[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 97 (Monday, July 20, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8548-S8549]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, there are a number of matters I thought 
I would cover, since there are not a lot of people here on the floor

[[Page S8549]]

today yet. First of all, I want to talk about the appropriations bill 
that we passed for VA and HUD last week. While I submitted a statement 
for the Record, since we were in a rush and squeezed for time, I didn't 
have a chance to talk about FEMA and in particular the Director, James 
Lee Witt. I feel bad about that. I want to talk about FEMA, and I want 
to talk about Mr. Witt today on the floor because this small agency 
with a very big heart has made a huge difference to a lot of our 
States--to a lot of people in our States. As we go to conference, I 
hope the conferees will remember the very big job I think FEMA does and 
will honor the level of funding requested by the President in the 
President's budget.
  My contact with James Lee Witt--I want to talk about him, and then I 
want to talk about FEMA. It is about more than one person. It goes back 
to 1993. The Chair today, from Kansas, of course, knows agriculture as 
well as anyone and knows what happens when you are faced with record 
flooding. We were hit with just terrible flooding in 1993. Farmers 
couldn't plant the crop. There was a lot of economic pain. I think that 
is the first time that I had a chance to just watch James Lee Witt in 
action.
  What I was most impressed about was just what we call the hands-on 
approach. I felt he was the opposite of somebody who was impersonal, 
the opposite of a ``bureaucrat.'' By the way, there are many 
bureaucrats who aren't ``bureaucrats.'' There are many people in 
Government who do their very best for people. I get tired of the 
bashing sometimes. But he was so personable and really came through for 
people.
  Then, of course, not that long ago--what was it, a year ago, a year-
and-a-half ago--we had the floods in North Dakota. Everybody remembers 
Grand Forks, the flooding, the fire, the cold winter weather, and East 
Grand Forks in Minnesota, and other communities--Ada, Warren--it was 
just devastating.
  I just want to say, again, the bad news is that, with FEMA, you know 
FEMA people are going to come out because there is a real crisis. The 
bad news of a James Lee Witt, the Director, visiting your State, is you 
know he wouldn't be there and other FEMA people wouldn't be there 
except for some kind of disaster, except for some kind of a crisis. The 
good news is that always good things happen afterwards.
  Once upon a time, I remember, there was all sorts of frustration 
about FEMA. I don't want my colleagues to forget what Mr. Witt has 
done. I think he is one of the best appointments the President has ever 
made. He has done an excellent job of making this agency so much more 
responsive to people in our communities, people who are facing a real 
crisis. What he did, and what FEMA did, to help people who had been 
affected by the devastating flood of the Red River, was just 
remarkable. It was just remarkable. I want to comment on that on the 
floor.
  Again, this past year, we were hit with tornadoes, and again the town 
of Comfrey was essentially leveled to the ground, St. Peter was hit 
hard, Le Center--I could talk about a lot of communities. Again, James 
Lee Witt came.
  The people in Minnesota, the people in these communities who have 
been faced with these crises, have tremendous appreciation for this 
Director--tremendous appreciation. He has gone the extra mile every 
time to try to push the categories of assistance as far as he can, to 
try to get the help to people, to try to make sure there is not 
unnecessary delay, to try to make sure he cuts through as much of the 
bureaucracy as possible. And he has done that. I just want to say to 
colleagues, especially to the conferees, I hope we give this agency the 
funding they really deserve.
  The other thing I think is real important is, FEMA is now focused on 
this predisaster mitigation program, which I think is real important. 
This is another example of FEMA being in a good partnership with our 
local communities and with our businesses, to figure out, given what we 
have been faced with, how, in fact, we can do the mitigation work to 
prevent a lot of the damage and a lot of the pain and a lot of cost 
that happens afterwards. This is a very proactive Director.
  My last point is, I have fallen in love with FEMA people. I don't 
know if I would ever do this or not, but I am tempted, if I have the 
skill, when I am no longer in politics or public life, to work for 
FEMA. It is really fascinating when you get to know people. These are 
people from all around the country, and they travel around, they 
respond to these crises, they come into your State, they live in the 
State--it is like a family.
  It is constant responding to people--people who have been flooded out 
of their homes, people who don't have any clothing, people who don't 
know where they are going to stay, people whose businesses have been 
destroyed.
  Of course, it is so difficult, but I am so impressed with a lot of 
the FEMA people and the job that they do. It is just quite amazing. You 
meet a former head of the State patrol of California, retired military 
person here, retired business person there--a whole lot of pretty 
fascinating people who work for FEMA who are just experts at dealing 
with these crisis situations.
  I don't think that any of us had an opportunity to speak about FEMA 
as we were going through the VA-HUD appropriations bill. I wanted to 
speak about FEMA, and I wanted to speak about FEMA's very able 
Director. I am positive that I am not just speaking for myself. I am 
also positive that I am not just speaking for Democrats. I think there 
are many Republicans who would echo my sentiments about Mr. Witt and 
about FEMA.

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