[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 28 (Thursday, March 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H782-H783]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            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

[[Page H783]]

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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