[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 34 (Thursday, March 4, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H964-H965]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 707, DISASTER MITIGATION AND COST 
                         REDUCTION ACT OF 1999

  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call 
up House Resolution 91 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                               H. Res. 91

       Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this 
     resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule 
     XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the 
     Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of 
     the bill (H.R. 707) to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
     Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize a program 
     for predisaster mitigation, to streamline the administration 
     of disaster relief, to control the Federal costs of disaster 
     assistance, and for other purposes. The first reading of the 
     bill shall be dispensed with. Points of order against 
     consideration of the bill for failure to comply with clause 
     4(a) of rule XIII are waived. General debate shall be 
     confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally 
     divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority 
     member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 
     After general debate the bill shall be considered for 
     amendment under the five-minute rule. It shall be in order to 
     consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment 
     under the five-minute rule the amendment in the nature of a 
     substitute recommended by the Committee on Transportation and 
     Infrastructure now printed in the bill. The committee 
     amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered 
     by title rather than by section. Each title shall be 
     considered as read. During consideration of the bill for 
     amendment, the chairman of the Committee of the Whole may 
     accord priority in recognition on the basis of whether the 
     Member offering an amendment has caused it to be printed in 
     the portion of the Congressional Record designated for that 
     purpose in clause 8 of rule XVIII. Amendments so printed 
     shall be considered as read. The chairman of the Committee of 
     the Whole may: (1) postpone until a time during further 
     consideration in the Committee of the Whole a request for a 
     recorded vote on any amendment; and (2) reduce to five 
     minutes the minimum time for electronic voting on any 
     postponed question that follows another electronic vote 
     without intervening business, provided that the minimum time 
     for electronic voting on the first in any series of questions 
     shall be 15 minutes. At the conclusion of consideration of 
     the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report 
     the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been 
     adopted. Any Member may demand a separate vote in the House 
     on any amendment adopted in the Committee of the Whole to the 
     bill or to the committee amendment in the nature of a 
     substitute. The previous question shall be considered as 
     ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage 
     without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with 
     or without instructions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hefley). The gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Goss) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to my friend, the distinguished gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Moakley), the ranking member, pending which I yield 
myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this 
resolution, all time yielded is for purposes of debate only.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to bring forward another noncontroversial 
open rule under the leadership of the gentleman from California 
(Chairman David Dreier).
  The rule waives clause 4(a) of rule XIII requiring a 3-day layover of 
the committee report against consideration of the bill. The rule 
provides for 1 hour of general debate, equally divided between the 
chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure, and makes in order our committee amendment in the 
nature of a substitute as an original bill for the purposes of 
amendment.
  The Chair is authorized to accord priority in recognition to members 
who

[[Page H965]]

have preprinted their amendments in the Congressional Record, and 
finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit, with or without 
instructions. This is an otherwise wonderful rule that should certainly 
engender no controversy, and deserves, I believe, the support of the 
full House.
  H.R. 707, which this carries, is the straightforward commonsense 
solution to a very real problem that impacts folks in my district and, 
of course, throughout the country as well.

                              {time}  1045

  The problem we are facing is not a new one: How to improve the way we 
plan for and deliver assistance to communities that have the misfortune 
to be hit by natural disasters.
  I commend the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Fowler), my Florida 
colleague, for her leadership on this important issue and for the 
substantive, bipartisan work product which she has delivered.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 707 improves the process by outlining seven 
specific, objective criteria for awarding grants and by requiring 
mitigation projects to be cost-effective. H.R. 707 increases the role 
of the State and local governments in the short term and requires FEMA 
to develop a process for delegating a greater portion of the hazard 
mitigation piece to the States after fiscal year 2000.
  Having witnessed a number of natural disasters, regrettably in my own 
district and elsewhere, I know that hazard mitigation is best 
accomplished at the local level, where people tie down their roofs and 
board up their windows. This bill clearly moves in that direction.
  This is a sound approach that will help our constituents at every 
stage of the process. Our communities will be better prepared for 
disasters and, when one hits, the process to receive assistance will be 
streamlined and more efficient. I know that will be welcomed news.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 707 complements an effort that the Committee on 
Rules has been working on in conjunction with the Committee on the 
Budget to fix our broken budget process. One of the pillars of our 
bill, the Comprehensive Budget Process Reform Act, is the creation of a 
reserve fund to budget up front for emergencies, an initiative long 
championed by the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle), the former 
governor of Delaware.
  H.R. 707 enjoys the support of several major organizations, including 
many at the front lines such as the American Red Cross and the National 
League of Cities. In fact, the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Fowler) 
has been working closely with the administration and has incorporated a 
number of recommendations from them in this package. As a result, FEMA 
is also supporting H.R. 707.
  Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is that effective mitigation saves lives 
and money. H.R. 707 is a good bipartisan bill that is long overdue. I 
encourage my colleagues to support this open, fair rule, as well as the 
underlying bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Sanibel, Florida 
(Mr. Goss) for yielding me the customary half-hour, and I yield myself 
such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, in the last 5 years, natural disasters have killed over 
800 people in the United States. In addition to costing people their 
lives, these disasters cost $60 billion in property loss and other 
damage.
  But this open rule provides for the consideration of the bill which 
will help minimize the loss of life and property due to fires, floods, 
hurricanes earthquakes and tornadoes.
  Mr. Speaker, it will enable Federal, State, and local governments to 
take steps to prepare for disasters before they happen in order to 
minimize the injuries or damage caused by these natural disasters.
  This bill will help people. It will create firebreaks to stop the 
spread of wildfires, it will help build emergency generators to provide 
electricity during hurricanes, it will strengthen water towers and 
retrofit overpasses to slow the impact of earthquakes, and it will seal 
manhole covers in case of floods.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill will also enable the President to help people 
who do not have disaster insurance make emergency repairs to their 
homes in a timely fashion.
  According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, last year was 
one of the deadliest hurricane seasons in more than 200 years, killing 
about 10,000 people in eight countries and causing billions and 
billions of dollars in damage. Experts predict that this year will even 
be worse, particularly in the Atlantic basin.
  Mr. Speaker, this June we had horrible flooding in my home State of 
Massachusetts. The damage was so bad that President Clinton declared 
seven Massachusetts counties disaster areas. Thousands upon thousands 
of people applied for recovery assistance to repair the damage, most of 
which was caused by surge backup and overflows. Mr. Speaker, we all 
know that kind of damage is not always covered by property insurance 
and people usually learn about it just a little too late. This bill 
will help those people.
  This bill is also based on the idea that if we prepare for disasters 
now, we will save people's lives and people's property later.
  Conservative estimates are that this bill will save $109 million over 
the first 5 years; and that is assuming that a dollar spent before 
disaster is only worth a dollar after disaster. And, Mr. Speaker, most 
people say the numbers are even greater, that every dollar spent now 
saves $3 later. Mr. Speaker, either way, this bill will pay for itself 
and then some.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill and support 
this open rule. It is supported by the American Red Cross, the National 
Emergency Management Association, and it will make a big difference in 
people's lives when they need it most.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the honorable gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Traficant).
  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and the 
bill, but I want to talk a little bit about an amendment I am going to 
offer because it is not done yet, so I am going to belabor the point 
for about a minute. It is a ``Buy American'' amendment.
  Mr. Speaker, I do not know if my colleagues noticed this past week 
they sent around these television remotes. They are like yellow toys. 
They are squeezey, real soft. They look like Teletubby toys. They are 
yellow. And when we look at them, everybody just says, look at this, 
the telecommunications industry is lobbying the Congress of the United 
States. What a way to get our attention.
  Then if one turns it over on the other side and looks at the back and 
looks down at the bottom, it is made in China. I know everybody laughs 
about this, and we argue about flies on our face. I think we have got a 
dragon eating our assets.
  But here is what I want to talk about. I think it is time to look at 
Buy American laws and to enforce what Buy American laws are on the 
books. From Teletubbies to remotes lobbying the Congress, the labels 
now read ``Made for U.S.A.'' And if we look at it, on first glance we 
think it is made in the U.S.A. But we need the Hubble telescope to look 
at it further, and it says ``Made for U.S.A.'' in big print, and down 
in microscopic print it says ``Made in China.'' Come on, now, I think 
we even have to toughen these laws up.
  Mr. Speaker, I am going have a little amendment. I congratulate the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Chairman Fowler) on her very first bill. She 
is, in fact, making sure there will be enough money in this bill with 
her amendment, and we on this side support her and her amendment. I 
notified my colleagues of my amendment, and I hope it has time to get 
here.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, we have no requests for time at this point. I 
only urge that Members support this fair, open rule.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the 
previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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