The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“DISASTER FUNDING” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Senate section on pages S5487-S5488 on Sept. 12, 2011.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
DISASTER FUNDING
Mr. REID. Mr. President, if we would pause a few minutes and think about what has gone on in America this year: We have had flooding on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and other rivers in the Midwest. To show the power of this flood, on the Mississippi River alone there are 3 million acres underwater--farmland. We have had devastating tornadoes in the South. These tornadoes don't have names but they have a viciousness that is hard to comprehend. In Joplin, MO, about 200 people were killed. There was devastation. It is believed those winds reached nearly 300 miles an hour. Some say they are the highest recorded winds ever. They eliminated everything in their path.
Wildfires in the South and the West have been extremely harsh. Take Texas alone. Fires have been burning in Texas for the last month. Two thousand homes have been destroyed, burned to the ground. The fires are still present. I heard today that they are about 50 percent controlled.
We now have had Hurricane Irene. The wake of damage from Hurricane Irene hit numerous States, States that usually have no damage, all up the coast. Vermont has no coastline but they were devastated. Hundreds of bridges were washed out in Vermont. Vermont is a sparsely populated State. There are about 600,000 people, I understand, in the whole State, but it has been really hurt. The largest office complex in the whole State, with some 1,700 employees, is out of operation, underwater.
Tropical Storm Lee quickly followed Irene. Tropical Storm Lee has left damage in lots of places. We haven't been hurt real hard here in the metropolitan area of the District of Columbia. I have been here quite a while and I can never remember it raining for a week at a time, but that is what we just had. It rained basically all last week. The Potomac River is very high, but other States have been hurt worse by Tropical Storm Lee. I don't remember the exact number of deaths because of Lee, but it is approximately 20. Here in Virginia a 12-year-old boy in his backyard was washed away.
Since the first of this year, President Obama has issued disaster declarations for 48 States and the hurricane season is not over yet. The Commerce Department said this year we have had 10 disasters, each with more than
$1 billion in damage, and $1 billion is an understatement when you talk about what happened with Irene. They say that will reach $25 billion, that one storm. That is the most we have had in decades--probably the most ever.
No one should be surprised that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is about broke. As of today, they have a few hundred million dollars left, probably in the $300 million range. In just the last 2 weeks, FEMA spent almost $400 million out of the fund for Hurricane Irene and other disasters. That should not be out of that fund. That should be forward funded. So FEMA is dangerously close to running out of money.
To make sure FEMA will have enough money to meet the immediate needs for food, water, and emergency housing for victims of new disasters, on August 28 FEMA stopped approving funding for disaster recovery projects from past disasters. This means funding is on hold to rebuild schools, hospitals, roads, public utilities from past disasters like Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike, the Mississippi River flood of 2008--they are still doing work there to renovate that area--the Tennessee flood of 2010 and tornadoes in Missouri and Alabama of days past. So we have hundreds of millions of dollars that need to be spent in places such as Joplin, MO. They are not spending money there in Joplin, MO. After all they have been through there, no money.
The need is urgent. That is why we are seeking to move to the House-
passed revenue measure to serve as a vehicle for disaster relief. The House insists, as they should, that because of our Constitution's Origination Clause, all appropriation measures have to originate in the House. So we had to take a bill--the House bill we have here on the calendar--and that is why we have to move to the Burma revenue measure tonight to allow the Senate to address this disaster assistance.
The Burma sanctions bill is a bill that the Republican leader has been out in front of for ages. He has been the watchdog of this terrible war and adverse nature that is taking place in Burma. He has been out front on this issue, and I appreciate that very much.
Every year we pass these Burma sanctions unanimously. No one opposes them. The only reason anyone might be holding up this Burma sanctions bill is because my friends on the other side of the aisle, the Republicans, do not want to allow the Senate to vote on disaster assistance. Why do we need to do that? How much more specific do I need to be? We need to help communities hit hard by flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other acts of God. I would think twice if I were one of my Republican friends. I have gone over some of the areas where these tornadoes and these fires and other natural disasters have occurred and this is our only hope of getting help for these States.
The House is indicating they are going to send us a bill, but they are playing around the edges of what needs to be done. We have a bill that was reported basically out of the Senate Appropriations Committee--from Democrats and from Republicans--supporting it. What is needed is about $9 billion. We want to be in keeping with the Budget Deficit Reduction Act because in there we are allowed $7 billion. That is the number we are going to put forward tomorrow on this bill. It would be a real shame if we are not allowed to move to this Burma sanctions bill because everyone voting no to proceed to this is voting no on assistance to these States. There is no other way to do it. We are not going to accept some small number the House sends over. We cannot do that. The House is planning on doing some of its usual stuff--I will say that in a positive sense--in sending us a continuing resolution that we must enact by the end of this month, and they want to stick in the funding for FEMA, which is very low. We cannot allow that to happen.
I hope everyone tonight at 5:30 will vote to allow us to go forward on this most important piece of legislation.
I would ask that the quorum call begin.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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