is submitted from the Governor. We will then work hand in hand, as we have repeatedly for years, with city officials, county officials, state officials, to ensure that federal resources are made available--federal resources are made available to help with the rebuild.

“The rebuild is going to be significant. There was real damage, but the good news is for Houston, this ain't our first rodeo. If you live on the Gulf Coast, part of living on the Gulf Coast is hurricanes. I've lived in Houston my whole life, and this team is very good at it unfortunately, because we know there's going to be another hurricane, and we will come through it. We will rebuild, because we are Houston strong.”

Watch the video to Sen. Cruz’s full remarks here.

Sen. Cruz has continually fought to provide relief to Texans impacted by natural disasters. 

• In the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in 2017, Sen. Cruz visited with victims, volunteers, first responders, and local officials in every region affected by the storm and authored the federal law that provided crucial and immediate tax relief to storm survivors along the Gulf Coast.
•  Time after time when disaster strikes Texas, Sen. Cruz makes sure the Lone Star State has the resources to recover and he is on the ground to help the recovery efforts.
• In 2023, Sen. Cruz toured Perryton after a tornado devastated the town, met with local officials, and helped with cleanup.
• In 2022, Sen. Cruz won inclusion of the Texas coastal resiliency improvement plan in a water resources infrastructure bill, which will better protect coastal Texans from major storms.
• In 2020, when 1.4 million Texans lost their jobs because of the COVID pandemic, Sen. Cruz fought for true economic recovery, introducing comprehensive legislation to restart the economy, get Americans back to work, and put our kids back in school.
• In 2020, Sen. Cruz urged the Trump administration to expedite its review of Dallas tornado damage and support Gov. Abbott’s disaster declaration.
• In 2019, after Tropical Storm Imelda, Sen. Cruz urged President Trump to issue a federal disaster declaration in response to the flooding the storm caused in southeast Texas.
• In 2018, Sen. Cruz toured Highland Lakes and offered support after flooding devastated the region.

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