WEBVTT - Former Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office George Prescott Bush

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<v Speaker 1>For more on the president's visit today and the damage

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<v Speaker 1>caused by these deadly Texas was and what needs to

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<v Speaker 1>be done. Next, we turned to George P. Bush, the

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<v Speaker 1>former commissioner of the Texas General Land Office. Commissioner Bush,

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome back to Bloomberg.

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<v Speaker 2>It's good to see you.

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<v Speaker 1>Everyone's been an expert on response and rescue operations over

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<v Speaker 1>the past couple of days. I'm wondering what Texans actually

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<v Speaker 1>want the extent to which they want the government to

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<v Speaker 1>be involved here enhancing infrastructure for early warning.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, I suspect that in July twenty one, when the

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<v Speaker 3>special session gabbles back in, that the legislature will go

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<v Speaker 3>back to the bill that was administered this past session.

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<v Speaker 2>But was unsuccessful.

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<v Speaker 3>It was a half a billion dollar package to create

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<v Speaker 3>an early detection and warning system with respect to a

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<v Speaker 3>state that, unfortunately, is subject to the most amount of

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<v Speaker 3>natural disasters than any other state in America.

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<v Speaker 2>People forget, since.

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<v Speaker 3>Nineteen eighty our state has had more federal declarations in

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<v Speaker 3>any other state, and then ranges from flat floods such

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<v Speaker 3>as the one that we've seen in Curville to devastating

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<v Speaker 3>storms like Hurricane Harvey, which I happen to preside over

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<v Speaker 3>as the Land Commissioner, leading the state's largest housing recovery,

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<v Speaker 3>and I think it was the second largest in American

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<v Speaker 3>history behind Katrina. This storm is nothing short of devastating,

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<v Speaker 3>but as you know, politicians typically respond after the fact

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<v Speaker 3>instead of preparing before the devastating events.

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<v Speaker 2>But we need to focus on the positives here.

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<v Speaker 3>I believe legislators will reconvene past that half a billion

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<v Speaker 3>dollar package that will implement early communication and warning systems

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<v Speaker 3>along the Guadaloup, similar to what was done in the

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<v Speaker 3>Wimberley storms from twenty sixteen, where the Blanco River Authority

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<v Speaker 3>did set aside the dollars to create that early detection

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<v Speaker 3>system that com mitigate lives that we need to prepare

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<v Speaker 3>better for these storms.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, when we consider the preparation and you speak to

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<v Speaker 4>some of the recent natural disasters that the State of

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<v Speaker 4>Texas has experienced, does it also need to be better

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<v Speaker 4>adaptation and mitigation to what is a changing environment.

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<v Speaker 2>Absolutely.

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<v Speaker 3>When I was Lank Commissioner, I advocated for the largest

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<v Speaker 3>storm surge barrier in American history. After Katrina, New Orleans

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<v Speaker 3>and Louisiana were successful in obtaining a federal appropriation to

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<v Speaker 3>create two swinging levees that now largely protect New Orleans

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<v Speaker 3>from a devastating Category three plus storms. In fact, they've

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<v Speaker 3>had a few storms and this system has actually worked.

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<v Speaker 2>It's been accomplished.

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<v Speaker 3>Before in American history, and we can do it again

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<v Speaker 3>as Texans, whether it's flash floods or devastating storms that

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<v Speaker 3>could hit the Galveston area.

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<v Speaker 2>But I'm a big.

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<v Speaker 3>Believer if you look at the economics of natural disasters

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<v Speaker 3>and the recovery, it's so much cheaper at the federal

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<v Speaker 3>level to allow states, counties, and cities to come forward

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<v Speaker 3>to the federal government with well thought out plans that

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<v Speaker 3>are NEPA compliant and working with the US corp of

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<v Speaker 3>Engineers to.

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<v Speaker 2>Help mitigate those future storms.

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<v Speaker 3>Because, believe it or not, our climate is changing and

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<v Speaker 3>violent storms like this will continue happening. So we can

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<v Speaker 3>choose one path, which is to respond and ask taxpayers

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<v Speaker 3>from other parts of the country to fund it, or

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<v Speaker 3>we can come together as a country and put together

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<v Speaker 3>those plans and better prepare and develop that infrastructure beforehand.

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<v Speaker 1>Stories like these, unfortunately have a way of falling off

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<v Speaker 1>the front page pretty quickly. Commissioner Bush once that's the case,

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<v Speaker 1>and we're onto other things and whatever the crisis of

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<v Speaker 1>the day may be in politics, what will be happening

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<v Speaker 1>on the ground in Texas?

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<v Speaker 2>How long will it take to clean this up?

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<v Speaker 3>Man? I'm hearing estimates of several months, if not yours.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, going back to the experience at Hurricane Harvey,

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<v Speaker 3>we were cleaning debris for over a year, attaining federal

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<v Speaker 3>waivers and permits to allow us to just burn the trash.

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<v Speaker 3>I remember an estimate that every single landfill in the

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<v Speaker 3>state of Texas was inundated with debris.

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<v Speaker 2>And if you look at just these images.

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<v Speaker 3>That are occurring on the Guadalupe River, and if you

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<v Speaker 3>can visualize a wall of water in excess of thirty

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<v Speaker 3>feet in all the debris that are along the Balconi's

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<v Speaker 3>escarpment along that way, this is going to take a

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<v Speaker 3>long time.

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<v Speaker 2>But as a former leader.

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<v Speaker 3>In Texas, I can tell you that the people of

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<v Speaker 3>Texas are so resilient and strong. There are tens of

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<v Speaker 3>thousands of volunteers, including my church River Bend, which is

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<v Speaker 3>on the ground in a church in curable helping people

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<v Speaker 3>respond and getting badly needed supplies. And what's crazy about

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<v Speaker 3>this Joe is that there are still over one hundred

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<v Speaker 3>people missing. I mean, we are still in the search

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<v Speaker 3>and rescue aspect of what's occurring here, and it's been

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<v Speaker 3>a week, so recovery is never easy. Unfortunately, we're already

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<v Speaker 3>pointing fingers at one another. But first things first, we've

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<v Speaker 3>got to save lives.

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<v Speaker 4>That is absolutely true. We should keep that in before

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<v Speaker 4>we let you go, Commissioner. We just have a minute

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<v Speaker 4>left here. But if a state like Texas, with its

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<v Speaker 4>size and capacity, still needs the support of the federal

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<v Speaker 4>government to respond to a disaster like this, what does

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<v Speaker 4>it tell you about changes that should or should not

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<v Speaker 4>be made to FEMA.

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<v Speaker 3>I've long been an advocate for reorganizing FEMA and consolidating

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<v Speaker 3>the disaster recovery components of what it does, along with

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<v Speaker 3>the numerous other federal agencies in.

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<v Speaker 2>Washington, DC that responded disasters.

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<v Speaker 3>To make it simple, cut through the bureaucratic red tape

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<v Speaker 3>for local, county and state wide officials. Just one quick

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<v Speaker 3>example from Hurricane Harvey. To rebuild a home, it required

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<v Speaker 3>over sixteen permits from different agencies underneath the National Environmental

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<v Speaker 3>Protection Act. And if we can just cut through the

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<v Speaker 3>red tape, essentially block rant the dollars down to the states, counties,

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<v Speaker 3>and cities to allow them to adjudicate the recovery process.

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<v Speaker 3>I assure you that most states are going to do

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<v Speaker 3>it better than the federal government. Are certain just jurisdictions

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<v Speaker 3>that don't have that experience like we do in Texas,

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<v Speaker 3>But there's a lot that we can do at the

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<v Speaker 3>federal level, all right.

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<v Speaker 4>George P. Bush, former Commissioner of Texas General Land Office,

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<v Speaker 4>thank you so much for joining us.