[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 17, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8928-S8929]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            STORM DISASTERS

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, before I begin speaking about the 
disaster occurring in Louisiana and in parts of Texas, and refer 
briefly to some of the other disasters that have struck, I wish to 
respond briefly to some of the remarks the Senator from Iowa made.
  We don't have time for a debate, and I respect my friend on the other 
side a great deal, but had the Democrats followed the Republican 
leadership in trying to privatize Social Security, many seniors would 
be in a very difficult situation right now, as you know. The Republican 
Party has for years tried to privatize Social Security. What a terrible 
situation we would be in had we allowed that to happen. But we and some 
others, a few on their side, stopped it from happening. I can hardly 
tell you what the situation would be for our seniors, whether they are 
on the poor end of our economic scale, the middle end, or the higher 
end, with Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and others that are now 
collapsing.
  So I know we will have a great deal of debate about which economic 
policy is the best, and I know the Senator rattled off quite a few 
numbers regarding Social Security, but I couldn't help myself as I was 
standing here thinking: Thank goodness we didn't privatize Social 
Security. Because whatever situation he has outlined, it would be a 
thousand percent worse for our seniors today. So I thank the 
junior Senator from Illinois from stopping that from happening, along 
with myself and many others.

  I came to the floor today, however, to speak about the disasters 
unfolding in Louisiana and Texas and other parts of our country. I know 
as this Congress gets ready to adjourn, we have done some significant 
work over the last couple of months, and we have more work to do, we do 
need to get on an energy debate for this Nation, and I am hoping 
something can be worked out there. We also, of course, have a 
continuing resolution to discuss. But this is only one of several 
pictures I am going to show of the results of a terrible storm that 
crashed into the southern part of the United States last week.
  Hurricane Ike hit the gulf coast with a ferocious force of winds and 
tidal surges on September 13. Hurricane Gustav hit us on September 1, 
and Tropical Storm Fay, while it entered in Florida, or hit our country 
in Florida, actually did a tremendous amount of damage to other parts 
of the United States, not only the States along the gulf coast. There 
was some terrible interior flooding in Arkansas and even up here in 
this region. As a result, we have homeowners like this.
  These photos were sent to us by American Press, from the Lake Charles 
American Press, and I thank them. This is the parish of Calcasieu, 
which is right outside the Texas border. So you have the counties, of 
course, of Houston and Galveston and Beaumont, but right on the other 
side of that border are Calcasieu Parish and Cameron Parish.
  Let's see some of the extension of the damage in these other 
pictures. This is in a city. This is not in a low-lying area. This is 
not on a beach. There is not a beach anywhere around here. We have had 
tidal surges from Ike much higher than I think many people realize.
  This is a picture of the eastern part of Louisiana. You all have seen 
this picture before, and I know you are going to accuse me of actually 
bringing out an old picture from an old storm. I feel as though I am in 
Groundhog Day here. But this is actually taken from last week. This is 
America's energy port. This is Port Fourchon, where 30 percent of the 
offshore oil and gas from the gulf comes. Port Fourchon. You can't see 
Port Fourchon, because it is completely underwater.
  I feel I am going through the repeat of a movie. We had Katrina, we 
had Rita, and now we have Fay, we have Gustav, and we have Ike. And 
while Ike did hit directly into Galveston--and please let me begin by 
saying that my heart goes out to the people of Galveston and Beaumont 
and the millions of people right now who still in Texas do not have 
electricity. We in Louisiana most certainly understand the difficulties 
from a storm of that nature. But I would be remiss if I didn't come to 
the floor this afternoon and say that this storm hit more than the 
Texas coast. It walloped us as well.
  This is another part, from southeast Louisiana, I believe. This is 
Port Fourchon. This is right on the coast. We can understand this 
happens when storms occur. This is not in the middle of a city. This is 
not inland. This is right on the coast. But as I have come down to say 
so many times, when is America going to wake up and realize that these 
are where our pipelines are? These are where our refineries are. By the 
nature of pipelines and refineries and ports, they have to be near a 
coast. They cannot be inland. We need to do a much better job of 
protecting these communities.
  This is in the Houma-Terrebonne area, which is much farther inland. 
We had some of the worst flooding in Terrebonne Parish, which is really 
in the southeastern part of the State. Remember, the hurricane really 
hit

[[Page S8929]]

Texas, but the hurricane was so big; it was over 600 miles wide. While 
it was not a category 4 or 5, it was a massive storm that really 
flooded parts of Mississippi, almost all of south Louisiana, and Texas.
  I see my colleague, the chairman of the committee, coming to the 
floor. I will at this point yield for just a few moments, as I think 
they have come to some agreement.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan is recognized.

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