[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 104 (Tuesday, September 7, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8819-S8820]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  EMERGENCY APPROPRIATIONS FOR FLORIDA

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I thank the majority leader for 
the comforting statement that we will take up the emergency 
appropriations for FEMA to meet the first of two crisis we have had in 
the State of Florida over the course of the last few weeks.
  If I might inquire of the majority leader, is it still the 
understanding of the majority leader that the House bill may come 
tonight, or are we looking at tomorrow in which we could pass this 
emergency supplemental appropriations?
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, even since I completed my remarks, I was 
just inquiring. It depends entirely when we get the language from the 
House. I think we still have a shot of doing it later tonight. But we 
will be in session with the votes on the judges. If we need to stay in 
a little bit later to do it tonight, we will do it. I am very hopeful 
we will have language here within an hour and a half or 2 hours, in 
which case we will go to all the appropriate

[[Page S8820]]

people in the body to make sure the language is agreeable.
  So I think we still have a good shot of doing it tonight. As I told 
the Senator from Florida, I recognize the importance of getting this 
money as quickly as possible in the people's hands, where they are not 
worried about money coming in. They are going to be able to take care 
of the people in Florida and emergencies around the country.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. As the Senator and I discussed last night, I 
was told by the Director of FEMA they are basically running out of 
money. By the end of the week, they are not going to have any cash to 
expend. So I think that ups the urgency of this appropriations.
  I also appreciate the statement by the majority leader that this is 
just a first step. When we look at the needs, just for FEMA, from the 
first hurricane, Charley, it is going to exceed the $2 billion request 
by the President. And that does not include all of the other agencies, 
such as the Department of Agriculture, the Small Business 
Administration, the Economic Development Administration, the Defense 
costs. NASA has costs. You can go on down the list.
  For example, compared to Hurricane Andrew 12 years ago, the FEMA cost 
then was $2.9 billion. But the overall cost to the Federal Government, 
including all of the other agencies, was over $6 billion. And that was 
just one hurricane, a magnitude greater than Charley, but now we have 
two. And Lord help us if we have three. But we are dealing in a range 
of probably $4.5 billion out of these two.
  So is it my understanding from the majority leader that it would be 
his intention, as he had discussed last night in our telephone 
conversation, that we would take up additional emergency appropriations 
next week?
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in response to my colleague from Florida, I 
want to make it very clear, it is impossible to determine what the real 
requirement is going to be in Florida. The important thing is to look 
at this supplemental as a first major step to keep the emergency care, 
the shelters, the response flowing, and that there will be another 
supplemental. I will not have quite the sense of time urgency, meaning 
in hours. As you said, with FEMA not having sufficient funds by 
tomorrow, it means we need to act tonight or first thing in the 
morning. And we will follow up with appropriate deliberations as 
information comes forward and there are accurate requests being made 
and we can assess the full extent of the damage. But even with that, we 
need to do it quickly. It is not something we want to push way off into 
the future.

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. I thank the majority leader and the minority 
leader for their cooperation because clearly the State of Florida is 
reeling under this one-two punch to which we have been subjected. As a 
result, we have to act and act quickly.
  I had a number of people in the press down in Florida asking me where 
the money was going to come from. If there is a reason for the Federal 
Government, it is to respond in times of emergency, whether that be a 
national emergency such as a war or a national emergency in times of 
natural disaster.
  We have always done it. I remember when I came to Congress in 1979, 
one of the first votes I cast was in relation to the eruption of Mount 
St. Helens in the State of Washington. That place needed a great deal 
of Federal assistance to overcome all of the deficiencies that had 
happened to that society in the midst of that natural disaster.
  Now we have not only the disaster of one hurricane but having the 
State crisscrossed with a big X over the center of the State almost 
like a bull's eye by the second hurricane. And thank the Good Lord it 
was not a category 4, which a day out it was a category 4. In this 
particular case, it had winds up to 145 miles an hour. Well, by the 
time it hit, it had subsided to a category 2, with winds up to 105 
miles an hour. There is a huge difference in the destructive force of 
the winds going from 105 to 145 miles an hour. The destructive 
potential of that wind goes up exponentially as you raise the wind 
speed.
  But what happened with Frances, even though it subsided to having 
winds up to 105 miles an hour when it hit the coast, with gusts up to 
120 miles per hour, it lingered, it slowed, it stalled, it wobbled, and 
it was so massive it covered up the entire State of Florida so that 
parts that were thought to be immune from this hurricane because of the 
track of the hurricane, suddenly were engulfed in fierce winds and 
driving rain which has caused enormous flooding problems.
  So it will be my intention, once we pass this emergency supplemental 
of $2 billion--which is not going to anywhere cover just the costs for 
FEMA for the first hurricane--to come back for appropriate additional 
funds for the first hurricane as well as the second hurricane.
  For example, besides FEMA, there are the expenses of the Department 
of Agriculture. We are going to have huge crop losses from Charley and 
now also from Frances. There is also the Small Business Administration, 
which has a number of relief programs in addition to low-interest 
loans; the Economic Development Administration in the Department of 
Commerce; and the millions of dollars to assist the Department of 
Transportation, as well as the American Red Cross.
  I mentioned some damage done to the Department of Defense, and NASA, 
for that matter. As a matter of fact, from the first hurricane, NASA 
incurred costs of $750,000, and the hurricane only just scraped the 
edge of the space center. This one did significant damage, taking out 
1,000 very large panels on the vehicle assembly building, which is the 
largest building in volume where the space shuttle is stacked 
vertically. When we come together as the Federal Government, it is time 
to respond.

  I thank my colleagues for their favorable consideration of this 
request. I remind them that we are not through yet. We have some major 
additional emergency supplemental appropriations. When we compare this 
to another major natural disaster such as Andrew, we can see the 
Federal Government spent over $6 billion on the cost of recovery from 
Andrew. It won't be that much for these two storms, but it will be 
substantial.
  I am very grateful to the Senate for listening to the pleas of the 
two Senators from Florida as we ask for its help in this time of need.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous agreement, the Senator from 
North Dakota is recognized for 10 minutes.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I expect most Senators feel as do I: 
Whatever resources are needed by the citizens of Florida to recover 
should be provided by the Senate. I certainly will be one Senator who 
wants to support the $2 billion emergency supplemental that is 
necessary now and whatever additional resources are needed to help 
Floridians recover from these devastating storms. The storm season is 
not even over at this point. Most of us do not understand, perhaps, the 
experience of the citizens of Florida. I did want to make the point 
earlier that when we do the second piece, there are some other parts of 
the country that are going to have to be dealt with. That was the point 
I was making.
  I want to make sure everybody understands: Whatever resources are 
needed by the citizens of Florida, I believe the Senate should stand 
ready to say to them, you are not alone; this country wants to help in 
times of need and in times of emergency.

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