Biden Approves More Emergency Resources For Texas To Clean Up GOP-Caused Humanitarian Crisis

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:32 pm

With decades of failed Republican leadership leading to a humanitarian crisis in Texas following historic winter weather, President Joe Biden approved more federal emergency resources on Saturday to help millions of people in the state who need help recovering from the disaster.

In a statement released Saturday, the White House said, “Yesterday, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Texas and ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe winter storms beginning on February 11, 2021, and continuing.”

With Biden’s action, federal funding will be available to help Texans living in dozens of counties that have been affected by the storm.

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More from the White House statement:

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding is also available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency protective measures and hazard mitigation measures statewide.

Biden already approved an emergency declaration for Texas last weekend, but CNN reports that this new action “would allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide more resources and assistance, including, for example, supplementing insurance to help individuals with uncovered costs or other costs to make homes habitable.”

The president is planning to visit Texas next week if his trip does not put a strain on local resources.

GOP leadership completely failed Texas

What happened in Texas this week should serve as a warning to the rest of America that the GOP policies of deregulation and climate denial can have deadly consequences.

As I wrote on Thursday, Republican officials in Texas – like Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Greg Abbott – care more about catering to the MAGA base on Fox News than they do about helping their constituents.

It’s why Cruz rushed to do an interview on Sean Hannity after his Cancun controversy, instead of rolling up his sleeves and helping get the lights on and the water running in his state.

Republican leadership completely failed Texas this week, and Joe Biden is stepping in to clean up the mess.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.