[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 126 (Tuesday, October 1, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S9681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            WEST NILE VIRUS

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I thank the Senator. While this 
underlying bill is important, I wish to take a moment this afternoon to 
urge my colleagues to take up another bill that does not have the same 
breadth and depth as the one that was just described. The people of 
Louisiana, and I might add, the people of Illinois--Senator Durbin has 
been working hard on this particular issue--and many other States have 
been severely affected by the West Nile virus. In fact, over 17 people 
have died in Louisiana and over 2,400 people have been affected and 
infected by this very frightening disease.
  If we can manage today--and I have had discussions with the 
leadership--we are going to hopefully pass this bill by unanimous 
consent, which will give grants to our counties and parishes in 
Louisiana to help their local officials do more effective pest 
eradication, whether that is through traditional spraying or larvacide 
techniques that are used to kill mosquitos at their various stages 
before they can attack human beings and carry this deadly disease.
  The effects are quite frightening. People in my State are having a 
very tough week. We had a terrible storm that was not a hurricane but 
nonetheless it was a very large and intense tropical storm. So the 
headlines at home have been filled with storm warnings, storm 
preparations, and consequences of the storm management.
  Now, in the gulf, we find ourselves facing yet another potential 
hurricane that is moving toward the shores of Louisiana. So this summer 
has been a very anxious time between the storms and the West Nile virus 
at home where a lot of the parishes in Louisiana were affected. 
Seventeen deaths are quite extraordinary. I think it is the largest 
outbreak in many years. We are really struggling with providing some 
help to the local communities and parishes that, in fact, do have 
mosquito abatement control districts and, under normal circumstances, 
can take care of those needs on a local level. But when something such 
as this breaks out, it is important for us to step up to the plate and 
help.
  This bill will give local governments an opportunity to submit for 
grants to take care of their businesses and to upgrade their 
eradication programs. There are other parts of the Federal Government 
that can be helpful in educating people about how to stay safe from 
this virus, such as what to do, what symptoms it shows.
  This bill that I hope we can take up today will provide hard dollars, 
not for bureaucracies, not for a new Federal agency but to get grants 
to Georgia, the State of the Presiding Officer, and my State, for those 
local jurisdictions to get their spraying up to par and to do it in an 
environmentally safe way.
  Hopefully, the worst is behind us, but we do need to prepare in the 
event we have another outbreak. Getting this grant program established 
will help us next year if this happens again.
  I urge my colleagues to consider H.R. 4793--I am not asking that it 
be called up at this time--which I hope we can pass by unanimous 
consent later on today.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.

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