[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 11, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ENACT FLOOD RELIEF TODAY

  (Mr. POMEROY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, today many inside the Washington Beltway 
are gleefully calculating who is winning and who is losing in the 
disastrous supplemental debate. Is it Congress that has lost because 
they failed to timely pass a bill? Is it the President who has lost 
because he vetoed the bill with the extraneous riders?
  I will tell my colleagues who has lost. The people of Grand Forks, 
ND, without homes that have been devastated by the flood; they are the 
real victims. But I actually think it goes beyond that. When the 
American people see a disaster that Congress cannot respond to, I think 
they feel less confidence in their Government, and everyone loses.
  We had a wonderful bipartisan effort in building a responsive relief 
bill. I hope today represents the day when this bipartisanship will 
again reemerge in this body and will actually get the bill enacted. 
Legislation does nothing to help people without enactment.
  It is time to put partisan differences aside, pull together, and get 
the job done. People are hurting very, very badly and they desperately 
need the flood relief. Let us enact it today.

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