[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 60 (Saturday, April 12, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E766]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             RURAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE FAIRNESS ACT OF 2003

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                           HON. BARBARA CUBIN

                               of wyoming

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 11, 2003

  Mrs. CUBIN. Mr. Speaker, in the dark of night on August 27, 2002, the 
town of Kaycee, Wyoming was overwhelmed by a four-foot surge of water 
from the Powder River caused by a severe and destructive rainstorm 
pouring down two-thirds of the town's annual rainfall within a six-hour 
period. The damage was disastrous, over 80 percent of Kaycee's 
businesses and one-third of their residences were damaged or destroyed. 
But despite Kaycee's massive loss--one that would have cost billions 
had Manhattan, Los Angeles or Chicago lost 80 percent of their 
businesses--there was no disaster declaration.
  This flood effectively erased the community of Kaycee, and it's 
absolutely preposterous that a disaster of this magnitude does not 
qualify as a disaster. A comparable disaster in Washington, D.C. would 
have destroyed 96,196 homes and 15,575 businesses. Washington, D.C. 
would not function after such a disaster and neither can Kaycee, 
Wyoming. In fact, under today's criteria, a majority of Wyoming's 
communities could be destroyed without receiving a disaster 
designation, as Kaycee has shown. The federal disaster designation 
criteria need to be re-calibrated.
  In the Stafford Act, the law that governs disaster relief, Congress 
prohibited discrimination against small communities by outlawing the 
use of formulas and scales based on income and population. Somehow, 
however, the rules that came after the Congressional action neglected 
to observe these guidelines. That's why I am drafting legislation that 
will reinstate fairness in disaster relief. My bill will send FEMA back 
to the drawing board to create rules that will respect Congressional 
intent and not freeze out cities and towns across the country simply 
because they are small towns. It will also create an office of rural 
advocacy to assist small states in the application for disaster 
assistance and advocate for rural concerns in rulemakings and other 
administrative actions. When federal agencies promulgate rules that are 
counter to the intent of Congress, it is our obligation as a body to 
reassert those intentions and have the appropriate agency correct its 
errors. Passage of this bill will do just that.

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