{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://sablan.house.gov/244-million-more-disaster-recovery", "$244 million more for disaster recovery", "2019-12-09", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "MP", "Gregorio Sablan", "S001177", "sablan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "$244 million more for disaster recovery                                           \n              Dec 9, 2019      \t\t        \t    \n      \t            \n                    \n                                            \n          \n        \n        \n            \n    \n  \n    \n    \n    $244 million that Congress appropriated for recovery work in the Marianas is now available. The $244 million Community Development Block Grant  Disaster Recovery, or CDBG-DR, is meant for long-term, unmet needs not covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration, or the Army Corps of Engineers. Immediately after the appropriation in Public Law 116-20 last June, your congressional office met with CDBG-DR officials at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. We wanted to be sure communication was in place with the Commonwealth officials, who would be responsible for writing the plan of use for the money. Shortly after, HUD sent a team to the Marianas, where their primary point of contact is Mr. Jesse S. Palacios, Corporate Director of the Northern Marianas Housing Corporation. HUD reports that its CDBG-DR staff based in San Francisco has maintained bi-weekly calls with the CNMI since September. In a letter to HUD Secretary Ben Carson, acknowledging the work of his team, I asked that he continue this oversight to ensure the CDBG-DR grant is used promptly and properly. And I have now learned HUD plans to visit the Marianas again for a launching a grant technical assistance visit within 30 days of the formal funding announcement in the Federal Register. $244 million is the largest single grant of federal funds in Commonwealth history.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://sablan.house.gov/244-million-more-disaster-recovery"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8562030270695686, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}