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“WEST VIRGINIA TO RECEIVE FEDERAL DISASTER RELIEF” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H782-H783 on March 6, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
WEST VIRGINIA TO RECEIVE FEDERAL DISASTER RELIEF
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHOOD). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from West Virginia [Mr. Wise] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. WISE. Mr. Speaker, there are times to say thank you, and as the flood waters are receding but not gone from West Virginia, it is time to say thank you to the National Guard, the hundreds of men and women who have been on duty for many, many days. It is time to say thank you to the emergency services personnel, the State and county office of emergency services, the volunteer fire departments all across our State. The many volunteers, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
We are still pulling out the mud, still feeding people in shelters, still trying to clean out homes, still trying to clean off roads, and that work is going to go on for a long time, but a lot of people have made the loss of life minimal and have safeguarded much life and properties because of their efforts. So to these people we owe a great deal of thanks.
Governor Underwood has done an excellent job coordinating all these different resources, and as we finish the first stage in our State in flood recovery, we now enter the second stage. That second stage begins today with the Governor requesting Federal disaster assistance for a number of our counties. In seeking partial declaration of Federal assistance, Cabell, Kanawha, Wirt, and Wetzel Counties would be the first ones under a partial declaration. And it must be pointed out that this is a partial declaration; that because the flood waters are still receding in some areas, we do not know the full amount of damage in those areas and it will take a day or two more to assess that.
But other counties will be added to the disaster declaration made by the Federal Government. I can assure people of that, having personally contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency myself, having met with the Vice President and the head of FEMA yesterday in Huntington, having sent a letter directly to the President of the United States, as well as the head of FEMA, having been in close contact with Governor Underwood, the OES staff and, of course, the Federal officials.
The partial declaration will name some counties and then others will be added very, very quickly. No one should be worried that they will be left out in this regard. Simply because a county is not named does not mean it will not be under the Federal disaster declaration. Indeed, it will probably follow in the next couple of days.
When the county is named, the people in that county, Mr. Speaker, will have access to a toll free number and they can call that number, which goes directly to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and then they can start beginning to receive the assistance they need and applying for the assistance they need in housing, in unemployment, crisis counseling, tax relief, small business loans and the many other areas that are so necessary to help the thousands of West Virginians get back on their feet.
We have had 9,000 residences affected by this flood, Mr. Speaker, and the damage is beyond comprehension.
Mr. Speaker, I think it is important also to emphasize that as the first stage begins to end, and as the National Guard and others begin to return to their normal duties, now the second stage begins, and that is the Federal assistance, and there will be others there to assist as well. My staff will be visiting many of these areas. I will, of course, be working closely with the Governor's staff and others. So no one will be left alone.
Switching topics, Mr. Speaker, turning to the eastern panhandle for a second, the eastern panhandle on Monday is going to host the first of a series called Project Europe Forums. I am delighted the men and women of the eastern panhandle have taken this on.
Heading up Project Europe in the steering committee, I know how much we can gain in West Virginia from marketing our goods in the European Union. So on Monday, in Martinsburg, at the Holiday Inn, we will be holding the first of Project Europe functions in which we bring together representatives of the German Embassy, the United States Department of Commerce, the West Virginia Development Office and other West Virginia businesses that have already cracked the European market and to work with our other West Virginia businesses that maybe want to increase their opportunities or indeed want to get into the European market for the first time.
Seventy-five percent of foreign investment in West Virginia is European. Over a billion dollars worth of goods sold from West Virginia goes to the European Union. So I know, Mr. Speaker, that this is going to be a valuable undertaking, and I am delighted the eastern panhandle, and Martinsburg in particular, will host our first Project Europe seminar on Monday.
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