The ongoing destruction of lives, livelihoods, economy, and productivity by the hurricane in Texas is a signal to the country: The elected officials of the United States must have refused and stalled for the last time, on rebuilding and replacing the nation's ancient and broken-down economic infrastructure.

Let the words "natural disaster" not be misused. A major city is being destroyed because it is flood-prone, floods repeatedly, and its flood-control infrastructure — designed and built 70-80 years ago — is no longer worthy of the name. Yet the plans to completely rebuild it, requiring tens of billions in investments, have been ignored and turned down.

Hurricane Katrina killed nearly 2,000 people and wreaked $130 billion in economic losses for the same reason. Superstorm Sandy killed more than 100 people and caused $65 billion in economic losses for that same reason. These disasters could have been averted for a fraction of their eventual cost in lost wealth, let alone in lost lives. New York area residents are going through a "Summer of Hell" as the regional transportation system breaks down, for that same reason. We don't yet know how many will lose their lives in Houston and East Texas, but the economic and human losses there are going to be staggering.

"The nation calls for action, and action now!" in President Franklin Roosevelt's words. There is no alternative to action on a Hamiltonian national credit institution that funds the necessary trillions in new infrastructure investment.

LaRouchePAC has taken the responsibility to drive President Trump and the Congress into this action. But this is also the responsibility of the citizens who have been actively supporting the President, or supporting Sen. Bernie Sanders, who have wanted a drastic change in the deindustrialization and Wall Street speculation policy ruling the country.

In thinking about the terrible costs of inaction, it should not be forgotten, that allowing Wall Street to eliminate the Glass-Steagall Act in the 1990s led to a crash that caused $10 trillion in lost wealth, mass unemployment, and untold loss of life.

There must be action on reinstating Glass-Steagall as well, and on the entirety of what Lyndon LaRouche has called his four economic laws to save the nation, including large "science driver" investments in fusion power technology breakthroughs and revived NASA space exploration.

China's Belt and Road Initiative, an international program of new rail "land-bridges" and infrastructure great projects, offers immediate cooperation for the credit and the building of a new infrastructure in the United States. Promoted for decades by Lyndon and Helga LaRouche, this initiative is now moving on great projects they have long identified as absolutely essential, such as the Kra Canal in Southeast Asia and the revival of Lake Chad in sub-Saharan Africa.

Action in the United States is just as urgent, immediately. Watching what is happening to Houston, there is no alternative.