[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 10, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H3646-H3647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         A CLEAN DISASTER RELIEF BILL IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bob Schaffer of Colorado). Under a 
previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Lampson] is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my dismay over the 
continued mishandling of the disaster relief bill by the Republican 
leadership.
  I represent a district along the gulf coast, and perhaps in several 
months, after a devastating hurricane, I will find myself in the same 
position as my colleagues, the gentleman from North Dakota [Mr. 
Pomeroy] and the gentleman from South Dakota [Mr. Thune]. I know that I 
would want disaster relief for my constituents in Galveston or Port 
Arthur or Texas City or Beaumont to be delivered as quickly as 
possible. Instead, my friends from the Dakotas have watched with what I 
can only imagine to be a combination of anger and disgust as certain 
factions within this body have played politics and political games with 
their aid.
  I voted against adjourning for the Memorial Day recess so we could 
resolve this situation. I cannot imagine how my colleagues must have 
felt returning to sites of the flood devastation and trying to explain 
the holdup.
  And yet, with great empathy for the flood victims, I felt that I had 
no choice but to vote against the disaster relief bill when it finally 
came to the floor.
  The practice of attaching extraneous riders to disaster relief 
legislation may not be new, but as a freshman, it is the first time I 
had been forced and faced with such a dilemma. It is wrong. It should 
not be done.
  Some of my colleagues have said it is the President playing politics. 
It is the House of Representatives playing politics and it is not right 
and should not be done.
  I agree with Grand Forks, ND, Mayor Pat Owens, who said: ``It is not 
fair to play with our people's lives and put amendments on to that 
bill.''
  The Governor of South Dakota, Bill Janklow, a Republican I might add, 
refused to put his name on a letter to the President asking him to sign 
the bill. A Fargo-Moorhead Forum editorial described Janklow's refusal 
as, ``putting the interests of flood victims ahead of partisan 
considerations.''

  I appreciate that the people of this area understand why we have been 
forced to vote against supplying them the aid they need and deserve. A 
clean disaster aid bill for the victims of the flooding in the Midwest 
is weeks overdue. It is the right thing to do.
  Today, after the President's veto, there is still no clean bill. Mr. 
Speaker, I must ask why. People's lives are in the balance.

[[Page H3647]]

  Mr. Speaker, I must also ask why we do not allow the extraneous 
provisions attached to the disaster bill to stand on their own. Are we 
afraid they will not stand up to the scrutiny of the committee process? 
If these are good ideas that will benefit the American people, let them 
stand alone. If these extraneous provisions have a broad base of 
support among the American people, allow the Members of this body to 
consider them on their own merits. Attaching them to a disaster relief 
bill is cowardly.
  I will briefly address just one of these provisions. In the 104th 
Congress, the House asked the Census Bureau to cut costs on the 2000 
census. Followup analysis of the 1990 census done by the Bureau shows 
that our current method is resulting in an undercount. The National 
Academy of Sciences has told us a statistical technique called sampling 
will result in a more accurate count for the final 10 percent of 
Americans, those who do not respond to the questionnaires. The Census 
Bureau tells us the use of this technique will save them $1 billion in 
conducting the 2000 census, almost 25 percent of their cost. The 
Republicans seek to ban a technique which scientists tell us is better 
and the counters tell us is cheaper.
  Mr. Speaker, this does not add up. The fact that this is attached to 
a disaster relief bill is a red flag waving high in the sky. It is 
enormously suspicious, especially when given that a few years back, the 
gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Gingrich, specifically requested sampling 
to be used in his own State.
  Mr. Speaker, one side of this debate has been up front with the 
victims of this flood and one side has made them pawns in a political 
game. The Fargo-Moorhead Forum newspaper concluded on Sunday morning 
and I quote again: ``Republican leaders in Congress continue to play 
outrageous political games with the lives and futures of Red River 
Valley flood victims.''
  How true and how sad it is.
  A clean disaster relief bill is the right thing to do. Mr. Speaker, 
let us get it done.

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