Requests $20 Million in Funding for FY2007

Washington, DC (April 6, 2006) – Today, Congressman Rubén Hinojosa (TX-15) testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Science, the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce regarding the state of levees in South Texas.  Congressman Hinojosa is requesting $20 million in FY2007 funding to repair and make improvements to levees in the Rio Grande Valley.

In addition, Congressman Hinojosa is working with members of the Senate to obtain $10 million in the FY2006 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill for the International Water Boundary Commission for repairs and improvements. 

Below is text of the Congressman’s opening remarks.
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“Chairman Wolf, Ranking Member Mollohan, thank you for allowing me to testify regarding an issue of great importance to my district and to the state of Texas.

“We all know the devastation that was caused in New Orleans when the levees failed.  Thousands of people remain displaced and many may never return home.

“I am here today to plead with you to not let this tragedy happen in my part of the country.  The International Boundary and Water Commission is charged with maintaining over 500 miles of levees along the U.S.-Mexico border.  A recent study by the US Corps of Engineers shows that numerous sections of these levees are too weak or too low to hold back flood waters from devastating the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. 

“More than a million people call the Rio Grande Valley home and 2 ½ million more people live on the Mexican side of the river.  This region is the poorest in the nation and I do not want to see my constituents lose what little they may have. 

“Despite its poverty, the Rio Grande Valley is also the gateway through which much of our nation’s commerce flows.  Should a devastating flood hit the Valley, factories and small businesses in Indiana, Illinois, Virginia, West Virginia and throughout the nation will shut down because of their inability to get “just in time” deliveries of the parts and supplies that come through the Valley’s international border ports.

“My constituents are not only afraid of the effects of a category 4 or 5 hurricane such as they experienced with Hurricane Beulah in 1967, but are worried that even a slow moving tropical storm could make them homeless, like their neighbors in New Orleans.  Heavy rains in the mountains of Northern Mexico could cause a catastrophe because those floodwaters empty into the Rio Grande River in areas from El Paso to Laredo to Roma and to Brownsville.  

“Given the billions of dollars in damage that could occur, my constituents are not asking for much money.  The IBWC estimates that $125 million would fix all of the inadequate levees.  However, $20 million in each of the next three years would repair the worst of the levees in the most critical and populous areas. 

“As you work on this year’s bill, I hope you will add this $20 million in additional funding so that the IBWC can repair and raise these inadequate levees and prevent flooding in South Texas.

I ask that my extended remarks be submitted for the record.   Thank you.”