[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 41 (Wednesday, April 9, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2872-S2873]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     DISASTER RELIEF FOR MINNESOTA

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, the President has now declared a major 
disaster in my home State, Minnesota, and ordered Federal aid to 
supplement State and local recovery efforts in areas hard hit by severe 
flooding, severe winter storms, snow melt, high winds, rain and ice. 
And this all continues. The declaration will make funds available for 
grants, disaster housing and low-interest loans to cover uninsured 
damaged property and other aid to help residents, businesses and local 
governments cope with ongoing storm and flood damage.
  I am pleased by the swift action taken by the emergency management 
division of the Department of Public Safety in Minnesota. Jim Franklin 
and his hard-working staff, very hard-working staff are to be commended 
for their efforts. I am very pleased with the action taken by the 
Federal Government as well.
  I think James Lee Witt is one of the greatest employments ever made 
by any President. He has been so responsive to all of us in this 
country when citizens in our States are faced with these very difficult 
and painful crises. I do not think crisis is an exaggeration.
  I am also really pleased with the way in which SBA, the Small 
Business Administration, has been so responsive.
  Today, I will be requesting $50 million in additional energy 
assistance, the LIHEAP program, to help families who will soon be 
returning to their homes only to find their heating systems have been 
damaged. These are individuals with low income, many of them elderly, 
many of them families with children, who, because of the severe cold we 
have had all winter, have already had a very difficult time paying 
their heating bills. This aid is desperately needed. Many waterways in 
our State are already at record water levels. The Minnesota River is 
threatening to totally overrun many cities along its border. Record 
flood conditions are being predicted along the Red River, which is 
expected to crest within the next few days.
  Along the Red River there are still ice and snowpacks which will be 
melting in the coming days and weeks, further threatening communities 
already under siege in northwestern Minnesota, and flood conditions 
continue to build along the Mississippi River as well, cresting any day 
now.
  Some communities have already been hit and are under water and ice. 
In the town of Ada, nearly all the 1,000 residents have been forced to 
evacuate, including residents of a nursing home who had to be rescued 
by the National Guard. And, thank you, National Guard, for all of your 
fine work. Many of these people had little or no time to pack their 
belongings before fleeing. And when they return, little will likely be 
salvageable.
  In Appleton, ice floe broke through the levee, and the river now has 
surged 21.5 feet in one-half hour, forcing a massive volunteer effort 
to halt the flow of surging water and further prevent housing damage. 
The Pomme de Terre River--let me repeat that--has surged 21.5 feet in 
just one-half hour.
  The record flooding and cold temperatures have had a major impact on 
Minnesota. There have been widespread power outages throughout parts of 
the State, and with the flooding and the cold, emergency repair crews 
are unable to get to the affected areas. Many farmers are having 
trouble farming, and it is going to be a very, very difficult spring 
planting season.
  I am very pleased, again, that FEMA Director James Lee Witt has done 
so much and will be coming to Minnesota to see firsthand the 
devastation. I believe he will be coming to South Dakota and North 
Dakota as well. As a Senator from Minnesota, I express my sympathy to 
Senators from the Dakotas. Of course, we will all work together.
  I have been touched by the sense of community among many people in 
Minnesota. Many folks do not care who they are working next to as long 
as

[[Page S2873]]

they are working for their communities. People are working tirelessly, 
around the clock, to hold back the river. Neighbors are standing 
shoulder to shoulder, sandbagging. Volunteers are tirelessly serving 
sandwiches and hot coffee at fire stations.
  When I was in Montevideo last week, it was just amazing. People who 
live on the high ground, they don't ever have to worry about the flood; 
they are out there, I mean really working to the point of exhaustion, 
sandbagging for others. High school students, I say to the pages, have 
volunteered their time, and they are doing a great job. That is the 
good news. The good news is the goodness of people in Minnesota. The 
good news is all the ways in which people are working together--I might 
add, to my colleagues, Democrats, Republicans, and others. The good 
news is the voluntarism of young people. The bad news is that in all 
too many communities, it really looks like a war zone.
  The weeks and months ahead will include many more hours of hard work, 
cleanup, removal of sandbags, restoration of buildings, and ensuring 
that water supplies are not contaminated. People need not only the 
support of their neighbors, they need the support that only the Federal 
Government can provide.
  It is interesting. Colleagues, Republicans and Democrats from other 
States, during the years I have been here in the Senate, have come to 
the floor and spoken about what citizens in their States have been 
confronted with. I think all of us are sympathetic and all of us try to 
provide the support.
  I thank President Clinton for his very prompt response. I thank my 
colleagues in advance for the support I know they will give. I thank 
colleagues who have come up to me in the last couple of days and have 
asked me, how are people doing? What can we do to help? I am really 
proud--it is not a politician speaking--I am just really proud of 
people in Minnesota. I wish people did not have to go through this. I 
am emotional about it. I am really emotional about it. I just wish this 
was not happening, but it is, and it is so important that all of us at 
the Federal level try to provide assistance to people in communities 
not just in Minnesota but around the country when they are faced with 
these kinds of disasters. This really is a disaster.
  I look forward to getting back home as soon as possible this weekend. 
I look forward to James Lee Witt and others coming to visit Minnesota, 
North and South Dakota, and other States that are going to need the 
help. People really need the help. People really need the help, and we 
have to make sure we provide it.

  I yield the floor. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. 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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