[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 40 (Tuesday, April 8, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2817-S2818]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   DISASTER SUPPLEMENTAL, THE BUDGET, AND THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS TREATY

  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, my State has been hit by a massive 
disaster over this last weekend. North Dakota has been hit with the 
strongest storm in over 50 years. This is a storm of staggering 
proportions. Mr. President, North Dakota this last weekend got hit by a 
combination of an ice storm and blizzard that is unprecedented in the 
last 50 years.
  In North Dakota, we are used to harsh winters, but, frankly, we have 
never seen anything quite like this one. This most recent storm not 
only involved ice, it involved 70-mile-an-hour winds. That combination 
has knocked down power poles all across the eastern part of our State. 
As of yesterday, we had 80,000 people still without power in the State 
of North Dakota, many of them with no power since Saturday morning. The 
temperatures have been 40 degrees below zero wind chill since the heat 
went out.
  Mr. President, we have story after story of people who are huddled in 
homes around stoves trying to keep warm. My scheduling director, who is 
from the small town of Warsaw, ND, has talked to her mother, who is 
over 80 years old. She has had no heat since Saturday.
  Mr. President, this is a disaster of truly staggering proportions. In 
this storm, there were whiteout conditions for 10 hours straight--10 
hours straight--where the snow was so heavy and the wind so strong, you 
literally could not see 5 inches in front of your vehicle. As I have 
indicated, all of this led to, first of all, a massive snowfall. In 
some parts of our State, it was as much as 24 inches. In much of the 
State, it was 17 and 18 inches. That is on top of record snowfall that 
we had already received. This is a headline from before this most 
recent disaster: ``106 Inches of Snow and Rising.'' This is the Fargo 
Forum newspaper, the biggest newspaper in the State of North Dakota, 
and this was before the most recent disaster. Now we can put another 17 
inches on top of that in the Fargo area. This was a record at 106 
inches.
  Mr. President, we have extreme hardship now across the State of North 
Dakota--no power, extremely cold temperatures, and facing us is the 
worst flooding in 150 years. The National Weather Service has now told 
us that we can anticipate the worst flooding in 150 years. That is on 
the heels of the most powerful winter storm in 50 years. It makes you 
wonder precisely what is happening with these weather patterns.
  We have had an entire community ask to be moved to an emergency 
shelter--1,500 people. In one of the small towns in North Dakota, they 
asked to have the whole town put in an emergency shelter because there 
is no heat and has not been any heat since Saturday. We had a local 
rancher call in to the radio station, and he said, ``My entire herd is 
out because the fences went down with this incredible ice storm and 
these extraordinary winds.'' He asked people who were listening to the 
radio, ``If you see my herd roaming around, give me a call.'' I had 
another rancher call in from a town out in the western part of North 
Dakota, and he had a hundred cows and he had a calve crop coming in. 
Understand, this is the part of the season when you are calving. The 
calves are being born and being born in these disastrous conditions. 
They had a hundred cows, and they had a calve crop coming in, and they 
believe all of them are dead. They brought 10 into their own home--10 
calves into their home to try to save them. All of them died. What was 
happening was, as the calves were being born, the wind is so strong, 
the snow is being forced up into their nostrils and the cows were 
suffocating. Now, if they didn't suffocate, they froze to death. Now, 
that is the extraordinarily brutal conditions that we are facing.

[[Page S2818]]

  Mr. President, we had a disaster supplemental sent up by the White 
House before we had this 2-week break. I hope very much that the first 
order of business here will be that disaster supplemental. We ought to 
move that legislation and move it now. There is assistance in that 
legislation for some areas that have already been hard hit. There is 
further assistance for those that have been hard hit since that 
disaster bill was sent up here.
  So I would ask respectfully of the leadership to get that disaster 
supplemental to the floor as quickly as possible. These are situations 
that cannot wait. These people need help. They need it now. North 
Dakota has been first in line to help out others when they faced 
disasters, and we have been happy to do so.
  Mr. President, we are now faced with a staggering disaster and we 
need help. We are asking for it now.
  Mr. President, I see there are other Senators wishing to speak. Will 
we be able to continue?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired, and it would 
take unanimous consent for the Senate to continue.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask for 1 minute more.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, in addition to the disaster supplemental, 
I think we should also ask, ``Where is the budget?'' Because the budget 
contains items that are going to be critically important to dealing 
with these disasters as well. The budget was supposed to have come out 
of the Budget Committee by April 1. That deadline has been missed. The 
full Senate is supposed to act by April 15. I hope we don't miss that 
deadline as well, because this Congress is developing a reputation of 
failing to act.
  Mr. President, finally, there is a third matter. That is the chemical 
weapons treaty. We have a deadline of April 29. That is when it goes 
into effect. Where is that piece of legislation?
  Mr. President, I say to my colleagues that there are three pieces of 
business that we ought to do and do quickly.
  The disaster supplemental ought to be first in line.
  Second, the budget: We have a deadline of April 15.
  Third, the chemical weapons treaty: We have a deadline of April 29.
  All three of those ought to be taken up, taken up quickly, and passed 
so the people of this country know that this Congress is doing its 
business.
  I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.
  Mr. JOHNSON addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota is recognized.
  Mr. JOHNSON. Thank you, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. If the Chair could interrupt the Senator, the 
Senator has an order to go into recess at 12:30. It would take 
unanimous consent for the Senate to extend that.
  Mr. JOHNSON. I ask unanimous consent to extend morning business, Mr. 
President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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