Texas Democratic Representatives Sylvia Garcia and Sheila Jackson Lee, and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, spoke at a press conference outside the Houston Food Bank, saying they were planning to help Texans affected by the winter storm.
Ocasio-Cortez raised money for the visit, saying 100% of the money will go to five to 10 organizations to help Texans affected by the winter storm.
“You know, when disaster strikes, it’s not just a problem for Texans, this is a problem for our entire country,” said Ocasio-Cortez. “As mentioned before, disasters don’t affect everyone as much as you already have so many families in the state and across the country who are on the verge of running out that they can’t even afford an emergency at first.”
“You know, we really need to make sure that we get food and aid to people all over the state, as mentioned here, at the Houston Food Bank there are no questions being asked,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“That’s the spirit of New York, that’s the spirit of Texas and that’s the American spirit,” she added.
Garcia said she was happy that Ocasio-Cortez was there to help Texans. She also said she felt the state leaders should have responded better and said there should be an independent investigation into the net.
“(Disasters) hurt the vulnerable populations even more,” said Garcia, who spoke first, at the press conference. My district was completely in the dark. And I know people are still in pain today … we have to make repairs. ‘
“And now there’s help with my good friend Rep. Ocasio-Cortez texted me and said, ‘Well, I want to do something, so I immediately said,’ Whatever you do includes the Houston Food Bank, ” said “You know, we’re from Texas right? Who does things to New York? We always laugh at New York. But this time we love New York.”
Garcia also called for accountability to investigate how Texans were so affected by the disaster.
“We’re not here to do anything other than talk to people,” Garcia added. “The answer could be better from our state leaders. It could have been better in preparation, and it would be better to step up and it would be better to do a completely independent investigation into why this incident happened, why they why don’t they prepare, what are they going to do and make sure they do it in a transparent, fair and just way. ”
She added, “There will be a need for reform with ERCOT and I urge the legislator to do that. And then it also needs to be considered whether or not you want to join the federal network. I think that’s all. “Texas didn’t want to go through this again. They want to be accountable.”
ERCOT as it is commonly known is the state of Texas power grid: The Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
Jackson Lee said she was concerned about her constituents when calls came in from people, including children, who feared they would die overnight from freezing temperatures.
“This leaves me at an unspeakable and emotional moment,” she said.
WATCH Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s comments: