February 3, 2006

The Honorable Joshua B. Bolten
Director
The Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20503

Dear Director Bolten:

It has been reported publicly that the Administration will be sending a supplemental appropriations request to Congress which will include $18 billion for hurricane relief. Before you finalize your request, I would like to bring to your attention the overwhelming need for continued hurricane disaster relief assistance in the State of Texas.

As you are aware, Texans opened their hearts, homes and wallets to victims of Hurricane Katrina and then Hurricane Rita hit us in our own back yard, creating an unprecedented set of circumstances and needs. In response, Congress created the Community Development Fund, an account comprised of $11.5 billion for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), to provide disaster relief, long-term recovery, and restoration of infrastructure in areas impacted by the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico last year. I was dismayed when Texas was allocated only $74.5 million, or less than 1%, of the Community Development Fund, considering that our damages and needs have been calculated to be in the multiple billions of dollars. In fact, Texas has estimated a need for over $1 billion in CDBG grants for expenses related to Katrina evacuees alone.

Texas, which accepted close to half a million Katrina evacuees -- who are still in our State -- and which suffered subsequent, substantial destruction from Hurricane Rita, continues to struggle with the recovery from this unique set of events. All Texans are confident that we will overcome these challenges; but, clearly, Congress intended that Texas receive a far greater share of the Community Development Fund. Therefore, we look to the Administration to now officially request a sufficient level of funding to assist Texas with its recovery.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions or desire further information.

Sincerely,

Kay Bailey Hutchison