Congresswomen from two different states came together Saturday to provide relief of Texans impacted by the winter storm.
U.S. Representatives Sylvia Garcia and Shelia Jackson-Lee of Texas, along with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York joined forces Saturday morning. The elected officials met at the Houston Food Bank to pack boxes of meals and share their plan to help Texans hit hard by this week’s deadly weather event.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez announced that she helped to raise $3.2 million. The New York congresswoman said 100% of the donations will be split among five to ten organizations, which includes the Houston Food Bank. The chosen organizations either provide food support, elder care, or shelter assistance.
“Disasters don’t strike everyone equally, said Ocasio-Cortez. “When you already have so many families across the state and country, that are on the brink, that can’t even afford and emergency to begin with, when you have a disaster like this, it can set people back for years, not just days.”
The congresswomen then made a stop to Texas’ 29th District, Garcia’s district, to knock on doors and talk to families impacted.
The elected officials said their work doesn’t stop in Texas. They said they plan to continue fighting for Texans when they return to Washington, D.C.
Garcia said there’s needs to be a transparent investigation to find out what went wrong and why state leaders were not prepared for the winter event. More than a million Texans lost electricity earlier this week during extremely cold temperatures. Many and now dealing with lack of water, busted pipes and lack of food.
“There will need to be reforms at ERCOT and I urge the legislature to do that, and it should include looking into whether or not to join the federal grid,” said Rep. Garcia.
Congresswoman Garcia said Texans demand accountability and assurance this will never happen again.