[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 130 (Monday, October 11, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1959]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS REDUCTION PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 
                                  2004

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                               speech of

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 8, 2004

  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2608. Title I of 
the bill is the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program 
Reauthorization Act and Title II is the National Windstorm Impact 
Reduction Act. Both of these sections passed by the House separately 
earlier this year.
  I want to acknowledge the leadership of Research Subcommittee 
Chairman Smith and my colleague from Washington, Mr. Baird, in 
introducing and championing the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction 
Program.
  The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program--often called 
NEHRP--was established 25 years ago to address the serious seismic 
hazards in the United States. The program has the primary goal of 
determining how to lower the risk to people and to the built 
environment.
  Most observers of NEHRP believe it has made many valuable 
contributions toward advancing understanding of earthquake processes 
and in developing detailed information about the geographic 
distribution of earthquake risk.
  Equally important, the program has helped to improve engineering 
design and practice for structures and lifelines suitable for 
earthquake prone regions.
  H.R. 2608 focuses on strengthening NEHRP by reinvigorating program 
leadership and by increasing program emphasis on transitioning the 
results of research to practice.
  When I first introduced Title II of H.R. 2608 5 years ago, I modeled 
it after the NEHRP program because of its success over the past 30 plus 
years.
  I would like to thank Chairman Boehlert for following through on his 
promise to mark up legislation on wind storms in the 108th Congress. I 
would also like to thank Congressman Neugebauer for working with me on 
this important legislation.
  I would like to thank Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart, Melissa 
Hart, and Walter Jones for working with me over the past three 
Congresses. I would like to thank Minority Counsel Jim Turner of the 
House Science Committee and Brian Pallasch of the American Society of 
Civil Engineers for working on this issue tirelessly over the course of 
the past 5 years.
  Almost 6 years ago, my hometown of Wichita, Kansas, was hit by a F4 
tornado which plowed through the suburb of Haysville, killing 6, 
injuring 150, and causing over $140 million in damage. The devastation 
of this attack motivated me to try to do something.
  I put together a bill, my goal--to mitigate loss of life and property 
due to wind and related hazards.
  I reviewed comments from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the 
National Association of Home Builders, the insurance industry, 
meteorologists, emergency managers, academia, industry, and the 
manufactured housing associations to fine-tune the legislation.
  On May 4, 2003, almost 4 years to the day after the deadly 1999 
Kansas and Oklahoma tornadoes, tornadoes touched down in metro Kansas 
City and the surrounding suburbs, as well as in many of my 
congressional colleagues' districts, destroying property, killing and 
injuring our constituents.
  These tornadoes did not check with Congress to see if they were 
hitting Republican or Democratic districts; they are truly an equal 
opportunity destroyer. This is not a Republican or a Democratic issue; 
it is a human issue, and it is a human tragedy. These windstorms 
destroy lives; I have seen it in my own district and know many of my 
colleagues have seen it in theirs.

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