As the Texas coast looks toward recovery amid the death and destruction wrought by Hurricane Harvey, several lawmakers from the state were at a popular tourist spot in the Czech Republic this weekend.
Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, a senior Appropriations Committee member, was spotted taking a tour of Prague Castle on Saturday. Carter was seen strolling through the castle complex, along with Reps. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., and Henry Cuellar, D-Texas. The group snapped photos and were told the history of St. Vitus Cathedral.
Carter told The Intercept that he was thinking about Houston while on a foreign operations congressional delegation.
“That’s my hometown, I was born and raised in Houston. I’m concerned about Houston,” Carter said, when asked about the crisis in his home state. “We increased FEMA funding, and we continue to increase funding,” he added.
GOP lawmakers have come under fire in recent days for pushing to cut nearly $1 billion from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief account in order to pay for President Donald Trump’s wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Carter, who serves on the committee responsible for spending matters, emphasized that FEMA would be fully funded.
The congressional delegation spotted in Prague today met this week with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to discuss supplying arms to Ukraine.
But in the Czech Republic, the immediate goals of the delegation were unclear. The group of lawmakers walked quickly to two waiting black Mercedes-Benz vans after their tour of the Prague Castle complex.
Before ending our brief interview, Carter said, “I’ll be going home in two days.”
Top photo: Texas GOP Rep. John Carter tours the Prague Castle in Czech Republic, on Sept. 2, 2017.
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
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I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
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