[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 130 (Tuesday, September 6, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5322-S5324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Natural Disaster in Vermont

  Mr. President, I am happy to yield the floor, but before I do, I wish 
to say to Senator Leahy we are all sorry for the natural disasters that 
have happened in his State, wish him well and his State well, and, 
obviously, there will be some congressional action to help not only 
that natural disaster but the rest of the natural disaster that 
occurred as a result of Irene.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, if the Senator would yield on that point, I 
would tell my good friend from Iowa how touched I was when I received 
his e-mail saying how the people of Iowa have stood with the people of 
Vermont, as we did with the people of Iowa when they faced a disaster. 
When I received the e-mail, the Governor of our State, Governor 
Shumlin, and I and the head of our Vermont National Guard, General 
Dubie, had just helicoptered into one of our prettiest towns, but it 
was totally cut off. The only way we could reach it was by helicopter. 
I saw people working together. Nobody knew whether they were 
Republicans or Democrats or cared. They were all working together to 
help each other.
  I will tell my friend from Iowa, I took the liberty of showing his 
very meaningful, very heartfelt e-mail--similar, also, to ones I got 
from other Senators--and I thought how much that meant. If I might 
address the Senator from Iowa directly, I will tell you, the people of 
Vermont appreciate it because I know how heartfelt it was. It meant a 
great deal.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, we are on the question of the flooding in 
Vermont. I was born in Vermont. I have lived there all of my life. We 
live on a dirt road in a small town, Middlesex, up about 1,000 feet, in 
an 1850s farmhouse. It means a lot to us. It is a place my wife 
Marcelle and I spent part of our honeymoon 49 years ago. But I saw 
something I had never seen before in Vermont. Ten days ago, Vermont 
bore the full brunt of then-Tropical

[[Page S5324]]

Storm Irene as it dumped more than 6 inches of rain across the State in 
just a few hours. You have to understand, in our small State--with the 
Green Mountains running down the spine of it, north to south--the 
narrow valleys of the Green Mountains, where towns, roads, and rivers 
are historically intertwined, were particularly hard hit as gentle 
rivers and streams became rushing torrents of destruction. Whole towns 
were cut off from the outside world for days. You would fly over, and 
you could see a town completely marooned--every road going into it, 
every bridge going into it gone. Homes, businesses, water systems, and 
miles of roads were swept away. Even worse, some Vermonters lost their 
lives in these devastating floods.
  In our State, we have had an unprecedented wave of flooding this 
year. We had two spring events previously declared as major disasters. 
Vermonters have shouldered these great burdens. We have pulled together 
from all parts of the State, all walks of life. We are meeting this new 
crisis with the same courage, cooperation, and resilience we Vermonters 
have always shown.
  I applaud the brave first responders--the police departments, the 
fire departments, the EMS, and others--the National Guard members who 
have worked around the clock. Our National Guard in Vermont has been 
joined by the National Guard from Illinois and Maine, and we have had 
offers from our other adjoining States. I also applaud the power crews 
and road crews. I remember how impressed I was looking down there from 
the helicopter and seeing this long line of power trucks coming down 
the road and knowing they are going to be working around the clock. I 
also applaud the many others who have helped in the recovery and 
rebuilding process--our local Red Cross and other service 
organizations.

  But our small State--it is only 660,000 people--is stretched to the 
limit right now, and we need both immediate and ongoing assistance in 
recovering from these enormous setbacks. Winter is fast approaching. In 
Vermont, snow will be flying in a matter of weeks, certainly in a 
matter of a couple months. We must move quickly to secure our homes and 
businesses, restore our roads, our bridges, our water systems, our 
schools, and our medical facilities. With just weeks to accomplish so 
much, we need the full and immediate support of FEMA and so many of our 
Federal agencies.
  I appreciate President Obama's swift approval of Governor Shumlin's 
request to declare most of Vermont a Federal disaster area--something 
all of us in the Vermont delegation joined him in. But I am greatly 
concerned FEMA may not have adequate resources to meet the immediate 
assistance needs of the Irene victims in Vermont and all the other 
States. We do not consider ourselves an island here. We know a whole 
lot of other States were badly hurt by Irene. FEMA has less than $600 
million in its disaster account for the rest of fiscal year 2011. OMB 
said today that FEMA needs at least $1.5 billion for recovery 
assistance in States affected by Hurricane Irene.
  We need to act quickly to find a solution to this pressing problem. I 
do not think any of us wants to get into a situation where we underfund 
FEMA at this critical juncture, and then have FEMA run out of resources 
next spring, just as rebuilding efforts get going on the East Coast.
  Given the breadth and depth of Irene's destruction, on top of the 
ongoing disasters already declared in all 50 States, I am going to 
continue to work with the Democratic leader, the Republican leader, the 
Appropriations Committee, and all of my colleagues to ensure that FEMA 
has the resources they need to help all of our citizens at this time of 
disaster--not just in Vermont but in all of our States.