[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1542 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1542

     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
   Assistance Act to modify the terms of the community disaster loan 
program, to authorize assistance under that program for losses related 
to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 1, 2003

  Mrs. Maloney (for herself, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Towns, Mr. 
   McNulty, Mr. Owens, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Israel, Mr. Crowley, and Mrs. 
    Lowey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
   Assistance Act to modify the terms of the community disaster loan 
program, to authorize assistance under that program for losses related 
to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ```Whatever It Takes' To Rebuild Act 
of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Major disasters, including disasters caused by 
        terrorist acts, often result in a decline in economic activity 
        in areas affected by the disaster and a reduction in tax 
        collections by State and local governments serving those areas.
            (2) A report of the General Accounting Office entitled 
        ``Review of the Estimates for the Impact of the September 11, 
        2001, Terrorist Attacks on New York Tax Revenues'', dated July 
        26, 2002, found the following estimates by the New York City 
        and State budget offices to be reasonably approximate--
                    (A) for fiscal year 2002, tax revenue losses for 
                New York City will be $1,600,000,000 and tax revenue 
                losses for the State of New York will be 
                $1,600,000,000; and
                    (B) for fiscal year 2003, tax revenue losses for 
                New York City will be $1,400,000,000 and tax revenue 
                losses for the State of New York will be 
                $4,200,000,000.
            (3) Under the community disaster loan program (in this 
        section referred to as the ``CDL program''), as authorized by 
        the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
        Act, the President may make loans to a local government 
        suffering a substantial loss of tax and other revenues as a 
        result of a major disaster, if the local government 
        demonstrates a need for financial assistance in order to 
        preform its governmental function.
            (4) The President may cancel the repayment of all or any 
        part of a loan made to a local government under the CDL program 
        if revenues following the disaster are insufficient to meet the 
        operating budget of that local government as a result of 
        disaster-related revenue losses and additional unreimbursed 
        disaster-related municipal operating expenses. In the case of a 
        major disaster resulting from a terrorist attack, repayment of 
        interest or principal on a loan made under the CDL program 
        should not be required.
            (5) Assistance provided under the CDL program in the past 
        has been instrumental in aiding the full recovery of local 
        governments following a major disaster.
            (6) The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 established a 
        $5,000,000 limitation on loans made to a local government under 
        the CDL program in connection with a major disaster. Before the 
        date of enactment of that Act, there was not any limitation on 
        the amount of such loans.
            (7) The $5,000,0000 limitation is inequitable when applied 
        to a local government serving a largely populated area, such as 
        New York City, and is inconsistent with the objective of the 
        CDL program to provide meaningful assistance to a local 
        government recovering from a major disaster.
            (8) Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 
        President George W. Bush has been frequently quoted as 
        directing the Federal Government to do ``whatever it takes'' to 
        help New York City recover and rebuild. In this spirit of 
        resolve, assistance for should be provided to New York City and 
        the State of New York for the loss of tax and other revenues as 
        a direct result of these attacks.

SEC. 3. COMMUNITY DISASTER LOANS.

    (a) Eligibility of States.--Section 417 of the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5184) is 
amended by striking ``local government'' each place it appears and 
inserting ``State or local government''.
    (b) Amount.--Section 417(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5184(b)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``based on need, shall'' and inserting 
        ``based on need and shall''; and
            (2) by striking ``, and shall not exceed $5,000,000''.
    (c) Major Disasters Caused by Terrorist Attacks.--Section 417 of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 5184) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(e) Major Disasters Caused by Terrorist Attacks.--The President 
shall not require the payment of any interest or principal on a loan 
made under this section to a State or local government which may suffer 
a substantial loss of tax and other revenues as a result of a major 
disaster caused by a terrorist attack.''.
    (d) Applicability.--The amendments made by this section shall apply 
with respect to any major disaster occurring on or after October 30, 
2000.

SEC. 4. COMMUNITY DISASTER LOANS FOR LOSSES RELATED TO TERRORIST 
              ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001.

    The President is authorized to make loans to New York City and the 
State of New York under section 417 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5184), as amended by 
this Act, for losses of tax and other revenues as a result of the major 
disaster caused by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2002. Subject 
to the availability of appropriations, the total amount of such loans 
shall be $8,800,000,000 or such greater amount as is determined by the 
President to be necessary to cover such losses. In accordance with 
section 417(e) of such Act, as added by section 3(c) of this Act, the 
President shall not require the payment of any interest or principal on 
such loans.
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