Cove Harbor Marina & Drystack Sen. Ted Cruz holds roundtable discussions with local officials on continuing support for recovery efforts in Rockport and Victoria.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today traveled to Rockport and Victoria to receive briefings from local officials and community leaders on recovery efforts since his last visit to the region.

Still photos and video of Sen. Cruz’s events may be viewed here.

In Rockport, Sen. Cruz participated in a roundtable discussion with Mayor Pat Rios, County Judge Burt Mills, and other local officials. There, Sen. Cruz outlined his continued work to support their recovery efforts. Later, he toured Cove Harbor Marina and Drystack, which took a direct hit from the storm.

“The whole state of Texas took a hard hit,” Sen. Cruz said during the roundtable. “But the men and women represented around this table – y’all got it front and center. There was enormous pain, enormous damage, enormous loss of property, loss of homes, loss of livelihood. But I also know that the men and women around this room, y’all have been working around the clock to rebuild. […] As horrific as the storm was, I have to tell you, I’ve never been prouder to be a Texan than in the days and weeks after the storm.”

In Victoria, Sen. Cruz received a briefing from Mayor Paul Polasek, County Judge Ben Zeller and other local officials from the surrounding areas.
“My office has been very intentional in our efforts to facilitate and expedite the recovery process,” Sen. Cruz said. “To try to be in direct touch with the county judges, with the mayors, to listen to the problems y’all are having on the ground as we rebuild. One of the problems with the bureaucracy of any big government agency is it tends to be slow, and often unable to hear what’s happening on the ground. One role that I’ve tried to play is be a conduit – is hear the concerns y’all are raising, and make sure your voices are heard in Washington, that the relevant federal officials are listening, are hearing, and are acting.”

Following Hurricane Harvey’s unprecedented devastation, Sen. Cruz visited storm victims, volunteers, and first responders, received briefings from local officials, and surveyed storm damage all along the Texas Gulf Coast. Sen. Cruz previously met with emergency management personnel at the Aransas County Emergency Operations Center in September, and received a briefing from the Aransas County Commissioners Court in October during his visits to Rockport last year. Additionally, during his visits to Victoria, Sen. Cruz received a briefing from officials at the Victoria County Emergency Operations Center, and participated in a press conference with Gov. Greg Abbott and Chancellor John Sharp and other local officials, regarding the Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas. In the Senate, Sen. Cruz secured significant tax relief for storm-impacted Texans, in addition to helping pass multiple waves of federal funding.