Texas lawmakers are getting more and more frustrated with how slow Washington works, especially when it comes to helping the victims of Hurricane Harvey.
The House passed an 81 billion dollar relief package in December, but still, the Senate has done nothing with it. Because of that, about a dozen lawmakers in the House of Representatives sent a letter to the Senate urging them to take action. One of them is Congressman Brian Babin, who puts the blame on Democrats.
“In order to bring it up for a vote you need 60 votes. There are only 51 Republicans. We got to have nine Democrats vote for cloture so we can bring it up for a vote,” Babin explained.
Another lawmaker who signed that letter is Democrat Gene Green. He tells KTRH the Senate has been distracted with other things.
“That’s what happened. Because of the shutdown, and if you’re not from the state that was damaged, it’s not a higher priority,” Green said.
Green says if lawmakers from other states impacted by disasters - Louisiana, Florida and California - join them in urging the Senate to move on this, they just might listen.