[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 83 (Friday, May 28, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4565-S4567]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE RHODE ISLAND FLOOD

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, in March my State was hit with back-to-back 
historic floods that caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage 
in Rhode Island. I thank the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, 
Senator Inouye, and the ranking member, Senator Cochran, and my 
colleagues on the committee especially, who have recognized the needs 
of Rhode Island in the appropriations bill we recently completed. We 
are struggling to overcome the effects of the worst flooding in 
centuries in the midst of the worst economic environment we have seen 
since the 1930s.
  Indeed, Rhode Island was among the first States to sink into this 
latest recession. In the last 2 years, Rhode Island has consistently 
ranked among the top three States in unemployment, with as many as 12.7 
percent of our workforce without jobs. By the latest estimates, 12.5 
percent of the State is out of work, and this is not including all of 
the jobs that have been lost in the flooding.
  Our major commercial mall in Warwick, RI, has been closed since 
March. Hundreds, perhaps even 1,000 or more jobs, have been lost. They 
are rapidly trying to reopen this facility under the incredible 
leadership of the owner, Aram Garabedian, but to date they have opened 
one store. Soon they hope to open another. For those hundreds of 
people, they have lost their jobs and are waiting to go back to work.
  The reach of the flood was widespread, covering every county of the 
State. In the space of 2 weeks, separate rainstorms caused four 
rivers--the Blackstone, Pawtuxet, the Pawcatuck, and the Pocasset--to 
go above flood stage. Interstate 95, the major north-south route in the 
Northeast of this country, was closed for 2 days. It has never been 
closed for that length of time. The last time I can recall it being 
closed was in 1978 during a huge blizzard which shut down traffic for 
about a day or so.
  President Obama and FEMA issued major disaster declarations for the 
entire State, and I thank the President. He moved very quickly and very 
aggressively. I also thank FEMA. They dispatched immediately their 
deputy for disaster operations. They had on the ground within, it 
seemed, hours, key personnel. I particularly want to recognize Gracia 
Szczech, an incredible woman who, in fact, frankly, left Rhode Island 
to be sent down to the next great flood in Tennessee. Senator Alexander 
and Senator Corker have spoken about their problems. I thank both the 
President and FEMA for the incredible response.
  But what you find in a flood like this--all of my colleagues have 
been subject to them and, frankly, this is a phenomenon that is usually 
found in other parts of the country--but what you find in floods is 
that the water recedes, the Sun comes out, but the damage and 
devastation remains. We have about 2,000 households that are still not 
able to live in their homes. This is something that has caused a 
tremendous shock to our economy and to our workforce and to the people 
of Rhode Island.
  After 2 months, homeowners and businesses in much of the State are 
still struggling with these effects. The flooding caused job losses in 
a number of sectors; 1,800 jobs were lost in the food services and 
accommodation sector alone. I mentioned the Warwick Mall. Approximately 
1,100 people have lost their jobs because of the shutdown of that 
commercial center. Health, education, manufacturing, construction, 
transportation, art and recreation--all of these sectors have 
experienced significant job losses.
  As my colleagues know, Rhode Island has been fortunate for many 
decades to have avoided this kind of natural disaster, particularly 
from flooding. The last major natural disaster of the State was 
Hurricane Bob in 1991. It roared up and hit our State, like other parts 
of the Northeast, and we suffered significant damage. Since that time 
we have been rather fortunate, but our fortune ran out with these 
floods this spring.
  There has been no question about the support of people of Rhode 
Island or my colleagues in our State's congressional delegation when 
this type of disaster hits elsewhere. Midwest flooding, Katrina in 
Louisiana and along the gulf coast--we are there because we know, No. 
1, Americans, our neighbors, are suffering, and that is when we all 
have to pull together and help them. We also know, too, and expect that 
when it happens in our home States that same spirit of pulling 
together, of helping out, of getting people back in their homes and 
opening up businesses would be something we would experience and we 
would see too.

[[Page S4566]]

  I am grateful, again, in the midst of this challenging fiscal 
environment, the Appropriations Committee on a bipartisan basis has 
included assistance for Rhode Island and for Tennessee. They have 
responded, as they have so many times before, to the needs of people 
who have lost homes, lost jobs.
  One thing they do not want them to lose is hope. So they stepped 
forward to provide the resources necessary to begin the difficult task 
of rebuilding. I thank again Chairman Inouye and Vice Chairman Cochran, 
gentlemen of extraordinary kindness but extraordinary faithfulness to 
the core values of this country.
  One of the basic values is, when difficult times affect people in 
this country, we are not going to look away, we are going to try to 
help them. They have done it again for Rhode Island and Tennessee. We 
still have a long way to go for recovery. I look forward to continuing 
to work with the chairman and other members of the committee as we go 
forward. But their efforts will provide meaningful and material support 
to the people of Rhode Island. I thank them very much.


                    Extending Unemployment Insurance

  This is a moment also, as we reflect upon the damage caused by the 
flood, to once again underscore the damage that has been caused for now 
several years by an economy that has lost millions of jobs.
  Few States, have felt the impact of this job loss more severely than 
Rhode Island. If we fail to act on unemployment compensation before 
June 2--and I am so disappointed that it seems quite obvious that we 
will not act--we are going to once again put thousands of Rhode 
Islanders and millions of Americans who are looking for work and cannot 
find it, in jeopardy of not being able to receive unemployment 
compensation.
  All of the economic arguments about unemployment compensation are 
obvious but bear repeating. This is one of those programs that for 
every dollar we invest we get significantly more in terms of economic 
activity in the country. So it is part of our recovery package as well 
as part of keeping faith with people who have worked hard, paid their 
dues, literally, and now are looking for the benefits of this program.
  In March, the Senate passed, on a bipartisan basis, with six of my 
Republican colleagues, an extension of unemployment benefits as part of 
an early extenders package to the end of the year, 62 to 36. The 
unemployment extension, as it was then and has been in the past, was 
unpaid for. It was deemed emergency spending. I find it ironic and 
interesting that we can deem billions of dollars as an emergency to 
support our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and, frankly, part of that 
support is not simply to buy ammunition and fuel products and HUMVEES 
for American troops, it is to give our commanders CERP money so they 
can go into the communities of Iraq and Afghanistan and put people to 
work because of their unemployment problems.
  It is very difficult to go back to Rhode Island and tell them it is 
an emergency to put people in Kabul to work, put people in Kandahar to 
work, put people in Basra and Baghdad to work, but it is not an 
emergency to put people to work in Boise, not an emergency to put 
people to work in Keokuk, IA. And, certainly, in places such as 
Providence, Cranston, Central Falls, Woonsocket, all through my State.
  It is truly unfortunate that we are now, at this juncture, in a 
position where these benefits for which a long-term extension has been 
passed separately in both the Senate and the House will lapse. That is 
regrettable, to say the least; in fact, it is deplorable.
  I am optimistic that when we come back after this Memorial Day 
recess, we will craft an extension. I am afraid it is going to be a 
short-term extension. I am also afraid, once again, millions of 
Americans are going to be living month to month with an ocean of, I 
have benefits, but how long can I keep them? That uncertainty is 
unacceptable. We can do better. We have done it individually by 
extending benefits at least to the end of this year. We have to do 
that. If we do not extend them at least for a short period, millions of 
unemployed workers will lose benefits throughout the country, including 
2,000 in Rhode Island.
  Since last year's passage of the Recovery Act, I would point out, 
there have been eight filibusters of legislation to extend unemployment 
benefits. I think the people in this country who need help and not just 
pointless debate are those who are out of work, looking for it, and 
needing the support of unemployment compensation.
  We have allowed it to lapse twice this year. Weeks have gone by, as 
they will go by, unfortunately, in the next few weeks, where there is 
uncertainty and doubt about payments being maintained. I think it is 
outrageous that having my colleagues on the other side repeatedly 
approve budgets sent by President Bush that were unpaid for, not even 
an attempt to pay for them, that provided tax cuts to the wealthiest 
citizens, that conducted two major military conflicts without paying 
for them, suddenly feel they have got to pay for unemployment benefits 
for workers in America. We have to be focused on this deficit. That is 
correct. Let me remind my colleagues, we did focus on the deficit. In 
the 1990s when I was a Member of the House, we focused on it to the 
extent that we reversed the deficit and created a surplus. Critical 
votes under President Clinton without any Republican support. When push 
comes to shove, when it is not about the rhetoric but it is about 
standing up and doing tough things to eliminate a deficit, many of my 
colleagues on the other side are missing in action.
  We can and we must reverse this deficit. It will take difficult 
votes, not rhetoric alone. But at this juncture to once again engage in 
rhetorical debate rather than actively helping our countrymen and our 
constituents is missing the point. I think we have to go forward. I 
think we must go forward to provide these short-term benefits, and to 
do it in a way that is consistent with our history and our values.
  When times are tough, yes, we have always talked about the deficit 
and everything else, but we have reached out and helped our citizens 
who need this kind of help. Congress has never ended emergency 
unemployment benefits until unemployment has declined to at least 7.4 
percent in this Nation.
  In Rhode Island it is 12.5 percent. We have got a long way to go 
before we get to the point where we can talk about a self-correcting 
economy. If you look at our history through every administration, 
Republicans and Democrats, when we had unemployment at this level 
affecting so many Americans, affecting not just their wallets but their 
future and their hopes for a future, we have extended, almost 
automatically, emergency unemployment benefits.
  The rate today is 9.9 percent nationally, and again, 12.5 percent in 
Rhode Island. We have a long way to go before we can start talking 
about this unemployment crisis as something of the past. We need to 
extend unemployment benefits at least through the end of this year. We 
have got to do it because we need to help people and give them the 
certainty of that help.
  We have to move. We have to act. It is going to be something we will 
do. I think we should do it now. I think we should put aside the 
posturing and extend benefits and then get on to the difficult work, 
not just the easy talk, but the difficult work of deficit reduction.
  I have done that work. I have listened to complaints in campaigns 
repeatedly about tough votes we took in the 1990s. But because we took 
those tough votes, by 2000 we had an economy that was producing jobs, 
not losing them; we had a budget that was in surplus, not in deficit; 
we had the wherewithal to make investments in education, in energy, and 
in health care that would make us even more productive and more 
successful and more equitable in terms of the benefits to this country.
  But many of the same people who now are talking about deficits sort 
of cavalierly said, let's cut taxes for the rich. Let's engage in a 
military operation that is not paid for. So from 2000 to 2008, the 
economy collapsed, the deficit soared, opportunities narrowed, 
unemployment grew. I do not think that is a coincidence. Let's get back 
to business. Let's first give people who need unemployment benefits 
those benefits. And let's take those tough steps--and they will not be 
easy--to reduce the deficit. Do not use the deficit as an excuse to 
break faith with the

[[Page S4567]]

American public. One article of faith is when we have unemployment 
levels of 10 percent nationally, we have never failed to extend, in a 
routine fashion, emergency unemployment compensation.
  We have got a lot of work to do when we get back. I am sorely 
disappointed we could not conclude this work before we left.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SESSIONS. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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