[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 171 (Tuesday, November 6, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H12766-H12767]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING SUPPORT AND SYMPATHY FOR VICTIMS OF DEVASTATING FLOODING
THAT OCCURRED IN OHIO
Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 728) expressing the support and sympathy of the
House of Representatives and the people of the United States for the
victims of the devastating flooding that occurred across many parts of
Ohio in August 2007 and commending the communities, volunteer
organizations, churches and emergency response agencies for their
continuing work to restore the affected areas across the state.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 728
Whereas heavy rainstorms brought severe flooding to Ohio
and the upper Midwest over the week of August 19, 2007;
Whereas, in many parts of Ohio, this was the worst flood
since 1913 with nearly 15 inches of rain in some areas;
Whereas the record storms and flooding were responsible for
up to 18 deaths across parts of the upper Midwest--some of
these in Ohio;
Whereas over 500 citizens were forced to flee their homes
and businesses and many hundreds of homes and businesses were
damaged;
Whereas, on August 21, 2007, Allen, Crawford, Hancock,
Hardin, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Seneca, Van Wert and
Wyandot counties made initial local emergency declaration;
Whereas, on August 22, 2007, Governor Ted Strickland issued
a State disaster declaration for Allen, Crawford, Hancock,
Hardin, Putnam, Richland, Seneca, Wyandot and Van Wert
Counties;
Whereas, on August 27, 2007, President George W. Bush
issued a Federal disaster declaration for Allen, Crawford,
Hancock, Putnam, Richland and Wyandot Counties and later
added Hardin and Seneca Counties; and
Whereas Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and
Indiana also experienced serious, storms, flooding and
tornadoes: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) expresses its support and profoundest sympathy for the
victims of the devastating flooding that occurred across much
of Ohio and the surrounding region in August 2007;
(2) conveys its gratitude to the local, State and Federal
officials and emergency personnel who responded to this
emergency and continue working to restore normalcy in the
affected counties;
(3) thanks the many volunteers, charitable organizations,
business and individual donors, churches and religious
organizations for their generosity in responding to this
crisis; and
(4) commends the people of Ohio for their indomitable
spirit and for the grace and magnanimity with which they have
supported one another during the flooding and continuing
recovery.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.
General Leave
Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Massachusetts?
There was no objection.
Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform, I'm pleased to join my colleagues in
the consideration of H. Res. 728, which is a bill that expresses the
support and sympathy of the House of Representatives and the people of
the United States for the victims of the devastating floods that swept
across Ohio in August of 2007.
H. Res. 728, which has 51 cosponsors, was introduced by my friend,
Representative Jim Jordan, on October 10, 2007. H. Res. 728 was
reported from the Oversight Committee on October 23, 2007, by voice
vote.
Mr. Speaker, during the week of August 19, 2007, Ohio received over
15 inches of rain in a violent storm that swept across the State.
Firefighters and volunteers from that State performed great acts of
heroism in rescuing people from life-threatening conditions.
{time} 1230
The storm caused major flooding that damaged many homes and
businesses, and the water forced at least 500 families from their homes
in several northern Ohio towns.
Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio declared states of emergency in nine
counties in northwest and north central Ohio. This was, indeed, the
worst flooding for Ohio since 1913.
I now rise in support of the victims in this disaster and to commend
the State, local and Federal officials and emergency personnel for
their response to this crisis situation.
I commend my colleague, Representative Jordan, for seeking to express
support and sympathy for the Ohio flood victims.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I too rise in support of this
resolution. Obviously, as a result of these devastating floods this
summer, we had eight counties that were declared disaster counties in
our State, 4\1/2\ of those counties I had the privilege of
representing. The other 3\1/2\ counties were represented by our late
friend, Congressman Paul Gillmor.
I want to commend Congressman Gillmor's staff for the help of Paul,
of course, when he was with us, and then his staff for the great
assistance they provided our office and others as we worked through
this.
I also just want to take a moment to thank those local leaders, both
our police, our fire, our EMS people, our local public officials and
our State public officials who did just an outstanding job and also
commend our Federal officials. FEMA was there in Ohio, the leaders were
there, Director Paulison, as well as Mr. Preston with the SBA, and then
they have been in Ohio for several months serving families and
individuals and local governments who were devastated by these floods.
[[Page H12767]]
The thing, I guess, that really stands out for me, in the midst of
this devastation, it was so neat to see how communities come together,
how people work together and all kinds of acts of kindness from family
member to family member and from neighbor to neighbor and community to
community. It was amazing to see what takes place when devastation hits
an area.
The resolution just expresses our commendation for those individuals,
those local officials, those families, those people in west central and
north central Ohio who did such an outstanding job dealing with the
devastation that took place.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of our time.
Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend and colleague, Ms. Marcy
Kaptur from Ohio, for as much time as she may consume.
Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Thank you
distinguished Chairman Lynch, and my dear friend from our delegation
Congressman Jim Jordan.
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise in support of House Resolution
728, which speaks to the issue of the flooding throughout Ohio in
August of this year.
Congressman Jordan and I stood shoulder to shoulder with the late
Congressman Paul Gillmor in Findlay to survey the devastating 100-year
flood level. This flooding ripped through the heart of many small towns
in northwest Ohio, burying our communities in feet of mud and water
while washing away the dreams of so many today.
We know there are probably over $100 million worth of damages. We owe
so much to all the emergency workers--to the fire, to the police, to
the local officials like Mayor Iriti, who I thought, did an outstanding
job--for trying to address this situation, which wasn't any of their
fault or our fault. You had 15 inches of rain within 24 hours; and this
flood truly was different.
Instead of simply devastating our community, the flood also sent a
shock wave through all of us on the challenge of fresh water management
that our region, our very flat region, faces.
It is ironic that in Ohio we were talking about too much water at a
time when, now, Georgia and the southeastern States are experiencing
record droughts. We know in our region the status quo is not
acceptable. We were very pleased that Secretary Chertoff joined us and
offered the continuing help of FEMA to address the damage from these
floods in August. We knew that our region had potential water
management problems. But we never thought they would come now so
quickly. We had launched a watershed management partnership in the
Western Lake Erie Basin to handle the growing levels of storm water
runoff.
The Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
have driven forward a remarkable partnership that is unique in its
scope anywhere in the country for what it is trying to accomplish. At
the center of this assessment is the understanding that we must better
manage our fresh water asset for the future.
It is our competitive advantage, without question, in the Great Lakes
States. We have been buffeted in our region by globalization, but we
will not give up our greatest asset. We know we must manage it with a
comprehensive basinwide solution.
I think this flooding was a real clarion call to people in our
region. We saw the levels of damage and now having to remediate after
the fact. But had we had in place structures and systems to handle this
level of water, we would not have had the level of damage that we
experienced. We know that the level of rainfall was extraordinarily
large, but the point is, we were not properly prepared for it, and we
have now had this clarion call.
We were very fortunate that the loss of life was minimized, but,
nonetheless, people are still digging out. I think this resolution is a
very important step forward as we try to handle this precious global
asset of fresh water in our region in a much, much wiser way so that we
can avoid the flooding of the future.
Even Marathon Oil had eight feet of water in its corporate
headquarters in Findlay, Ohio. Business leaders, the chamber, a broad
band of public officials and private sector leadership across the
region recognize we can't go through this again. We have to think about
dry dams. We have to think of reservoirs. We have to think of ways to
avoid hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage and put those
dollars to work avoiding that kind of disaster in the future.
In recognizing all of those who helped to handle this enormous
tragedy that befell our area, we also look to the future and the fact
that we have the Western Lake Erie Basin partnership as a building
block toward the future in order to make the future better than the
past and to learn the lessons that history has now taught us.
I am very pleased to join my colleagues here today, Congressman
Lynch, who has taken such great leadership on this measure. We, in
Ohio, appreciate the response of all the emergency personnel who did so
very much, and to the people who suffered, and also to Congressman Jim
Jordan for bringing this to the floor today. We are joined hand in hand
as we move forward together in northern Ohio to better manage our fresh
water asset for future generations.
Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. Let me, too, just thank Congressman Lynch and
Congresswoman Kaptur. Congresswoman Kaptur has been right at the front
of looking at this in a comprehensive way, and we appreciate that. She
talked about our mayors both in Findlay and Shelby, Ohio, who have done
so much work and who are looking at this overall approach.
Also, we talked about our local officials. I don't know if we
mentioned our two U.S. Senators who have been very helpful in this
effort as well, looking at this in a broad way.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of our time.
Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of our time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) that the House suspend the
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 728.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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